Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants in Wisconsin
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$39,522
after federal, FICA and Wisconsin tax
Tax takes
$8,858
18.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$42,452
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
$48,380
Kept after tax
$39,522
Worth in national money
$42,452
State rank
11
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Wisconsin pays this job a middle wage of $48,380, ranking 11 of 51 states and sitting about 5.33% above the national middle.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 491 occupations Wisconsin reports figures for, this is number 335.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $48,380 you keep $39,522 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $42,452 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $49,170, since top earners drag the number up.
- Wisconsin's median for medical secretaries and administrative assistants is $48,380, about 5.33% above the national figure and 11 of 51 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- In Wisconsin's occupational distribution, medical secretaries and administrative assistants sits at 335 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 $39,522 after the full tax stack, from $48,380. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $42,452 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $49,170 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $39,640 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $48,380 |
| Top tenth earn over | $58,190 |
| This salary | $48,380 |
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 | $39,522 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $41,053 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$205 |
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 | $46,474 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$248 |
| 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 $48,380. The published range is $39,640 up to $58,190, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Wisconsin's $39,522, worked from $48,380. 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 335 of 491.
- One number stands for prices across all of Wisconsin, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $42,452, the adjusted value of that $48,380 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 335 of 491 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for medical secretaries and administrative assistants in Wisconsin the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $39,640 to $58,190. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Wisconsin take-home of $39,522, on $48,380 for work ranking 335 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 335 of 491 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Wisconsin, so $42,452 — the adjusted value of that $48,380 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 335 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $39,640 at the tenth percentile, $58,190 at the ninetieth.
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 $42,452 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 $39,522 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 ($39,640 to $58,190) 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 $42,452 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 $39,522 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.