Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers in Wisconsin
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$49,555
after federal, FICA and Wisconsin tax
Tax takes
$12,155
19.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$53,230
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
$61,710
Kept after tax
$49,555
Worth in national money
$53,230
State rank
23
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Wisconsin sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $61,710, ranking 23 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 491 occupations Wisconsin reports figures for, this is number 233.
- Here is where Wisconsin does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $61,710 you keep $49,555, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $53,230 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $67,410, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Wisconsin occupies the middle band for heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers: a median of $61,710, ranking 23 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- In Wisconsin's occupational distribution, heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers sits at 233 of 491 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- After federal, FICA and Wisconsin income tax, retained pay for heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers on $61,710 is $49,555. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $53,230 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 $67,410 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $45,930 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $61,710 |
| Top tenth earn over | $98,070 |
| This salary | $61,710 |
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 | $49,555 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $51,764 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$39 |
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 | $58,961 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$47 |
| 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 $61,710. The published range is $45,930 up to $98,070, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $49,555 take-home in Wisconsin comes from $61,710. 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 233 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $53,230 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 233.
- Reported values are medians; for heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers in Wisconsin the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $45,930 to $98,070. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $49,555, from $61,710, 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 233 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 23 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $53,230, worked from $61,710, 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 233 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $67,410 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $45,930 at the bottom tenth to $98,070 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 $53,230 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, $49,555 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 $67,410. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($45,930) and the ninetieth ($98,070) 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 $53,230 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 $49,555 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.