English Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary in Wisconsin
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$62,331
after federal, FICA and Wisconsin tax
Tax takes
$18,469
22.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$66,953
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
$80,800
Kept after tax
$62,331
Worth in national money
$66,953
State rank
16
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. Wisconsin's middle earner gets $80,800, putting the state 16 of 49 — about 2.59% ahead of the national figure.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Wisconsin. It ranks 116 out of 491 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $80,800 you keep $62,331 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $66,953 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $92,220, since top earners drag the number up.
- For english language and literature teachers, postsecondary, Wisconsin sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $80,800, ranking 16 of 49 and running about 2.59% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Within Wisconsin, english language and literature teachers, postsecondary ranks 116 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.
- Retained pay in Wisconsin is $62,331 after the full tax stack, from $80,800. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $66,953 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $92,220 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: English Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $60,540 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $80,800 |
| Top tenth earn over | $127,910 |
| This salary | $80,800 |
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 | $62,331 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $65,673 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$629 |
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 | $76,049 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$869 |
| 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 english language and literature teachers, postsecondary in Wisconsin earn under $80,800 and half over. The published range runs $60,540 at the tenth percentile to $127,910 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Wisconsin the take-home figure of $62,331, from $80,800, 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 116 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 $66,953 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 116.
- Figures are distribution medians for english language and literature teachers, postsecondary in Wisconsin, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $60,540 to $127,910; 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.
- Take-home for Wisconsin is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $62,331 from $80,800. 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 116 of 491 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $66,953, worked from $80,800, 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 116 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 $92,220, 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?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $60,540, the highest tenth $127,910, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $66,953.
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 $62,331.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 49 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $92,220. 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 ($60,540) and the ninetieth ($127,910) 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 $66,953 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 $62,331 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.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.