Commercial Pilots in Wisconsin
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$93,771
after federal, FICA and Wisconsin tax
Tax takes
$36,089
27.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$100,724
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
$129,860
Kept after tax
$93,771
Worth in national money
$100,724
State rank
15
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Wisconsin is one of the better-paying states for commercial pilots. The middle earner takes $129,860, which ranks 15 of 48 states with published figures. That is about 5.39% above the national middle.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 491 occupations Wisconsin reports, commercial pilots comes in at 19 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Here is where Wisconsin does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $129,860 you keep $93,771, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $100,724 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $156,970, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Wisconsin ranks 15 of 48 states publishing a median for commercial pilots, at $129,860 — about 5.39% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Commercial pilots ranks 19 of 491 occupations by median in Wisconsin, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- After federal, FICA and Wisconsin income tax, retained pay for commercial pilots on $129,860 is $93,771. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $100,724 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 $156,970 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Commercial Pilots
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $66,390 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $129,860 |
| Top tenth earn over | $269,990 |
| This salary | $129,860 |
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 | $93,771 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $100,025 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,209 |
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 | $120,741 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,141 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $129,860 as a midpoint for Wisconsin, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $66,390 and the ninetieth is $269,990 — 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 $93,771, worked from $129,860. 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 19 of 491.
- One number stands for prices across all of Wisconsin, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $100,724, the adjusted value of that $129,860 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 19 of 491 in the state.
- The Wisconsin median of $129,860 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $66,390 to $269,990. 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 $93,771, on $129,860 for work ranking 19 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 19 of 491 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Wisconsin, so $100,724 — the adjusted value of that $129,860 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 19 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 $156,970 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 $66,390 at the bottom tenth to $269,990 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $100,724 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 $93,771 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 48 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release 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 $156,970. 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 ($66,390) and the ninetieth ($269,990) 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 $100,724 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 $93,771 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.