Technical Writers in Wisconsin
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$61,835
after federal, FICA and Wisconsin tax
Tax takes
$18,195
22.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$66,420
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
$80,030
Kept after tax
$61,835
Worth in national money
$66,420
State rank
31
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Wisconsin is among the lower-paying states for technical writers. The middle earner takes $80,030, ranking 31 of 45 states — about 11.46% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 491 occupations Wisconsin reports, technical writers comes in at 119 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Wisconsin is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $80,030 the take-home is $61,835; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $66,420 would nationally. The average comes to $84,910, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Wisconsin ranks 31 of 45 for technical writers, with a median of $80,030 — about 11.46% 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.
- Technical writers ranks 119 of 491 occupations by median in Wisconsin, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Post-tax income for technical writers in Wisconsin, on $80,030, is $61,835 — equivalent to $66,420 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 $84,910 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Technical Writers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $56,460 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $80,030 |
| Top tenth earn over | $119,930 |
| This salary | $80,030 |
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 | $61,835 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $65,131 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$605 |
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 | $75,344 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$835 |
| 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 $80,030. The published range is $56,460 up to $119,930, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $61,835 take-home in Wisconsin comes from $80,030. 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 119 of 491.
- One number stands for prices across all of Wisconsin, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $66,420, the adjusted value of that $80,030 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 119 of 491 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for technical writers in Wisconsin the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $56,460 to $119,930. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $61,835, from $80,030, 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 119 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 31 of 45 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Wisconsin, so $66,420 — the adjusted value of that $80,030 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 119 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 $84,910 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $56,460 at the bottom tenth to $119,930 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $66,420.
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, $61,835 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 45 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
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 $84,910. 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 ($56,460) and the ninetieth ($119,930) 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 $66,420 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 $61,835 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.