Recreation Workers in Vermont
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$31,273
after federal, FICA and Vermont tax
Tax takes
$6,177
16.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$32,362
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
$37,450
Kept after tax
$31,273
Worth in national money
$32,362
State rank
13
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Vermont pays recreation workers a middle wage of $37,450, ranking 13 of 51 states and sitting about 2.43% above the national middle.
- Measured against other jobs in Vermont, this one sits low: 430 of 453 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $37,450 you keep $31,273 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $32,362 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $40,020, since top earners drag the number up.
- Vermont's median for recreation workers is $37,450, about 2.43% above the national figure and 13 of 51 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Recreation workers occupies position 430 of 453 in Vermont's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Retained pay in Vermont is $31,273 after the full tax stack, from $37,450. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $32,362 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $40,020 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Recreation Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $32,130 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $37,450 |
| Top tenth earn over | $51,310 |
| This salary | $37,450 |
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 | $31,273 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $32,271 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$847 |
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 | $36,208 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,025 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 97 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $37,450 as a midpoint for Vermont, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $32,130 and the ninetieth is $51,310 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Vermont's $31,273, worked from $37,450. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 430 of 453.
- Two cautions on $32,362, the adjusted value of that $37,450 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 430 of 453 locally.
- The Vermont median of $37,450 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $32,130 to $51,310. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Vermont take-home of $31,273, on $37,450 for work ranking 430 of 453 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 430 of 453 in the state.
- This $32,362 adjusted figure, worked from $37,450, 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 430 of 453 in the state. The occupation ranks 430 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 $40,020, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $32,130 at the bottom tenth to $51,310 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $32,362 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Vermont's own levy, $31,273 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 $40,020. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($32,130 to $51,310) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Vermont rather than a national figure.
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 $32,362 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 $31,273 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.