Motor Vehicle Operators, All Other in Wisconsin
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$28,653
after federal, FICA and Wisconsin tax
Tax takes
$5,317
15.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$30,778
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
$33,970
Kept after tax
$28,653
Worth in national money
$30,778
State rank
37
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Wisconsin is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $33,970, ranking 37 of 51 states — about 8.63% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Measured against other jobs in Wisconsin, this one sits low: 470 of 491 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $33,970 you keep $28,653 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $30,778 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $37,550, since top earners drag the number up.
- Wisconsin ranks 37 of 51 for motor vehicle operators, all other, with a median of $33,970 — about 8.63% 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.
- Motor vehicle operators, all other occupies position 470 of 491 in Wisconsin's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Retained pay in Wisconsin is $28,653 after the full tax stack, from $33,970. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $30,778 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $37,550 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Motor Vehicle Operators, All Other
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $20,890 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $33,970 |
| Top tenth earn over | $59,110 |
| This salary | $33,970 |
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 | $28,653 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $29,475 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$446 |
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 | $32,948 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$540 |
| 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 motor vehicle operators, all other in Wisconsin earn under $33,970 and half over. The published range runs $20,890 at the tenth percentile to $59,110 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $28,653 take-home in Wisconsin comes from $33,970. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 470 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $30,778 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 470.
- Figures are distribution medians for motor vehicle operators, all other in Wisconsin, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $20,890 to $59,110; 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.
- Retained pay of $28,653, from $33,970, assumes a single Wisconsin filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 470 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 37 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $30,778, worked from $33,970, 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 470 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 $37,550 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $20,890 and the top tenth $59,110 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $30,778.
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 $28,653 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 $37,550. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($20,890) and the ninetieth ($59,110) 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 $30,778 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 $28,653 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.