Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers in Wisconsin
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$23,422
after federal, FICA and Wisconsin tax
Tax takes
$3,658
13.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$25,159
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
$27,080
Kept after tax
$23,422
Worth in national money
$25,159
State rank
39
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Wisconsin is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $27,080, ranking 39 of 51 states — about 20.31% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Measured against other jobs in Wisconsin, this one sits low: 490 of 491 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Here is where Wisconsin does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $27,080 you keep $23,422, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $25,159 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $27,510, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Wisconsin ranks 39 of 51 for dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers, with a median of $27,080 — about 20.31% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers occupies position 490 of 491 in Wisconsin's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- After federal, FICA and Wisconsin income tax, retained pay for dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers on $27,080 is $23,422. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $25,159 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 $27,510 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $16,800 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $27,080 |
| Top tenth earn over | $38,440 |
| This salary | $27,080 |
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 | $23,422 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $23,910 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$553 |
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 | $26,487 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$653 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $27,080 as a midpoint for Wisconsin, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $16,800 and the ninetieth is $38,440 — 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 $23,422, worked from $27,080. 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 490 of 491.
- One number stands for prices across all of Wisconsin, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $25,159, the adjusted value of that $27,080 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 490 of 491 in the state.
- The Wisconsin median of $27,080 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $16,800 to $38,440. 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 $23,422, on $27,080 for work ranking 490 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 490 of 491 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Wisconsin, so $25,159 — the adjusted value of that $27,080 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 490 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $16,800, the highest tenth $38,440, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $25,159 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 $23,422.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($16,800) and the ninetieth ($38,440) 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 $25,159 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 $23,422 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.