Veterinarians in Wisconsin
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$80,354
after federal, FICA and Wisconsin tax
Tax takes
$28,426
26.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$86,312
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
$108,780
Kept after tax
$80,354
Worth in national money
$86,312
State rank
38
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Wisconsin is among the lower-paying states for veterinarians. The middle earner takes $108,780, ranking 38 of 49 states — about 16.39% 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, veterinarians comes in at 38 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Here is where Wisconsin does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $108,780 you keep $80,354, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $86,312 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $118,890, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Wisconsin ranks 38 of 49 for veterinarians, with a median of $108,780 — about 16.39% 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.
- Veterinarians ranks 38 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.
- After federal, FICA and Wisconsin income tax, retained pay for veterinarians on $108,780 is $80,354. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $86,312 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 $118,890 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Veterinarians
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $79,350 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $108,780 |
| Top tenth earn over | $159,940 |
| This salary | $108,780 |
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 | $80,354 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $85,357 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,526 |
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 | $101,669 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,108 |
| 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 veterinarians in Wisconsin earn under $108,780 and half over. The published range runs $79,350 at the tenth percentile to $159,940 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Wisconsin the take-home figure of $80,354, from $108,780, 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 38 of 491 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Wisconsin, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $86,312, the adjusted value of that $108,780 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 38 of 491 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for veterinarians in Wisconsin, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $79,350 to $159,940; 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 $80,354 from $108,780. 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 38 of 491 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Wisconsin, so $86,312 — the adjusted value of that $108,780 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 38 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 $118,890, 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 $79,350, the highest tenth $159,940, 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 $86,312 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Wisconsin then takes its own share, leaving $80,354.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 49 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 $118,890. 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 ($79,350) and the ninetieth ($159,940) 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 $86,312 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 $80,354 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.