Highway Maintenance Workers in Wisconsin
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$46,777
after federal, FICA and Wisconsin tax
Tax takes
$11,223
19.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$50,246
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
$58,000
Kept after tax
$46,777
Worth in national money
$50,246
State rank
12
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Wisconsin is one of the better-paying states for highway maintenance workers. The middle earner takes $58,000, which ranks 12 of 49 states with published figures. That is about 15.4% above the national middle.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Highway maintenance workers ranks 277 among 491 occupations Wisconsin publishes pay for.
- Here is where Wisconsin does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $58,000 you keep $46,777, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $50,246 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $56,080, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- Wisconsin ranks 12 of 49 states publishing a median for highway maintenance workers, at $58,000 — about 15.4% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Position 277 of 491 in Wisconsin places highway maintenance workers 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 highway maintenance workers on $58,000 is $46,777. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $50,246 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 $56,080 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
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Pay band: Highway Maintenance Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $42,970 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $58,000 |
| Top tenth earn over | $66,150 |
| This salary | $58,000 |
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 | $46,777 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $48,783 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$45 |
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 | $55,504 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$54 |
| 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 highway maintenance workers in Wisconsin earn under $58,000 and half over. The published range runs $42,970 at the tenth percentile to $66,150 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Wisconsin the take-home figure of $46,777, from $58,000, 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 277 of 491 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $50,246, the adjusted value of that $58,000 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 277 of 491 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for highway maintenance workers in Wisconsin, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $42,970 to $66,150; 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 $46,777 from $58,000. 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 277 of 491 locally.
- This $50,246 adjusted figure, worked from $58,000, 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 277 of 491 in the state. The occupation ranks 277 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 $56,080, 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?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $42,970 and the top tenth $66,150, 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 $50,246 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $46,777.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 49 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release 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 $56,080. 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 ($42,970 to $66,150) 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 $50,246 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 $46,777 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.