Public Relations Specialists in Vermont
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$53,010
after federal, FICA and Vermont tax
Tax takes
$13,050
19.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$54,856
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
$66,060
Kept after tax
$53,010
Worth in national money
$54,856
State rank
26
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Vermont pays public relations specialists around $66,060 at the midpoint, 26 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 453 occupations Vermont reports figures for, this is number 185.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $66,060 you keep $53,010 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $54,856 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $69,920, since top earners drag the number up.
- For public relations specialists the Vermont median is $66,060, ranking 26 of 51 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- In Vermont's occupational distribution, public relations specialists sits at 185 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 $53,010 after the full tax stack, from $66,060. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $54,856 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $69,920 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Public Relations Specialists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $45,330 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $66,060 |
| Top tenth earn over | $101,520 |
| This salary | $66,060 |
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 | $53,010 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $55,259 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,010 |
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 | $63,260 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,431 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 97 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of public relations specialists in Vermont earn under $66,060 and half over. The published range runs $45,330 at the tenth percentile to $101,520 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Vermont the take-home figure of $53,010, from $66,060, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 185 of 453 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $54,856 uses one figure for the whole of Vermont. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 453 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 185.
- Figures are distribution medians for public relations specialists in Vermont, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $45,330 to $101,520; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Take-home for Vermont is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $53,010 from $66,060. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 185 of 453 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $54,856, worked from $66,060, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Vermont address, on work sitting at 185 of 453 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $69,920, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $45,330 at the bottom tenth to $101,520 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Vermont is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $54,856 in national terms.
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 $53,010 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 $69,920. 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 ($45,330) and the ninetieth ($101,520) 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 $54,856 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 $53,010 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.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.