Painters, Construction and Maintenance in Wisconsin
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$40,811
after federal, FICA and Wisconsin tax
Tax takes
$9,279
18.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$43,838
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
$50,090
Kept after tax
$40,811
Worth in national money
$43,838
State rank
23
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Wisconsin pays painters, construction and maintenance around $50,090 at the midpoint, 23 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Painters, construction and maintenance ranks 316 among 491 occupations Wisconsin publishes pay for.
- Here is where Wisconsin does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $50,090 you keep $40,811, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $43,838 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $54,170, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For painters, construction and maintenance the Wisconsin median is $50,090, ranking 23 of 51 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Position 316 of 491 in Wisconsin places painters, construction and maintenance 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.
- After federal, FICA and Wisconsin income tax, retained pay for painters, construction and maintenance on $50,090 is $40,811. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $43,838 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 $54,170 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Painters, Construction and Maintenance
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,870 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $50,090 |
| Top tenth earn over | $75,040 |
| This salary | $50,090 |
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 | $40,811 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $42,427 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$177 |
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 | $48,079 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$214 |
| 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 painters, construction and maintenance in Wisconsin earn under $50,090 and half over. The published range runs $37,870 at the tenth percentile to $75,040 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Wisconsin's $40,811, worked from $50,090. 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 316 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $43,838 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 316.
- Figures are distribution medians for painters, construction and maintenance in Wisconsin, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $37,870 to $75,040; 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.
- The Wisconsin take-home of $40,811, on $50,090 for work ranking 316 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 316 of 491 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $43,838, worked from $50,090, 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 316 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $54,170, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $37,870 and the top tenth $75,040 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Wisconsin is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $43,838 in national terms.
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 $40,811 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 $54,170. 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 ($37,870) and the ninetieth ($75,040) 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 $43,838 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 $40,811 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.