Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and Tenders in Wisconsin
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$37,893
after federal, FICA and Wisconsin tax
Tax takes
$8,327
18.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$40,702
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
$46,220
Kept after tax
$37,893
Worth in national money
$40,702
State rank
10
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Wisconsin is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $46,220, which ranks 10 of 50 states with published figures. That is about 6.94% above the national middle.
- Within Wisconsin this is lower-paid work. Of 491 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 376. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $46,220 you keep $37,893 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $40,702 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $46,270, since top earners drag the number up.
- Wisconsin ranks 10 of 50 states publishing a median for packaging and filling machine operators and tenders, at $46,220 — about 6.94% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Against every occupation Wisconsin reports, packaging and filling machine operators and tenders ranks 376 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 $37,893 after the full tax stack, from $46,220. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $40,702 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $46,270 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and Tenders
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $35,760 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $46,220 |
| Top tenth earn over | $57,490 |
| This salary | $46,220 |
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 | $37,893 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,318 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$242 |
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 | $44,446 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$292 |
| 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 $46,220. The published range is $35,760 up to $57,490, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Wisconsin the take-home figure of $37,893, from $46,220, 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 376 of 491 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $40,702, the adjusted value of that $46,220 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 376 of 491 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for packaging and filling machine operators and tenders in Wisconsin the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $35,760 to $57,490. 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 $37,893 from $46,220. 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 376 of 491 locally.
- This $40,702 adjusted figure, worked from $46,220, 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 376 of 491 in the state. The occupation ranks 376 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $35,760 at the bottom tenth to $57,490 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $40,702 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Wisconsin then takes its own share, leaving $37,893.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 50 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($35,760 to $57,490) 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 $40,702 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 $37,893 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.