Detectives and Criminal Investigators in Wisconsin
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$68,927
after federal, FICA and Wisconsin tax
Tax takes
$22,113
24.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$74,038
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
$91,040
Kept after tax
$68,927
Worth in national money
$74,038
State rank
23
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Wisconsin sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $91,040, ranking 23 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Wisconsin. It ranks 80 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 $91,040 the take-home is $68,927; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $74,038 would nationally. The average lands at $90,620, below the middle of the range.
- Wisconsin occupies the middle band for detectives and criminal investigators: a median of $91,040, ranking 23 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.
- Within Wisconsin, detectives and criminal investigators ranks 80 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 detectives and criminal investigators in Wisconsin, on $91,040, is $68,927 — equivalent to $74,038 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 $90,620 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Detectives and Criminal Investigators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $70,060 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $91,040 |
| Top tenth earn over | $103,130 |
| This salary | $91,040 |
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 | $68,927 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $72,877 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$958 |
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 | $85,425 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,323 |
| 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 $91,040. The published range is $70,060 up to $103,130, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Wisconsin's $68,927, worked from $91,040. 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 80 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $74,038 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 80.
- Reported values are medians; for detectives and criminal investigators in Wisconsin the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $70,060 to $103,130. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Wisconsin take-home of $68,927, on $91,040 for work ranking 80 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 80 of 491 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $74,038, worked from $91,040, 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 80 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $70,060 at the bottom tenth to $103,130 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 $74,038 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 $68,927 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($70,060 to $103,130) 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 $74,038 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 $68,927 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.