Burlington-South Burlington, VT

Across all occupations in the Burlington-South Burlington, VT metropolitan area, the median wage is $60,020 a year ($28.86 an hour) and the mean $74,360, May 2025. That median is +18% against the US median of $50,980 and +6% against Vermont's $56,390. BLS counts 120,150 jobs in the area. The highest-paying occupation is physicians, all other; the largest is retail salespersons.

All occupations: Burlington-South Burlington, VT vs Vermont and the United States

All occupations: wage percentiles, mean and employment in the Burlington-South Burlington, VT area, Vermont and nationally, May 2025
Area	Basis	Percentile wage					Mean	Employment
Area	Basis	10th	25th	Median	75th	90th	Mean	Employment
Burlington-South Burlington, VT	Hourly	$17.70	$21.94	$28.86	$40.46	$60.63	$35.75	120,150
Burlington-South Burlington, VT	Annual	$36,820	$45,640	$60,020	$84,160	$126,100	$74,360	120,150
Vermont	Hourly	$17.27	$20.84	$27.11	$38.09	$53.60	$33.20	303,890
Vermont	Annual	$35,910	$43,350	$56,390	$79,240	$111,480	$69,050	303,890
United States	Hourly	$15.00	$18.07	$24.51	$38.71	$61.81	$33.54	155,495,730
United States	Annual	$31,200	$37,590	$50,980	$80,520	$128,560	$69,770	155,495,730

Annual wage at the 10th, 25th, 50th (median), 75th and 90th percentiles across all occupations in the metro; the line marks the US median. The same numbers are in the table above.

396 detailed occupations publish a median in this area. State profile: Vermont. Compare any occupation across every area in the wage explorer.

20 highest-paying occupations in Burlington-South Burlington, VT

Rank	Occupation	Median annual	Median hourly	Employment
1	Physicians, All Other	$517,900	$248.99	150
2	Surgeons, All Other	$453,590	$218.07	120
3	Emergency Medicine Physicians	$449,910	$216.31	**
4	Obstetricians and Gynecologists	$444,290	$213.60	70
5	Neurologists	$434,730	$209.00	**
6	Psychiatrists	$409,950	$197.09	50
7	Family Medicine Physicians	$242,250	$116.47	90
8	Chief Executives	$237,600	$114.23	100
9	General Internal Medicine Physicians	$216,300	$103.99	140
10	Pediatricians, General	$215,350	$103.53	90
11	Dentists, General	$210,940	$101.41	90
12	Architectural and Engineering Managers	$171,070	$82.24	180
13	Physician Assistants	$163,560	$78.64	200
14	Computer and Information Systems Managers in Vermont	$162,070	$77.92	400
15	Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates	$161,490	$77.64	40
16	Pharmacists	$155,540	$74.78	250
17	Art Directors	$153,890	$73.99	50
18	Optometrists	$143,700	$69.09	30
19	Public Relations Managers	$140,800	$67.69	120
20	Purchasing Managers	$139,780	$67.20	50

Ranked by median; an occupation whose median BLS withholds or top-codes in this area cannot appear here, however well it pays.

20 largest occupations in Burlington-South Burlington, VT

Rank	Occupation	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient	Median annual
1	Retail Salespersons in Vermont	3,550	29.56	1.18	$37,330
2	Registered Nurses in Vermont	3,150	26.25	1.21	$98,330
3	General and Operations Managers in Vermont	2,930	24.35	1.08	$98,430
4	Fast Food and Counter Workers in Vermont	2,770	23.07	0.93	$37,190
5	Cashiers in Vermont	2,590	21.56	1.09	$36,880
6	Stockers and Order Fillers in Vermont	2,230	18.58	1.02	$37,780
7	Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners in Vermont	2,190	18.23	1.28	$41,130
8	Office Clerks, General in Vermont	1,720	14.29	0.90	$49,520
9	Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary in Vermont	1,520	12.65	1.38	$44,730
10	Waiters and Waitresses in Vermont	1,510	12.54	0.86	$61,620
11	Compliance Officers	1,440	12.01	4.48	$93,430
12	Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand in Vermont	1,330	11.10	0.59	$42,790
13	Customer Service Representatives in Vermont	1,250	10.39	0.62	$50,160
14	Home Health and Personal Care Aides in Vermont	1,230	10.27	0.37	$43,960
15	Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers in Vermont	1,210	10.05	0.76	$62,460
16	Business Operations Specialists, All Other in Vermont	1,200	9.99	1.43	$71,710
16	Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive in Vermont	1,200	10.02	0.91	$50,210
18	Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education in Vermont	1,140	9.45	1.06	$77,030
19	Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants in Vermont	1,080	9.00	1.45	$49,900
20	Nursing Assistants in Vermont	1,060	8.79	0.94	$48,190

