Private Detectives and Investigators in Vermont
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$54,233
after federal, FICA and Vermont tax
Tax takes
$13,677
20.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$56,122
Vermont costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Vermont — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$67,910
Kept after tax
$54,233
Worth in national money
$56,122
State rank
4
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. Vermont's middle earner gets $67,910, putting the state 4 of 49 — about 32.58% ahead of the national figure.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 453 occupations Vermont reports figures for, this is number 176.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $67,910 you keep $54,233 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $56,122 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $63,670.
- For private detectives and investigators, Vermont sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $67,910, ranking 4 of 49 and running about 32.58% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- In Vermont's occupational distribution, private detectives and investigators sits at 176 of 453 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Retained pay in Vermont is $54,233 after the full tax stack, from $67,910. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $56,122 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $63,670 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Private Detectives and Investigators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $41,860 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $67,910 |
| Top tenth earn over | $95,830 |
| This salary | $67,910 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in Vermont | $54,233 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $56,605 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,129 |
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $64,783 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,750 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 97 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $67,910 as a midpoint for Vermont, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $41,860 and the ninetieth is $95,830 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $54,233 take-home in Vermont comes from $67,910. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 176 of 453.
- Two cautions on $56,122, the adjusted value of that $67,910 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Vermont. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 176 of 453 locally.
- The Vermont median of $67,910 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $41,860 to $95,830. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $54,233, from $67,910, assumes a single Vermont filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 176 of 453 locally, and the state ranks 4 of 49 for it.
- This $56,122 adjusted figure, worked from $67,910, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 176 of 453 in the state. The occupation ranks 176 of 453 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $63,670, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $41,860 at the bottom tenth to $95,830 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $56,122.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Vermont adds its own income tax on top — which is why $54,233 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 49 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in Vermont is $63,670. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($41,860) and the ninetieth ($95,830) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Vermont's regional price parity is at or below the national average, so nominal wages understate purchasing power. Take-home deflated by the state price level is $56,122 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $54,233 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Vermont income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.