Respiratory Therapists in Wisconsin
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$64,527
after federal, FICA and Wisconsin tax
Tax takes
$19,683
23.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$69,312
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
$84,210
Kept after tax
$64,527
Worth in national money
$69,312
State rank
18
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Wisconsin sits in the middle of the pack for respiratory therapists. The median is $84,210, ranking 18 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Within Wisconsin this is well-paid work. Of 491 occupations with published figures in the state, respiratory therapists ranks 95 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Wisconsin is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $84,210 the take-home is $64,527; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $69,312 would nationally. The average comes to $86,230, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Wisconsin occupies the middle band for respiratory therapists: a median of $84,210, ranking 18 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Ranked against every occupation Wisconsin publishes a median for, respiratory therapists sits 95 of 491 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Post-tax income for respiratory therapists in Wisconsin, on $84,210, is $64,527 — equivalent to $69,312 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 $86,230 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Respiratory Therapists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $70,520 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $84,210 |
| Top tenth earn over | $100,320 |
| This salary | $84,210 |
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 | $64,527 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $68,072 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$739 |
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 | $79,172 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,020 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $84,210 as a midpoint for Wisconsin, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $70,520 and the ninetieth is $100,320 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Wisconsin the take-home figure of $64,527, from $84,210, 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 95 of 491 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $69,312, the adjusted value of that $84,210 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 95 of 491 locally.
- The Wisconsin median of $84,210 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $70,520 to $100,320. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Wisconsin is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $64,527 from $84,210. 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 95 of 491 locally.
- This $69,312 adjusted figure, worked from $84,210, 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 95 of 491 in the state. The occupation ranks 95 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $70,520 at the tenth percentile, $100,320 at the ninetieth.
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 $69,312.
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 $64,527 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 ($70,520 to $100,320) 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 $69,312 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 $64,527 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.