Driver/Sales Workers in Wisconsin
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$23,798
after federal, FICA and Wisconsin tax
Tax takes
$3,762
13.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$25,563
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
$27,560
Kept after tax
$23,798
Worth in national money
$25,563
State rank
48
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Wisconsin is among the lower-paying states for driver/sales workers. The middle earner takes $27,560, ranking 48 of 51 states — about 28.91% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Within Wisconsin this is lower-paid work. Of 491 occupations the state publishes figures for, driver/sales workers ranks 489. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Wisconsin is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $27,560 the take-home is $23,798; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $25,563 would nationally. The average comes to $34,310, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Wisconsin ranks 48 of 51 for driver/sales workers, with a median of $27,560 — about 28.91% 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.
- Against every occupation Wisconsin reports, driver/sales workers ranks 489 of 491, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Post-tax income for driver/sales workers in Wisconsin, on $27,560, is $23,798 — equivalent to $25,563 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 $34,310 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Driver/Sales Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $20,860 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $27,560 |
| Top tenth earn over | $57,850 |
| This salary | $27,560 |
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 | $23,798 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $24,306 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$551 |
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 | $26,944 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$650 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $27,560 as a midpoint for Wisconsin, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $20,860 and the ninetieth is $57,850 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Wisconsin the take-home figure of $23,798, from $27,560, 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 489 of 491 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $25,563 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 489.
- The Wisconsin median of $27,560 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $20,860 to $57,850. 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 $23,798 from $27,560. 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 489 of 491 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $25,563, worked from $27,560, 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 489 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $34,310, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $20,860 at the bottom tenth to $57,850 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 $25,563 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Wisconsin's own levy, $23,798 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 $34,310. 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 ($20,860) and the ninetieth ($57,850) 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 $25,563 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 $23,798 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.