Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators in Wisconsin
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$39,024
after federal, FICA and Wisconsin tax
Tax takes
$8,696
18.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$41,918
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
$47,720
Kept after tax
$39,024
Worth in national money
$41,918
State rank
23
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Wisconsin pays this job around $47,720 at the midpoint, 23 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 491 occupations Wisconsin reports figures for, this is number 353.
- Here is where Wisconsin does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $47,720 you keep $39,024, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $41,918 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $50,110, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For industrial truck and tractor operators the Wisconsin median is $47,720, ranking 23 of 51 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- In Wisconsin's occupational distribution, industrial truck and tractor operators sits at 353 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 industrial truck and tractor operators on $47,720 is $39,024. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $41,918 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 $50,110 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $38,960 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $47,720 |
| Top tenth earn over | $62,940 |
| This salary | $47,720 |
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 | $39,024 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $40,523 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$216 |
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 | $45,854 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$262 |
| 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 industrial truck and tractor operators in Wisconsin earn under $47,720 and half over. The published range runs $38,960 at the tenth percentile to $62,940 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $39,024 take-home in Wisconsin comes from $47,720. 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 353 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $41,918 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 353.
- Figures are distribution medians for industrial truck and tractor operators in Wisconsin, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $38,960 to $62,940; 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.
- Retained pay of $39,024, from $47,720, 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 353 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 $41,918, worked from $47,720, 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 353 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 $50,110, 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 $38,960 and the top tenth $62,940, so most people doing this work in Wisconsin sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $41,918.
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, $39,024 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 $50,110. 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 ($38,960 to $62,940) 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 $41,918 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 $39,024 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.