Dentist · Vermont · SOC 29-1021
Dentists in Vermont: 2026 Salary, Real Wage, and Cost-Adjusted Pay
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, 2024 reference period · BEA Regional Price Parity 2023 vintage · Last synced 2026-05-07.
TL;DR
- Headline Dentist pay in Vermont is $230,990. Real take-home, after the state's cost-of-living index, lands at $237,786.
- Cost adjustment is small — neither an arbitrage state nor a high-cost penalty.
- BLS percentiles available for this state: P25 $149,990, P50 $230,990, P75 —. P10 or P90 is suppressed by BLS for this occupation-state cell.
- Dentist ranking: #1 on the BLS table, #1 once cost of living is in.
Wage breakdown — Vermont
| Percentile | Nominal (BLS) | Real (BEA RPP-adjusted) |
|---|---|---|
| P10 (entry tier) | $130,800 | $134,648 |
| P25 (lower quartile) | $149,990 | $154,403 |
| P50 (median) | $230,990 | $237,786 |
| P75 (upper quartile) | ||
| P90 (top tier) | ||
| Mean | $240,740 | $247,823 |
| Employment | 220 Dentists in Vermont | |
Cost of living — BEA Regional Price Parity
| Component | Vermont index (US = 100) |
|---|---|
| All-items RPP | 97.1 |
| Goods | 97.9 |
| Services | 122.1 |
| Rents | 82.3 |
Vermont's overall RPP (97.1) is close to the national 100 baseline; nominal and real wage move roughly together.
After-tax take-home — Vermont (2024 BLS · 2024 tax year, single filer)
Layer-by-layer take-home math at the BLS median
| Layer | Amount | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Gross BLS P50 (Dentist) | $230,990 | nominal median |
| Federal income tax | −$45,333 | 19.6% effective; std deduction $15,750 applied |
| State income tax | −$14,276 | 3.35–8.75% (graduated) |
| FICA (SS 6.2% + Medicare 1.45%) | −$15,011 | SS capped at $183,600 wage base |
| Take-home (after-tax) | $156,370 | 67.7% of gross |
| Real take-home (RPP-adjusted) | $160,970 | ÷ (97.1 / 100) BEA cost-of-living |
What the Vermont state-tax burden means for Dentist take-home
Vermont carries one of the heavier state-tax loads in the country at this income tier (6.2% effective on the BLS median). Combined with federal and FICA, gross-to-take-home spread is 32.3%, leaving $156,370 pre-RPP and $160,970 after the 97.1 cost-of-living index — a $70,020 gap from the headline gross.
Computed from 2026 IRS federal brackets (Rev. Proc. 2025-32), 2026 state DOR brackets, and 2026 FICA rates. Single filer, standard deduction, no other adjustments. See methodology · tax for limitations (married filers, ITM/SALT itemizers, retirement deferrals, HSA, dependent credits, etc.).
National context
Across the United States, BLS reports a national median of $172,790 for Dentists with mean pay of $196,100 and total employment of 113,490. Vermont sits at #1 on nominal pay and #1 on real (cost-adjusted) pay among the 51 states and DC. Nominal and real ranking are the same — cost of living and pay scale together.
Frequently asked questions
- How much does a Dentist make in Vermont?
- BLS reports a median annual wage of $230,990 for Dentists in Vermont as of the latest OES release. That is the 50th-percentile figure — half earn more, half earn less. The 25th-percentile is $149,990 and the 75th-percentile is —.
- What is the real (cost-adjusted) Dentist salary in Vermont?
- After BEA RPP adjustment (regional price parity index 97.1 for Vermont), the real-wage equivalent is $237,786 — what the $230,990 nominal salary actually buys. Quartiles in real terms: $154,403 to —.
- How are Vermont Dentist salaries calculated on this page?
- Nominal wages come from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES) — annual employer surveys, May 2026 reference period. Real-wage figures use BEA Regional Price Parities (2023 vintage) to adjust for state-level cost of living. No self-report or jobs-board data is mixed in.
- How many Dentists does Vermont employ?
- BLS OES counts 220 Dentists employed in Vermont in the most recent release. Employment density relative to population determines whether wage tiers reflect a robust competitive market or a thinner labor pool.
- Why is the BEA RPP for Vermont different from a single CPI number?
- BEA splits regional price parity into three components — goods, services, and rents — reweighted to the BEA's national consumption basket. Vermont's overall index of 97.1 reflects rents 82.3, services 122.1, and goods 97.9.
- Should I negotiate based on the BLS median for Vermont?
- The BLS median is a calibration anchor, not a ceiling. Use it to validate that an offer is in-band — anything well below the P25 in this state is a flag, anything above the P75 typically requires demonstrable specialty depth, niche credentials, or a high-COL metro within Vermont.
- DSO chain vs solo private practice dentist pay in Vermont?
- BLS does not split dental service organization (DSO: Heartland, Aspen, Pacific, Smile Brands) from solo private practice. In Vermont, DSO-employed dentists typically start at or above BLS median with production-bonus upside but cap below long-tenure solo owner total earnings. Solo private practice in Vermont pays below DSO at the associate level but compounds via ownership equity, equipment depreciation, and tax-deferred retirement contributions over a 10-20 year career. Specialist dentists (orthodontists, oral surgeons, endodontists, periodontists) in Vermont are tracked under different SOC codes (29-1022, 29-1023, 29-1024) and earn substantially above general-dentist medians.
Sources & methodology
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES), SOC 29-1021, 2024 reference period.
- U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis — Regional Price Parities, 2023 vintage (all-items, goods, services, rents).
- Real-wage figures = nominal BLS wage ÷ (state RPP / 100).
- See the methodology page for full computation details and limitations.
Cross-comparison: see how Vermont Dentist pay ranks against the other 254 state × occupation pages on the Real Wage Atlas → — four-way ranking by real wage, after-tax take-home, state-tax savings, and cost-of-living arbitrage.