Public Safety Telecommunicators in Wisconsin
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$48,283
after federal, FICA and Wisconsin tax
Tax takes
$11,717
19.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$51,863
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
$60,000
Kept after tax
$48,283
Worth in national money
$51,863
State rank
12
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Wisconsin is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $60,000, which ranks 12 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 13.12% above the national middle.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 491 occupations Wisconsin reports figures for, this is number 248.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $60,000 you keep $48,283 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $51,863 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $59,040.
- Wisconsin ranks 12 of 51 states publishing a median for public safety telecommunicators, at $60,000 — about 13.12% 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, public safety telecommunicators sits at 248 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.
- Retained pay in Wisconsin is $48,283 after the full tax stack, from $60,000. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $51,863 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $59,040 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Public Safety Telecommunicators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $46,430 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $60,000 |
| Top tenth earn over | $74,970 |
| This salary | $60,000 |
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 | $48,283 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $50,390 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$8 |
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 | $57,377 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$10 |
| 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 public safety telecommunicators in Wisconsin earn under $60,000 and half over. The published range runs $46,430 at the tenth percentile to $74,970 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $48,283 take-home in Wisconsin comes from $60,000. 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 248 of 491.
- One number stands for prices across all of Wisconsin, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $51,863, the adjusted value of that $60,000 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 248 of 491 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for public safety telecommunicators in Wisconsin, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $46,430 to $74,970; 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.
- Retained pay of $48,283, from $60,000, 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 248 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 12 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Wisconsin, so $51,863 — the adjusted value of that $60,000 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 248 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $46,430 at the tenth percentile, $74,970 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 $51,863 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 $48,283 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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($46,430 to $74,970) 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 $51,863 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 $48,283 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.