Civil Engineers in Wisconsin
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$71,220
after federal, FICA and Wisconsin tax
Tax takes
$23,380
24.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$76,501
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
$94,600
Kept after tax
$71,220
Worth in national money
$76,501
State rank
42
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Wisconsin pays civil engineers a middle wage of $94,600, 42 of 51 states and about 6.19% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Wisconsin. It ranks 73 out of 491 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Wisconsin is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $94,600 the take-home is $71,220; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $76,501 would nationally. The average comes to $97,330, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Wisconsin's $94,600 median for civil engineers places it 42 of 51 states, about 6.19% 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.
- Within Wisconsin, civil engineers ranks 73 of 491 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- Post-tax income for civil engineers in Wisconsin, on $94,600, is $71,220 — equivalent to $76,501 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 $97,330 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Civil Engineers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $67,590 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $94,600 |
| Top tenth earn over | $131,040 |
| This salary | $94,600 |
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 | $71,220 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $75,381 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,072 |
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 | $88,685 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,480 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $94,600 as a midpoint for Wisconsin, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $67,590 and the ninetieth is $131,040 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Wisconsin the take-home figure of $71,220, from $94,600, 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 73 of 491 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $76,501, the adjusted value of that $94,600 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 73 of 491 locally.
- The Wisconsin median of $94,600 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $67,590 to $131,040. 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 $71,220 from $94,600. 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 73 of 491 locally.
- This $76,501 adjusted figure, worked from $94,600, 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 73 of 491 in the state. The occupation ranks 73 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $67,590 at the bottom tenth to $131,040 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $76,501 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 $71,220.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($67,590 to $131,040) 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 $76,501 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 $71,220 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.