Software Developers in Wisconsin
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$89,277
after federal, FICA and Wisconsin tax
Tax takes
$33,383
27.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$95,897
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
$122,660
Kept after tax
$89,277
Worth in national money
$95,897
State rank
33
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Wisconsin is 33 of 50 states for software developers, with a middle wage of $122,660. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Wisconsin. It ranks 28 out of 491 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Here is where Wisconsin does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $122,660 you keep $89,277, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $95,897 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $122,620, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- Wisconsin ranks 33 of 50 for software developers at $122,660. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Within Wisconsin, software developers ranks 28 of 491 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- After federal, FICA and Wisconsin income tax, retained pay for software developers on $122,660 is $89,277. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $95,897 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 $122,620 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Software Developers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $77,710 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $122,660 |
| Top tenth earn over | $168,630 |
| This salary | $122,660 |
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 | $89,277 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $95,104 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,972 |
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 | $114,353 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,748 |
| 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 software developers in Wisconsin earn under $122,660 and half over. The published range runs $77,710 at the tenth percentile to $168,630 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Wisconsin the take-home figure of $89,277, from $122,660, 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 28 of 491 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $95,897, the adjusted value of that $122,660 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 28 of 491 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for software developers in Wisconsin, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $77,710 to $168,630; 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.
- Take-home for Wisconsin is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $89,277 from $122,660. 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 28 of 491 locally.
- This $95,897 adjusted figure, worked from $122,660, 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 28 of 491 in the state. The occupation ranks 28 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $77,710, the highest tenth $168,630, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $95,897 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 $89,277 of this wage survives to your account.
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 50 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($77,710) and the ninetieth ($168,630) 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 $95,897 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 $89,277 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.