File Clerks in Wisconsin
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$37,071
after federal, FICA and Wisconsin tax
Tax takes
$8,059
17.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$39,819
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
$45,130
Kept after tax
$37,071
Worth in national money
$39,819
State rank
13
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for file clerks is strong here. Wisconsin's middle earner gets $45,130, putting the state 13 of 49 — about 3.51% ahead of the national figure.
- Within Wisconsin this is lower-paid work. Of 491 occupations the state publishes figures for, file clerks ranks 388. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $45,130 you keep $37,071 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $39,819 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $45,100.
- For file clerks, Wisconsin sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $45,130, ranking 13 of 49 and running about 3.51% 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.
- Against every occupation Wisconsin reports, file clerks ranks 388 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.
- Retained pay in Wisconsin is $37,071 after the full tax stack, from $45,130. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $39,819 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $45,100 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
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Pay band: File Clerks
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,370 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $45,130 |
| Top tenth earn over | $61,160 |
| This salary | $45,130 |
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 | $37,071 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $38,442 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$260 |
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 | $43,423 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$314 |
| 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 file clerks in Wisconsin earn under $45,130 and half over. The published range runs $31,370 at the tenth percentile to $61,160 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Wisconsin the take-home figure of $37,071, from $45,130, 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 388 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 $39,819 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 388.
- Figures are distribution medians for file clerks in Wisconsin, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $31,370 to $61,160; 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 $37,071 from $45,130. 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 388 of 491 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $39,819, worked from $45,130, 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 388 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $31,370 and the top tenth $61,160, so most people doing this work in Wisconsin sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $39,819 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, $37,071 remains.
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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($31,370 to $61,160) 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 $39,819 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 $37,071 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.