Teaching Assistants, Postsecondary in Wisconsin
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$39,228
after federal, FICA and Wisconsin tax
Tax takes
$8,762
18.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$42,136
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
$47,990
Kept after tax
$39,228
Worth in national money
$42,136
State rank
21
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Wisconsin sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $47,990, ranking 21 of 45 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 491 occupations Wisconsin reports figures for, this is number 349.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $47,990 you keep $39,228 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $42,136 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $45,940.
- Wisconsin occupies the middle band for teaching assistants, postsecondary: a median of $47,990, ranking 21 of 45. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- In Wisconsin's occupational distribution, teaching assistants, postsecondary sits at 349 of 491 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Retained pay in Wisconsin is $39,228 after the full tax stack, from $47,990. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $42,136 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $45,940 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
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Pay band: Teaching Assistants, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $30,670 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $47,990 |
| Top tenth earn over | $58,740 |
| This salary | $47,990 |
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 | $39,228 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $40,740 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$212 |
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 | $46,108 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$256 |
| 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 teaching assistants, postsecondary in Wisconsin earn under $47,990 and half over. The published range runs $30,670 at the tenth percentile to $58,740 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $39,228 take-home in Wisconsin comes from $47,990. 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 349 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $42,136 uses one figure for the whole of Wisconsin. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 491 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 349.
- Figures are distribution medians for teaching assistants, postsecondary in Wisconsin, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $30,670 to $58,740; 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.
- Retained pay of $39,228, from $47,990, 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 349 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 21 of 45 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $42,136, worked from $47,990, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Wisconsin address, on work sitting at 349 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $45,940 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $30,670 at the tenth percentile, $58,740 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 $42,136.
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 $39,228 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 $45,940. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($30,670 to $58,740) 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 $42,136 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 $39,228 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.