Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks in Wisconsin
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$47,765
after federal, FICA and Wisconsin tax
Tax takes
$11,545
19.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$51,307
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
$59,310
Kept after tax
$47,765
Worth in national money
$51,307
State rank
19
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Wisconsin pays payroll and timekeeping clerks around $59,310 at the midpoint, 19 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against other work in Wisconsin, this sits in the middle: 261 of 491 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $59,310 you keep $47,765 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $51,307 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $59,710, since top earners drag the number up.
- For payroll and timekeeping clerks the Wisconsin median is $59,310, ranking 19 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.
- Payroll and timekeeping clerks ranks 261 of 491 occupations in Wisconsin by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Retained pay in Wisconsin is $47,765 after the full tax stack, from $59,310. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $51,307 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $59,710 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $42,730 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $59,310 |
| Top tenth earn over | $76,830 |
| This salary | $59,310 |
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 | $47,765 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $49,836 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$23 |
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 | $56,734 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$27 |
| 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 $59,310. The published range is $42,730 up to $76,830, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Wisconsin the take-home figure of $47,765, from $59,310, 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 261 of 491 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $51,307 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 261.
- Reported values are medians; for payroll and timekeeping clerks in Wisconsin the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $42,730 to $76,830. 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 $47,765 from $59,310. 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 261 of 491 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $51,307, worked from $59,310, 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 261 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $42,730 at the bottom tenth to $76,830 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $51,307.
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 $47,765.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($42,730 to $76,830) 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 $51,307 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 $47,765 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.