Security Guards in Vermont
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$37,510
after federal, FICA and Vermont tax
Tax takes
$8,040
17.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$38,816
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
$45,550
Kept after tax
$37,510
Worth in national money
$38,816
State rank
4
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Vermont is one of the better-paying states for security guards. The middle earner takes $45,550, which ranks 4 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 19.81% above the national middle.
- Measured against other jobs in Vermont, this one sits low: 382 of 453 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Here is where Vermont does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $45,550 you keep $37,510, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $38,816 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $50,770, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Vermont ranks 4 of 51 states publishing a median for security guards, at $45,550 — about 19.81% 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.
- Security guards occupies position 382 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.
- After federal, FICA and Vermont income tax, retained pay for security guards on $45,550 is $37,510. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $38,816 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $50,770 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Security Guards
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,040 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $45,550 |
| Top tenth earn over | $72,620 |
| This salary | $45,550 |
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 | $37,510 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $38,779 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,091 |
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 | $43,970 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,319 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 97 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $45,550 as a midpoint for Vermont, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $36,040 and the ninetieth is $72,620 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $37,510 take-home in Vermont comes from $45,550. 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 382 of 453.
- Two cautions on $38,816, the adjusted value of that $45,550 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 382 of 453 locally.
- The Vermont median of $45,550 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $36,040 to $72,620. 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 $37,510, from $45,550, 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 382 of 453 locally, and the state ranks 4 of 51 for it.
- This $38,816 adjusted figure, worked from $45,550, 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 382 of 453 in the state. The occupation ranks 382 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 $50,770 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $36,040, the highest tenth $72,620, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $38,816 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, $37,510 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 $50,770. 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 ($36,040) and the ninetieth ($72,620) 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 $38,816 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 $37,510 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.