Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators in Wisconsin
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$54,743
after federal, FICA and Wisconsin tax
Tax takes
$14,277
20.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$58,802
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
$69,020
Kept after tax
$54,743
Worth in national money
$58,802
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 $69,020, which ranks 10 of 50 states with published figures. That is about 29.4% above the national middle.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 491 occupations Wisconsin reports figures for, this is number 172.
- Here is where Wisconsin does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $69,020 you keep $54,743, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $58,802 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $68,570, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- Wisconsin ranks 10 of 50 states publishing a median for paving, surfacing, and tamping equipment operators, at $69,020 — about 29.4% 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.
- In Wisconsin's occupational distribution, paving, surfacing, and tamping equipment operators sits at 172 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.
- After federal, FICA and Wisconsin income tax, retained pay for paving, surfacing, and tamping equipment operators on $69,020 is $54,743. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $58,802 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 $68,570 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
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Pay band: Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,440 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $69,020 |
| Top tenth earn over | $92,150 |
| This salary | $69,020 |
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 | $54,743 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $57,386 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$252 |
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 | $65,417 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$348 |
| 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 $69,020. The published range is $37,440 up to $92,150, 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 $54,743, worked from $69,020. 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 172 of 491.
- One number stands for prices across all of Wisconsin, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $58,802, the adjusted value of that $69,020 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 172 of 491 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for paving, surfacing, and tamping equipment operators in Wisconsin the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $37,440 to $92,150. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Wisconsin take-home of $54,743, on $69,020 for work ranking 172 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 172 of 491 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Wisconsin, so $58,802 — the adjusted value of that $69,020 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 172 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $37,440 at the bottom tenth to $92,150 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $58,802 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Wisconsin's own levy, $54,743 remains.
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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($37,440) and the ninetieth ($92,150) 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 $58,802 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 $54,743 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.