Social and Human Service Assistants in Vermont
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,349
after federal, FICA and Vermont tax
Tax takes
$8,291
17.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$39,684
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
$46,640
Kept after tax
$38,349
Worth in national money
$39,684
State rank
18
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Vermont pays this job around $46,640 at the midpoint, 18 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against 453 occupations Vermont publishes, this job lands at 361. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Here is where Vermont does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $46,640 you keep $38,349, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $39,684 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $47,320, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For social and human service assistants the Vermont median is $46,640, ranking 18 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.
- Within Vermont, this work ranks 361 of 453 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- After federal, FICA and Vermont income tax, retained pay for social and human service assistants on $46,640 is $38,349. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $39,684 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 $47,320 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Social and Human Service Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $38,760 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $46,640 |
| Top tenth earn over | $55,380 |
| This salary | $46,640 |
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 | $38,349 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,655 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,124 |
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 | $45,014 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,359 |
| 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 social and human service assistants in Vermont earn under $46,640 and half over. The published range runs $38,760 at the tenth percentile to $55,380 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Vermont the take-home figure of $38,349, from $46,640, 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 361 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 $39,684 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 361.
- Figures are distribution medians for social and human service assistants in Vermont, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $38,760 to $55,380; 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 $38,349 from $46,640. 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 361 of 453 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $39,684, worked from $46,640, 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 361 of 453 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $38,760 at the bottom tenth to $55,380 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Vermont sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $39,684 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $38,349 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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($38,760 to $55,380) 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 $39,684 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 $38,349 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.