Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education in Wisconsin
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$49,183
after federal, FICA and Wisconsin tax
Tax takes
$12,027
19.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$52,830
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
$61,210
Kept after tax
$49,183
Worth in national money
$52,830
State rank
32
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Wisconsin is 32 of 51 states for this job, with a middle wage of $61,210. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 237 among 491 occupations Wisconsin publishes pay for.
- Here is where Wisconsin does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $61,210 you keep $49,183, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $52,830 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $65,960, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Wisconsin ranks 32 of 51 for elementary school teachers, except special education at $61,210. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Position 237 of 491 in Wisconsin places elementary school teachers, except special education in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- After federal, FICA and Wisconsin income tax, retained pay for elementary school teachers, except special education on $61,210 is $49,183. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $52,830 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 $65,960 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $48,610 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $61,210 |
| Top tenth earn over | $84,470 |
| This salary | $61,210 |
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 | $49,183 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $51,362 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$25 |
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 | $58,498 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$31 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of elementary school teachers, except special education in Wisconsin earn under $61,210 and half over. The published range runs $48,610 at the tenth percentile to $84,470 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $49,183 take-home in Wisconsin comes from $61,210. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 237 of 491.
- Two cautions on $52,830, the adjusted value of that $61,210 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Wisconsin. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 237 of 491 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for elementary school teachers, except special education in Wisconsin, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $48,610 to $84,470; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Retained pay of $49,183, from $61,210, assumes a single Wisconsin filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 237 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 32 of 51 for it.
- This $52,830 adjusted figure, worked from $61,210, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 237 of 491 in the state. The occupation ranks 237 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 $65,960, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $48,610 at the bottom tenth to $84,470 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $52,830.
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 $49,183 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.
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 $65,960. 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 ($48,610 to $84,470) 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 $52,830 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 $49,183 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.