Vermont prevailing wage
State law, federal determinations, and how to find the rate that applies
- Vermont has its own prevailing-wage law (29 V.S.A. §161(b)), applying to public-works contracts over $100,000 state projects / $200,000 if ≥50% capital-financed, administered by Vermont Department of Labor.
- The U.S. Department of Labor has 48 active federal Davis-Bacon wage determinations covering 14 Vermont counties as of (latest revision date), each setting county rates by trade for federally funded construction.
- Market context: the average private construction worker in Vermont earned $1,528/week (≈ $38.20/hour) in Q4 2024, rank #33 of 51 states, per the BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages - an industry average, not a prevailing-wage rate.
State construction contracts only (not municipal); the rate is the VT DOL mean wage plus a 42.5% fringe; Agency of Transportation and Forests/Parks projects exempt (§161(d)).
How to find the required rate
- State or locally funded project: rates come from Vermont Department of Labor under 29 V.S.A. §161(b).
- Federally funded project: find the county in the Vermont determination index and open the official SAM.gov document for your construction type.
- Read the classification line - base rate plus fringe (how to read a determination); compute totals and overtime with the calculator.
Federal determinations at a glance
Building: 12 · Heavy: 8 · Highway: 14 · Residential: 14 - every determination and the counties it covers are listed in the Vermont wage-determination index, each with its full rate schedule mirrored. Service contracts: 10 active SCA determinations for Vermont.
What construction actually pays here
Separate from any required rate: BLS data puts the average private construction wage in Vermont at $1,528/week (+5.8% YoY) in Q4 2024 - details and history on Vermont construction wages.
Learn the system
What a prevailing wage is · The Davis-Bacon Act · Certified payroll · Fringe calculator
Data on this page is from U.S. government public-domain sources - free to reuse with credit and a link to prevailingwageindex.com.