Social Science Research Assistants in Wisconsin
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$39,303
after federal, FICA and Wisconsin tax
Tax takes
$8,787
18.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$42,217
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
$48,090
Kept after tax
$39,303
Worth in national money
$42,217
State rank
39
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Wisconsin is among the lower-paying states for social science research assistants. The middle earner takes $48,090, ranking 39 of 45 states — about 22.42% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Against other work in Wisconsin, this sits in the middle: 343 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 $48,090 the take-home is $39,303; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $42,217 would nationally. The average comes to $52,660, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Wisconsin ranks 39 of 45 for social science research assistants, with a median of $48,090 — about 22.42% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Social science research assistants ranks 343 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 social science research assistants in Wisconsin, on $48,090, is $39,303 — equivalent to $42,217 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 $52,660 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Social Science Research Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $34,710 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $48,090 |
| Top tenth earn over | $71,050 |
| This salary | $48,090 |
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 | $39,303 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $40,820 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$210 |
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 | $46,202 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$254 |
| 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 social science research assistants in Wisconsin earn under $48,090 and half over. The published range runs $34,710 at the tenth percentile to $71,050 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Wisconsin's $39,303, worked from $48,090. 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 343 of 491.
- One number stands for prices across all of Wisconsin, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $42,217, the adjusted value of that $48,090 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 343 of 491 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for social science research assistants in Wisconsin, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $34,710 to $71,050; 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.
- The Wisconsin take-home of $39,303, on $48,090 for work ranking 343 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 343 of 491 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Wisconsin, so $42,217 — the adjusted value of that $48,090 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 343 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $52,660, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $34,710, the highest tenth $71,050, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Wisconsin sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $42,217 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $39,303 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 45 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $52,660. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($34,710) and the ninetieth ($71,050) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
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 $42,217 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 $39,303 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.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.