Amusement and Recreation Attendants in Wisconsin
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$25,795
after federal, FICA and Wisconsin tax
Tax takes
$4,385
14.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$27,708
Wisconsin costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Wisconsin — 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
$30,180
Kept after tax
$25,795
Worth in national money
$27,708
State rank
24
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Wisconsin is 24 of 51 states for this job, with a middle wage of $30,180. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within Wisconsin this is lower-paid work. Of 491 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 478. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $30,180 you keep $25,795 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $27,708 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $32,440, since top earners drag the number up.
- Wisconsin ranks 24 of 51 for amusement and recreation attendants at $30,180. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Against every occupation Wisconsin reports, amusement and recreation attendants ranks 478 of 491, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Retained pay in Wisconsin is $25,795 after the full tax stack, from $30,180. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $27,708 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $32,440 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Amusement and Recreation Attendants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $20,630 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $30,180 |
| Top tenth earn over | $47,050 |
| This salary | $30,180 |
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 Wisconsin | $25,795 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $26,430 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$510 |
The raise and the real gain point in opposite directions here.
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 | $29,390 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$616 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
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 amusement and recreation attendants in Wisconsin earn under $30,180 and half over. The published range runs $20,630 at the tenth percentile to $47,050 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Wisconsin the take-home figure of $25,795, from $30,180, 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 478 of 491 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $27,708 uses one figure for the whole of Wisconsin. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 491 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 478.
- Figures are distribution medians for amusement and recreation attendants in Wisconsin, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $20,630 to $47,050; 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 Wisconsin is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $25,795 from $30,180. 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 478 of 491 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $27,708, worked from $30,180, 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 Wisconsin address, on work sitting at 478 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $32,440, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $20,630 at the bottom tenth to $47,050 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Wisconsin sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $27,708 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Wisconsin's own levy, $25,795 remains.
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.
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 Wisconsin is $32,440. 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 ($20,630) and the ninetieth ($47,050) 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?
Wisconsin'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 $27,708 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 $25,795 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Wisconsin 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.