Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive in Wisconsin
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$39,016
after federal, FICA and Wisconsin tax
Tax takes
$8,694
18.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$41,909
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
$47,710
Kept after tax
$39,016
Worth in national money
$41,909
State rank
21
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Wisconsin is 21 of 51 states for this job, with a middle wage of $47,710. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 354 among 491 occupations Wisconsin publishes pay for.
- Here is where Wisconsin does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $47,710 you keep $39,016, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $41,909 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $48,830, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Wisconsin ranks 21 of 51 for secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive at $47,710. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Position 354 of 491 in Wisconsin places secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- After federal, FICA and Wisconsin income tax, retained pay for secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive on $47,710 is $39,016. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $41,909 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 $48,830 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,680 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $47,710 |
| Top tenth earn over | $61,940 |
| This salary | $47,710 |
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 | $39,016 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $40,515 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$217 |
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 | $45,845 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$262 |
| 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 $47,710. The published range is $36,680 up to $61,940, 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 $39,016, worked from $47,710. 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 354 of 491.
- Two cautions on $41,909, the adjusted value of that $47,710 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 354 of 491 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive in Wisconsin the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $36,680 to $61,940. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Wisconsin take-home of $39,016, on $47,710 for work ranking 354 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 354 of 491 in the state.
- This $41,909 adjusted figure, worked from $47,710, 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 354 of 491 in the state. The occupation ranks 354 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $36,680 at the tenth percentile, $61,940 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 $41,909 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, $39,016 remains.
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 ($36,680 to $61,940) 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 $41,909 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 $39,016 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.