Animal Caretakers in Wisconsin
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$25,780
after federal, FICA and Wisconsin tax
Tax takes
$4,380
14.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$27,691
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
$30,160
Kept after tax
$25,780
Worth in national money
$27,691
State rank
41
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Wisconsin pays animal caretakers a middle wage of $30,160, 41 of 51 states and about 14.71% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within Wisconsin this is lower-paid work. Of 491 occupations the state publishes figures for, animal caretakers ranks 479. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Here is where Wisconsin does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $30,160 you keep $25,780, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $27,691 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $34,330, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Wisconsin's $30,160 median for animal caretakers places it 41 of 51 states, about 14.71% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Against every occupation Wisconsin reports, animal caretakers ranks 479 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.
- After federal, FICA and Wisconsin income tax, retained pay for animal caretakers on $30,160 is $25,780. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $27,691 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 $34,330 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Animal Caretakers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $23,920 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $30,160 |
| Top tenth earn over | $47,700 |
| This salary | $30,160 |
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 | $25,780 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $26,414 |
| 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 | $29,371 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$617 |
| 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 animal caretakers in Wisconsin earn under $30,160 and half over. The published range runs $23,920 at the tenth percentile to $47,700 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Wisconsin's $25,780, worked from $30,160. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 479 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $27,691 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 479.
- Figures are distribution medians for animal caretakers in Wisconsin, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $23,920 to $47,700; 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.
- The Wisconsin take-home of $25,780, on $30,160 for work ranking 479 of 491 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 479 of 491 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $27,691, worked from $30,160, 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 479 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $34,330 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $23,920 at the bottom tenth to $47,700 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Wisconsin is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $27,691 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Wisconsin then takes its own share, leaving $25,780.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
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 $34,330. 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 ($23,920) and the ninetieth ($47,700) 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 $27,691 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 $25,780 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.