Court, Municipal, and License Clerks in Wisconsin
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$42,192
after federal, FICA and Wisconsin tax
Tax takes
$9,728
18.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$45,320
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
$51,920
Kept after tax
$42,192
Worth in national money
$45,320
State rank
16
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Wisconsin pays court, municipal, and license clerks a middle wage of $51,920, ranking 16 of 51 states and sitting about 6.61% above the national middle.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 491 occupations Wisconsin reports figures for, this is number 304.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $51,920 you keep $42,192 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $45,320 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $54,660, since top earners drag the number up.
- Wisconsin's median for court, municipal, and license clerks is $51,920, about 6.61% above the national figure and 16 of 51 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- In Wisconsin's occupational distribution, court, municipal, and license clerks sits at 304 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 $42,192 after the full tax stack, from $51,920. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $45,320 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $54,660 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Court, Municipal, and License Clerks
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $44,100 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $51,920 |
| Top tenth earn over | $75,390 |
| This salary | $51,920 |
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 | $42,192 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $43,898 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$146 |
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 | $49,797 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$177 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Wisconsin earn less than $51,920. The published range is $44,100 up to $75,390, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Wisconsin the take-home figure of $42,192, from $51,920, 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 304 of 491 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Wisconsin, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $45,320, the adjusted value of that $51,920 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 304 of 491 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for court, municipal, and license clerks in Wisconsin the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $44,100 to $75,390. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Wisconsin is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $42,192 from $51,920. 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 304 of 491 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Wisconsin, so $45,320 — the adjusted value of that $51,920 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 304 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 $54,660, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $44,100 and the top tenth $75,390, so most people doing this work in Wisconsin sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $45,320.
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 $42,192.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like 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 $54,660. 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 ($44,100 to $75,390) 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 $45,320 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 $42,192 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.