Mechanical Engineers in Wisconsin
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$72,038
after federal, FICA and Wisconsin tax
Tax takes
$23,832
24.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$77,379
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
$95,870
Kept after tax
$72,038
Worth in national money
$77,379
State rank
44
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Wisconsin is among the lower-paying states for mechanical engineers. The middle earner takes $95,870, ranking 44 of 51 states — about 7.91% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 491 occupations Wisconsin reports, mechanical engineers comes in at 67 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Here is where Wisconsin does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $95,870 you keep $72,038, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $77,379 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $96,750, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Wisconsin ranks 44 of 51 for mechanical engineers, with a median of $95,870 — about 7.91% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Mechanical engineers ranks 67 of 491 occupations by median in Wisconsin, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- After federal, FICA and Wisconsin income tax, retained pay for mechanical engineers on $95,870 is $72,038. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $77,379 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 $96,750 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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: Mechanical Engineers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $64,850 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $95,870 |
| Top tenth earn over | $130,360 |
| This salary | $95,870 |
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 | $72,038 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $76,275 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,112 |
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 | $89,848 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,537 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $95,870 as a midpoint for Wisconsin, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $64,850 and the ninetieth is $130,360 — 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 $72,038, worked from $95,870. 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 67 of 491.
- Two cautions on $77,379, the adjusted value of that $95,870 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 67 of 491 locally.
- The Wisconsin median of $95,870 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $64,850 to $130,360. 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 $72,038, on $95,870 for work ranking 67 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 67 of 491 in the state.
- This $77,379 adjusted figure, worked from $95,870, 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 67 of 491 in the state. The occupation ranks 67 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $64,850 at the bottom tenth to $130,360 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $77,379.
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 $72,038 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($64,850 to $130,360) 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 $77,379 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 $72,038 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.