Sociology Teachers, Postsecondary in Wisconsin
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$65,010
after federal, FICA and Wisconsin tax
Tax takes
$19,950
23.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$69,831
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
$84,960
Kept after tax
$65,010
Worth in national money
$69,831
State rank
16
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Wisconsin sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $84,960, ranking 16 of 46 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, this job ranks 91 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Wisconsin is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $84,960 the take-home is $65,010; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $69,831 would nationally. The average comes to $105,930, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Wisconsin occupies the middle band for sociology teachers, postsecondary: a median of $84,960, ranking 16 of 46. 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, sociology teachers, postsecondary sits 91 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 sociology teachers, postsecondary in Wisconsin, on $84,960, is $65,010 — equivalent to $69,831 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 $105,930 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Sociology Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $62,220 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $84,960 |
| Top tenth earn over | $176,150 |
| This salary | $84,960 |
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 | $65,010 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $68,599 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$763 |
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 | $79,858 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,054 |
| 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 $84,960. The published range is $62,220 up to $176,150, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $65,010 take-home in Wisconsin comes from $84,960. 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 91 of 491.
- One number stands for prices across all of Wisconsin, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $69,831, the adjusted value of that $84,960 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 91 of 491 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for sociology teachers, postsecondary in Wisconsin the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $62,220 to $176,150. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $65,010, from $84,960, 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 91 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 16 of 46 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Wisconsin, so $69,831 — the adjusted value of that $84,960 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 91 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 $105,930, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $62,220 and the top tenth $176,150 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $69,831.
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, $65,010 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 46 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $105,930. 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 ($62,220) and the ninetieth ($176,150) 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 $69,831 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 $65,010 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 46 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.