Carpenters in Wisconsin
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$49,518
after federal, FICA and Wisconsin tax
Tax takes
$12,142
19.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$53,190
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
$61,660
Kept after tax
$49,518
Worth in national money
$53,190
State rank
20
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Wisconsin sits in the middle of the pack for carpenters. The median is $61,660, ranking 20 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Against other work in Wisconsin, this sits in the middle: 234 of 491 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Wisconsin is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $61,660 the take-home is $49,518; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $53,190 would nationally. The average comes to $65,300, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Wisconsin occupies the middle band for carpenters: a median of $61,660, ranking 20 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Carpenters ranks 234 of 491 occupations in Wisconsin by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Post-tax income for carpenters in Wisconsin, on $61,660, is $49,518 — equivalent to $53,190 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $65,300 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Carpenters
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $45,110 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $61,660 |
| Top tenth earn over | $93,040 |
| This salary | $61,660 |
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 | $49,518 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $51,724 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$38 |
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 | $58,915 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$46 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $61,660 as a midpoint for Wisconsin, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $45,110 and the ninetieth is $93,040 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Wisconsin the take-home figure of $49,518, from $61,660, 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 234 of 491 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $53,190, the adjusted value of that $61,660 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Wisconsin. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 234 of 491 locally.
- The Wisconsin median of $61,660 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $45,110 to $93,040. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Wisconsin is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $49,518 from $61,660. 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 234 of 491 locally.
- This $53,190 adjusted figure, worked from $61,660, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 234 of 491 in the state. The occupation ranks 234 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 $65,300, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $45,110, the highest tenth $93,040, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $53,190 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $49,518.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 $65,300. 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 ($45,110) and the ninetieth ($93,040) 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 $53,190 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 $49,518 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.