Graphic Designers in Wisconsin
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$48,208
after federal, FICA and Wisconsin tax
Tax takes
$11,692
19.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$51,783
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
$59,900
Kept after tax
$48,208
Worth in national money
$51,783
State rank
27
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Wisconsin is 27 of 51 states for graphic designers, with a middle wage of $59,900. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Graphic designers ranks 253 among 491 occupations Wisconsin publishes pay for.
- Wisconsin is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $59,900 the take-home is $48,208; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $51,783 would nationally. The average comes to $62,410, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Wisconsin ranks 27 of 51 for graphic designers at $59,900. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Position 253 of 491 in Wisconsin places graphic designers 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.
- Post-tax income for graphic designers in Wisconsin, on $59,900, is $48,208 — equivalent to $51,783 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 $62,410 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Graphic Designers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $42,680 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $59,900 |
| Top tenth earn over | $85,050 |
| This salary | $59,900 |
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 | $48,208 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $50,310 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$11 |
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 | $57,285 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$13 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Wisconsin earn less than $59,900. The published range is $42,680 up to $85,050, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $48,208 take-home in Wisconsin comes from $59,900. 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 253 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $51,783 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 253.
- Reported values are medians; for graphic designers in Wisconsin the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $42,680 to $85,050. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $48,208, from $59,900, 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 253 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 27 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $51,783, worked from $59,900, 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 253 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 $62,410, 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?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $42,680 at the tenth percentile, $85,050 at the ninetieth.
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 $51,783.
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 $48,208.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
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 $62,410. 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 ($42,680 to $85,050) 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 $51,783 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 $48,208 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.