Most concentrated occupations in Burlington-South Burlington, VT

The 10 occupations with the highest location quotient among those employing at least 100 people in the area. A quotient of 2.00 means the occupation's share of local jobs is twice its national share.

Rank	Occupation	Location quotient	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Median annual
1	Community and Social Service Specialists, All Other	11.96	1,000	8.29	$54,570
2	Surgeons, All Other	6.24	120	1.01	$453,590
3	Compliance Officers	4.48	1,440	12.01	$93,430
4	Computer Numerically Controlled Tool Operators	3.88	510	4.23	$58,640
5	Electrical Engineers	3.82	590	4.89	$112,200
6	Food Batchmakers	3.69	500	4.14	$50,180
7	Electrical and Electronic Engineering Technologists and Technicians	3.49	260	2.14	$66,690
8	Education Administrators, All Other	3.28	140	1.16	$82,070
9	Tree Trimmers and Pruners	3.23	140	1.15	$62,520
10	Biological Science Teachers, Postsecondary	3.17	120	1.02	$82,230

Occupation groups in Burlington-South Burlington, VT

Group	Median annual	Mean annual	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient
Management	$115,390	$135,320	10,310	85.83	1.20
Legal	$99,720	$121,510	930	7.75	0.92
Healthcare Practitioners and Technical	$97,560	$121,070	9,330	77.62	1.23
Computer and Mathematical	$96,330	$104,960	3,920	32.63	0.96
Architecture and Engineering	$88,560	$101,250	3,210	26.70	1.59
Business and Financial Operations	$81,620	$90,280	8,260	68.72	1.01
Life, Physical, and Social Science	$75,440	$82,720	1,630	13.56	1.43
Educational Instruction and Library	$65,770	$77,590	9,410	78.28	1.34
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair	$62,020	$65,700	4,350	36.19	0.92
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media	$61,790	$71,260	2,270	18.93	1.44
Construction and Extraction	$60,790	$64,490	4,600	38.24	0.93
Protective Service	$59,220	$63,990	1,960	16.33	0.67
Community and Social Service	$58,000	$61,600	3,440	28.65	1.67
Office and Administrative Support	$51,340	$54,100	11,510	95.82	0.84
Production	$50,180	$54,780	5,880	48.93	0.89
Healthcare Support	$47,410	$48,040	3,910	32.53	0.64
Transportation and Material Moving	$46,490	$49,410	8,510	70.83	0.81
Sales and Related	$44,160	$54,680	10,150	84.47	0.98
Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance	$43,110	$45,170	3,550	29.58	1.01
Personal Care and Service	$39,710	$46,590	2,720	22.66	1.08
Food Preparation and Serving Related	$39,210	$45,970	10,070	83.83	0.95
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry	$35,140	$42,450	230	1.91	0.68

Every occupation in Vermont, and the area's place among the state's metros, is on the state profile. All 396 published occupations for this area are in the wage explorer; other metros are on the metros hub.

Source and notes

Data: BLS OEWS May 2025, released 2026-05-15. Cross-industry estimates, all ownerships. BLS page: OEWS Burlington-South Burlington, VT estimates (area 15540).

*: Wage estimate not available.
**: Employment estimate not available.

Annual wages assume 2,080 hours a year at the hourly rate; occupations BLS publishes on one basis only show an en dash (–) on the other.
Employment is rounded to the nearest 10 by BLS. Where BLS withholds a cell, nothing is estimated in its place.
Jobs per 1,000 is the occupation's employment per 1,000 jobs in the Burlington-South Burlington, VT area; the location quotient is that share divided by the national share.
The concentration table keeps only occupations with employment of 100 or more in the area, so a quotient built on a handful of rounded jobs cannot top it.