Waiters and Waitresses in Vermont
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$47,906
after federal, FICA and Vermont tax
Tax takes
$11,234
19.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$49,574
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
$59,140
Kept after tax
$47,906
Worth in national money
$49,574
State rank
2
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Vermont pays waiters and waitresses a middle wage of $59,140, ranking 2 of 51 states and sitting about 67.87% above the national middle.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Waiters and waitresses ranks 246 among 453 occupations Vermont publishes pay for.
- Here is where Vermont does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $59,140 you keep $47,906, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $49,574 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $58,850, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- Vermont's median for waiters and waitresses is $59,140, about 67.87% above the national figure and 2 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.
- Position 246 of 453 in Vermont places waiters and waitresses in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- After federal, FICA and Vermont income tax, retained pay for waiters and waitresses on $59,140 is $47,906. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $49,574 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 $58,850 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Waiters and Waitresses
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $29,690 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $59,140 |
| Top tenth earn over | $89,330 |
| This salary | $59,140 |
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 | $47,906 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $49,699 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,569 |
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 | $56,909 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,898 |
| 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 waiters and waitresses in Vermont earn under $59,140 and half over. The published range runs $29,690 at the tenth percentile to $89,330 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Vermont the take-home figure of $47,906, from $59,140, 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 246 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 $49,574, the adjusted value of that $59,140 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 246 of 453 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for waiters and waitresses in Vermont, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $29,690 to $89,330; 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 $47,906 from $59,140. 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 246 of 453 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Vermont, so $49,574 — the adjusted value of that $59,140 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 246 of 453 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $29,690 and the top tenth $89,330 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $49,574 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 $47,906 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($29,690) and the ninetieth ($89,330) 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 $49,574 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 $47,906 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.