Ophthalmic Medical Technicians in Wisconsin
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$45,586
after federal, FICA and Wisconsin tax
Tax takes
$10,834
19.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$48,966
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
$56,420
Kept after tax
$45,586
Worth in national money
$48,966
State rank
3
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for ophthalmic medical technicians is strong here. Wisconsin's middle earner gets $56,420, putting the state 3 of 51 — about 23.81% ahead of the national figure.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Ophthalmic medical technicians ranks 285 among 491 occupations Wisconsin publishes pay for.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $56,420 you keep $45,586 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $48,966 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $54,920.
- For ophthalmic medical technicians, Wisconsin sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $56,420, ranking 3 of 51 and running about 23.81% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Position 285 of 491 in Wisconsin places ophthalmic medical technicians 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 $45,586 after the full tax stack, from $56,420. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $48,966 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $54,920 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Ophthalmic Medical Technicians
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $40,910 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $56,420 |
| Top tenth earn over | $66,560 |
| This salary | $56,420 |
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 | $45,586 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $47,513 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$71 |
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 | $54,021 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$86 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $56,420 as a midpoint for Wisconsin, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $40,910 and the ninetieth is $66,560 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Wisconsin the take-home figure of $45,586, from $56,420, 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 285 of 491 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $48,966, the adjusted value of that $56,420 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 285 of 491 locally.
- The Wisconsin median of $56,420 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $40,910 to $66,560. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Wisconsin is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $45,586 from $56,420. 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 285 of 491 locally.
- This $48,966 adjusted figure, worked from $56,420, 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 285 of 491 in the state. The occupation ranks 285 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $40,910 at the tenth percentile, $66,560 at the ninetieth.
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 $48,966.
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 $45,586 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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($40,910 to $66,560) 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 $48,966 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 $45,586 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.