Retail Salespersons in Vermont
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$31,234
after federal, FICA and Vermont tax
Tax takes
$6,166
16.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$32,322
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
$37,400
Kept after tax
$31,234
Worth in national money
$32,322
State rank
7
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Vermont pays retail salespersons a middle wage of $37,400, ranking 7 of 51 states and sitting about 5.62% above the national middle.
- Within Vermont this is lower-paid work. Of 453 occupations the state publishes figures for, retail salespersons ranks 432. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Vermont is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $37,400 the take-home is $31,234; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $32,322 would nationally. The average comes to $42,450, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Vermont's median for retail salespersons is $37,400, about 5.62% above the national figure and 7 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.
- Against every occupation Vermont reports, retail salespersons ranks 432 of 453, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Post-tax income for retail salespersons in Vermont, on $37,400, is $31,234 — equivalent to $32,322 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $42,450 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Retail Salespersons
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,060 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $37,400 |
| Top tenth earn over | $55,700 |
| This salary | $37,400 |
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 | $31,234 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $32,231 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$846 |
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 | $36,160 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,023 |
| 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 retail salespersons in Vermont earn under $37,400 and half over. The published range runs $31,060 at the tenth percentile to $55,700 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Vermont the take-home figure of $31,234, from $37,400, 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 432 of 453 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Vermont, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $32,322, the adjusted value of that $37,400 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 432 of 453 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for retail salespersons in Vermont, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $31,060 to $55,700; 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 $31,234 from $37,400. 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 432 of 453 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Vermont, so $32,322 — the adjusted value of that $37,400 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 432 of 453 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $42,450 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $31,060 and the top tenth $55,700, so most people doing this work in Vermont sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $32,322.
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 $31,234 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 $42,450. 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 ($31,060 to $55,700) 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 $32,322 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 $31,234 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.