Tool and Die Makers in Vermont
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$55,119
after federal, FICA and Vermont tax
Tax takes
$14,181
20.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$57,038
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
$69,300
Kept after tax
$55,119
Worth in national money
$57,038
State rank
11
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for tool and die makers is strong here. Vermont's middle earner gets $69,300, putting the state 11 of 45 — about 8.2% ahead of the national figure.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 453 occupations Vermont reports figures for, this is number 170.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $69,300 you keep $55,119 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $57,038 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $75,780, since top earners drag the number up.
- For tool and die makers, Vermont sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $69,300, ranking 11 of 45 and running about 8.2% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- In Vermont's occupational distribution, tool and die makers sits at 170 of 453 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Retained pay in Vermont is $55,119 after the full tax stack, from $69,300. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $57,038 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $75,780 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Tool and Die Makers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $50,480 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $69,300 |
| Top tenth earn over | $106,640 |
| This salary | $69,300 |
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 | $55,119 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $57,583 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,218 |
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 | $65,886 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,031 |
| 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 tool and die makers in Vermont earn under $69,300 and half over. The published range runs $50,480 at the tenth percentile to $106,640 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 $55,119, worked from $69,300. 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 170 of 453.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $57,038 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 170.
- Figures are distribution medians for tool and die makers in Vermont, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $50,480 to $106,640; 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 $55,119, on $69,300 for work ranking 170 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 170 of 453 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $57,038, worked from $69,300, 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 170 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 $75,780 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?
The label is broader than the work. From $50,480 at the bottom tenth to $106,640 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $57,038.
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 $55,119 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 45 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $75,780. 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 ($50,480) and the ninetieth ($106,640) 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 $57,038 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 $55,119 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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.