Library Assistants, Clerical in Wisconsin
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$32,907
after federal, FICA and Wisconsin tax
Tax takes
$6,703
16.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$35,347
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
$39,610
Kept after tax
$32,907
Worth in national money
$35,347
State rank
11
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Wisconsin pays library assistants, clerical a middle wage of $39,610, ranking 11 of 50 states and sitting about 7.32% above the national middle.
- Within Wisconsin this is lower-paid work. Of 491 occupations the state publishes figures for, library assistants, clerical ranks 424. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $39,610 you keep $32,907 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $35,347 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $41,170, since top earners drag the number up.
- Wisconsin's median for library assistants, clerical is $39,610, about 7.32% above the national figure and 11 of 50 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Against every occupation Wisconsin reports, library assistants, clerical ranks 424 of 491, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Retained pay in Wisconsin is $32,907 after the full tax stack, from $39,610. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $35,347 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $41,170 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Library Assistants, Clerical
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $30,740 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $39,610 |
| Top tenth earn over | $51,080 |
| This salary | $39,610 |
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 | $32,907 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $34,007 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$352 |
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 | $38,242 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$426 |
| 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 $39,610. The published range is $30,740 up to $51,080, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Wisconsin the take-home figure of $32,907, from $39,610, 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 424 of 491 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Wisconsin, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $35,347, the adjusted value of that $39,610 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 424 of 491 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for library assistants, clerical in Wisconsin the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $30,740 to $51,080. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Wisconsin is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $32,907 from $39,610. 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 424 of 491 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Wisconsin, so $35,347 — the adjusted value of that $39,610 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 424 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 $41,170 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $30,740 and the top tenth $51,080, 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 $35,347 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 $32,907 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 50 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $41,170. 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 ($30,740 to $51,080) 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 $35,347 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 $32,907 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.