Cabinetmakers and Bench Carpenters in Wisconsin
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,323
after federal, FICA and Wisconsin tax
Tax takes
$8,467
18.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$41,164
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
$46,790
Kept after tax
$38,323
Worth in national money
$41,164
State rank
29
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Wisconsin is 29 of 49 states for this job, with a middle wage of $46,790. 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 370. 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 $46,790 you keep $38,323, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $41,164 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $48,880, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Wisconsin ranks 29 of 49 for cabinetmakers and bench carpenters at $46,790. 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, cabinetmakers and bench carpenters ranks 370 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 cabinetmakers and bench carpenters on $46,790 is $38,323. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $41,164 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 $48,880 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Cabinetmakers and Bench Carpenters
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $38,390 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $46,790 |
| Top tenth earn over | $61,040 |
| This salary | $46,790 |
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 | $38,323 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,776 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$232 |
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 | $44,981 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$281 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $46,790 as a midpoint for Wisconsin, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $38,390 and the ninetieth is $61,040 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Wisconsin's $38,323, worked from $46,790. 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 370 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $41,164 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 370.
- The Wisconsin median of $46,790 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $38,390 to $61,040. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Wisconsin take-home of $38,323, on $46,790 for work ranking 370 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 370 of 491 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $41,164, worked from $46,790, 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 370 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $48,880, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $38,390 at the bottom tenth to $61,040 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $41,164 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, $38,323 remains.
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.
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 $48,880. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($38,390 to $61,040) 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 $41,164 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 $38,323 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.