Art, Drama, and Music Teachers, Postsecondary in Wisconsin
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$60,244
after federal, FICA and Wisconsin tax
Tax takes
$17,316
22.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$64,711
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
$77,560
Kept after tax
$60,244
Worth in national money
$64,711
State rank
22
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Wisconsin is 22 of 49 states for this job, with a middle wage of $77,560. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 491 occupations Wisconsin reports figures for, this is number 140.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $77,560 you keep $60,244 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $64,711 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $76,750.
- Wisconsin ranks 22 of 49 for art, drama, and music teachers, postsecondary at $77,560. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- In Wisconsin's occupational distribution, art, drama, and music teachers, postsecondary sits at 140 of 491 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Retained pay in Wisconsin is $60,244 after the full tax stack, from $77,560. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $64,711 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $76,750 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Art, Drama, and Music Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $51,280 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $77,560 |
| Top tenth earn over | $99,530 |
| This salary | $77,560 |
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 | $60,244 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $63,393 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$526 |
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 | $73,083 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$726 |
| 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 art, drama, and music teachers, postsecondary in Wisconsin earn under $77,560 and half over. The published range runs $51,280 at the tenth percentile to $99,530 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 $60,244, worked from $77,560. 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 140 of 491.
- One number stands for prices across all of Wisconsin, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $64,711, the adjusted value of that $77,560 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 140 of 491 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for art, drama, and music teachers, postsecondary in Wisconsin, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $51,280 to $99,530; 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 $60,244, on $77,560 for work ranking 140 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 140 of 491 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Wisconsin, so $64,711 — the adjusted value of that $77,560 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 140 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $51,280 and the top tenth $99,530, so most people doing this work in Wisconsin sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $64,711 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Wisconsin adds its own income tax on top — which is why $60,244 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 49 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($51,280 to $99,530) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Wisconsin rather than a national figure.
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 $64,711 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 $60,244 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.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.