Recreational Therapists in Vermont
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$51,033
after federal, FICA and Vermont tax
Tax takes
$12,347
19.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$52,810
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
$63,380
Kept after tax
$51,033
Worth in national money
$52,810
State rank
12
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Vermont is one of the better-paying states for recreational therapists. The middle earner takes $63,380, which ranks 12 of 48 states with published figures. That is about 2.29% above the national middle.
- Against other work in Vermont, this sits in the middle: 200 of 453 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $63,380 you keep $51,033 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $52,810 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $65,160, since top earners drag the number up.
- Vermont ranks 12 of 48 states publishing a median for recreational therapists, at $63,380 — about 2.29% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Recreational therapists ranks 200 of 453 occupations in Vermont by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Retained pay in Vermont is $51,033 after the full tax stack, from $63,380. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $52,810 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $65,160 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Recreational Therapists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $49,830 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $63,380 |
| Top tenth earn over | $79,170 |
| This salary | $63,380 |
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 | $51,033 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $53,106 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,839 |
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 | $60,800 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,225 |
| 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 recreational therapists in Vermont earn under $63,380 and half over. The published range runs $49,830 at the tenth percentile to $79,170 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Vermont's $51,033, worked from $63,380. 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 200 of 453.
- Two cautions on $52,810, the adjusted value of that $63,380 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 200 of 453 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for recreational therapists in Vermont, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $49,830 to $79,170; 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.
- The Vermont take-home of $51,033, on $63,380 for work ranking 200 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 200 of 453 in the state.
- This $52,810 adjusted figure, worked from $63,380, 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 200 of 453 in the state. The occupation ranks 200 of 453 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $49,830 at the tenth percentile, $79,170 at the ninetieth.
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 $52,810.
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 $51,033 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 48 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($49,830 to $79,170) 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 $52,810 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 $51,033 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.