Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers in Wisconsin
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$40,449
after federal, FICA and Wisconsin tax
Tax takes
$9,161
18.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$43,449
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
$49,610
Kept after tax
$40,449
Worth in national money
$43,449
State rank
26
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Wisconsin is 26 of 51 states for this job, with a middle wage of $49,610. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 491 occupations Wisconsin reports figures for, this is number 318.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $49,610 you keep $40,449 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $43,449 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $52,580, since top earners drag the number up.
- Wisconsin ranks 26 of 51 for inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers at $49,610. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- In Wisconsin's occupational distribution, inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers sits at 318 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.
- Retained pay in Wisconsin is $40,449 after the full tax stack, from $49,610. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $43,449 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $52,580 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,290 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $49,610 |
| Top tenth earn over | $69,270 |
| This salary | $49,610 |
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 | $40,449 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $42,042 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$185 |
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 | $47,628 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$224 |
| 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 inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers in Wisconsin earn under $49,610 and half over. The published range runs $37,290 at the tenth percentile to $69,270 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Wisconsin the take-home figure of $40,449, from $49,610, 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 318 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 $43,449 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 318.
- Figures are distribution medians for inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers in Wisconsin, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $37,290 to $69,270; 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 $40,449 from $49,610. 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 318 of 491 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $43,449, worked from $49,610, 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 318 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 $52,580, 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?
The range here is narrow. From $37,290 at the bottom tenth to $69,270 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $43,449 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Wisconsin adds its own income tax on top — which is why $40,449 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 $52,580. 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 ($37,290 to $69,270) 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 $43,449 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 $40,449 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.