Interpreters and Translators in Wisconsin
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$50,805
after federal, FICA and Wisconsin tax
Tax takes
$12,585
19.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$54,572
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
$63,390
Kept after tax
$50,805
Worth in national money
$54,572
State rank
15
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Wisconsin is one of the better-paying states for interpreters and translators. The middle earner takes $63,390, which ranks 15 of 47 states with published figures. That is about 5.35% above the national middle.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Interpreters and translators ranks 209 among 491 occupations Wisconsin publishes pay for.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $63,390 you keep $50,805 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $54,572 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $64,240, since top earners drag the number up.
- Wisconsin ranks 15 of 47 states publishing a median for interpreters and translators, at $63,390 — about 5.35% 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 209 of 491 in Wisconsin places interpreters and translators 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.
- Retained pay in Wisconsin is $50,805 after the full tax stack, from $63,390. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $54,572 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $64,240 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Interpreters and Translators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $40,390 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $63,390 |
| Top tenth earn over | $88,460 |
| This salary | $63,390 |
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 | $50,805 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $53,114 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$86 |
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 | $60,517 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$103 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $63,390 as a midpoint for Wisconsin, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $40,390 and the ninetieth is $88,460 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Wisconsin's $50,805, worked from $63,390. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 209 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $54,572 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 209.
- The Wisconsin median of $63,390 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $40,390 to $88,460. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Wisconsin take-home of $50,805, on $63,390 for work ranking 209 of 491 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 209 of 491 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $54,572, worked from $63,390, 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 209 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $40,390 and the top tenth $88,460 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $54,572 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 $50,805 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 47 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($40,390) and the ninetieth ($88,460) 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 $54,572 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 $50,805 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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.