Printing Press Operators in Wisconsin
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,730
after federal, FICA and Wisconsin tax
Tax takes
$8,600
18.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$41,602
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
$47,330
Kept after tax
$38,730
Worth in national money
$41,602
State rank
13
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Wisconsin pays printing press operators a middle wage of $47,330, ranking 13 of 51 states and sitting about 3.39% above the national middle.
- Against other work in Wisconsin, this sits in the middle: 362 of 491 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Wisconsin is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $47,330 the take-home is $38,730; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $41,602 would nationally. The average comes to $50,220, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Wisconsin's median for printing press operators is $47,330, about 3.39% above the national figure and 13 of 51 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Printing press operators ranks 362 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.
- Post-tax income for printing press operators in Wisconsin, on $47,330, is $38,730 — equivalent to $41,602 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $50,220 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Printing Press Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,980 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $47,330 |
| Top tenth earn over | $65,260 |
| This salary | $47,330 |
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 | $38,730 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $40,210 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$223 |
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 | $45,488 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$270 |
| 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 $47,330. The published range is $36,980 up to $65,260, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $38,730 take-home in Wisconsin comes from $47,330. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 362 of 491.
- Two cautions on $41,602, the adjusted value of that $47,330 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 362 of 491 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for printing press operators in Wisconsin the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $36,980 to $65,260. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $38,730, from $47,330, assumes a single Wisconsin filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 362 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 13 of 51 for it.
- This $41,602 adjusted figure, worked from $47,330, 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 362 of 491 in the state. The occupation ranks 362 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $50,220, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $36,980 at the tenth percentile, $65,260 at the ninetieth.
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 $41,602 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, $38,730 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 $50,220. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($36,980 to $65,260) 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 $41,602 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 $38,730 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.