Wisconsin sales tax, and who sets it
Tax year 2026
Set by the state
5%
Set locally
0.72%
statewide average
Combined
5.72%
Local share
12.59%
of what you pay
Work out the tax on a purchase in Wisconsin
Add the tax on
5.72% effectiveThe general rate applies here: 5.72%, state and local combined. “Statewide average” is a comparison estimate. Named locations use the stored local rate; city and special-district coverage varies, so an address may differ. Rate source · as of 2026-07-01.
How Wisconsin's sales tax is put together
- Almost all of Wisconsin's sales tax is set in the state capital. The rate is about 5%. Counties can add a slice, and on average across Wisconsin that slice is about 0.72% — small enough that it will not change how you shop. Where you buy matters much less here than what you buy.
- Groceries are not taxed in Wisconsin. Fill a cart with unprepared food and the sales tax on it is nothing. That is the common treatment, though not the universal one — a few states charge full rate on food, and a few more charge a reduced rate. The line here falls between groceries and prepared food, and it is narrower than it sounds.
- Wisconsin taxes clothes like it taxes everything else. Spend a thousand dollars on apparel and the tax is $57. Some states exempt clothing outright, which sounds minor and is not — it changes what a whole category of spending costs. Prescription drugs are exempt here.
- The locally-set share of Wisconsin's sales tax is minor. Against a state rate of about 5%, local jurisdictions add about 0.72% on average across Wisconsin, leaving the combined rate close to the state figure at essentially any address. Where a state delegates this little, address-level rate variation stops being a material input to a purchase decision, and the exemption schedule — what is taxed at all — becomes the larger source of variation in what a given basket actually costs.
- Wisconsin exempts groceries from sales tax entirely, so unprepared food carries no charge at any rate. This is the majority treatment nationally but far from universal: a small number of states apply the full rate to food and another group applies a reduced one. The consequential detail in an exempting state is the boundary rather than the exemption — where the statute separates exempt groceries from taxable prepared food, and rotisserie chicken, bakery items and heated food are where that line is usually drawn.
- Apparel falls inside Wisconsin's sales tax base at the full combined rate, contributing $57 per thousand dollars spent. The states exempting clothing form a small group, and base differences of that kind explain more of the variation in real household sales tax burden than headline rates do. Wisconsin exempts prescription drugs, in line with the near-universal national treatment.
Sales tax on this purchase
A $75,000 salary
| Tax added | $5.72 |
|---|---|
| Rate appliedStatewide average | 5.72% |
Uses this location’s stored combined rate and category rule. Clothing is one item; address-level coverage varies.
Rates across this state
A $75,000 salary
| Counties in this state | 72 |
|---|---|
| Different rates among them | 3 |
| Lowest county rate | 5% |
| Highest county rate | 5.9% |
Most counties here share a rate with many others. The county line rarely changes what you pay.
County floors only — city, transit and special-district taxes are excluded where applicable.
At the register
A $75,000 salary
| Tax added | $5.72 |
|---|---|
| You hand over | $105.72 |
| Rate here | 5.72% |
Uses this location’s stored combined rate and category rule. Clothing is one item; address-level coverage varies.
How much of that was tax
A $75,000 salary
| Goods before tax | $101.21 |
|---|---|
| Rate applied | 5.72% |
Uses the selected combined rate for ordinary goods. Exempt items or a mixed receipt change the split.
Every county here
A $75,000 salary
| Lowest | 5% |
|---|---|
| Highest | 5.9% |
| Gap between them | 0.9% |
County floors only — city, transit and special-district taxes are excluded where applicable.
What gets taxed, in each
A $75,000 salary
Wisconsin
Statewide average
Texas
Harris County (Houston)
- Sales tax
- Fuel
- Tobacco
| Category | Wisconsin | Texas |
|---|---|---|
| Groceries | Exempt | Exempt |
| Clothing at $100 | 5.72% | 8.25% |
| Fuel | 30.9¢ | 20¢ |
| Tobacco | $2.52 | $1.41 |
Grocery and general rates use the locations named here. Clothing is one item priced at $100; a more expensive garment may be taxed differently. Fuel and tobacco have separate units and scales.
The split, county by county
The state rate is the same everywhere in Wisconsin. Anything beyond it was decided by a county or a city. These counties are a sample chosen to show the range, not a complete list.
| County | State | Local | Combined |
|---|---|---|---|
| Statewide average | 5% | 0.72% | 5.72% |
| Milwaukee County (Milwaukee) | same | 2.9% | 7.9% |
| Dane County (Madison) | same | 0.5% | 5.5% |
What it costs on a thousand dollars
The same purchase in four categories, priced on average across Wisconsin. A flat thousand dollars is used deliberately — this is Wisconsin's own rate restated in money, not a claim about what anyone spends.
| What you're buying | Tax as share of price | Tax on $1,000 |
|---|---|---|
| General goods | 5.72% | $57 |
| Groceries | 0% | $0 |
| Prescription drugs | 0% | $0 |
| Clothing | 5.72% | $57 |
Every county in Wisconsin
This is the whole state, not a sample — 72 counties, from 5% in Waukesha County up to 5.9% in Milwaukee County. These are county floors. City, transit and special-district taxes can add to them, so an address may pay more.
Complete county coverage for Wisconsin: 72 counties spanning 5% (Waukesha County) to 5.9% (Milwaukee County), across 3 distinct rates. Figures are county floors: the state rate plus the county's own levy, excluding municipal, transit and special-district taxes. The representative location figures earlier in the page may include additional local layers.
| County | State portion | County levy | Floor (state + county) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adams County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| Ashland County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| Barron County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| Bayfield County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| Brown County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| Buffalo County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| Burnett County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| Calumet County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| Chippewa County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| Clark County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| Columbia County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| Crawford County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| Dane County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| Dodge County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| Door County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| Douglas County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| Dunn County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| Eau Claire County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| Florence County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| Fond du Lac County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| Forest County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| Grant County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| Green County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| Green Lake County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| Iowa County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| Iron County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| Jackson County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| Jefferson County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| Juneau County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| Kenosha County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| Kewaunee County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| La Crosse County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| Lafayette County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| Langlade County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| Lincoln County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| Manitowoc County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| Marathon County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| Marinette County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| Marquette County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| Menominee County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| Milwaukee County | 5% | 0.9% | 5.9% |
| Monroe County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| Oconto County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| Oneida County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| Outagamie County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| Ozaukee County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| Pepin County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| Pierce County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| Polk County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| Portage County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| Price County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| Racine County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| Richland County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| Rock County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| Rusk County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| Sauk County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| Sawyer County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| Shawano County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| Sheboygan County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| St. Croix County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| Taylor County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| Trempealeau County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| Vernon County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| Vilas County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| Walworth County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| Washburn County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| Washington County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| Waukesha County | 5% | 0% | 5% |
| Waupaca County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| Waushara County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| Winnebago County | 5% | 0% | 5% |
| Wood County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
Streamlined Sales Tax member rate files plus individual state Department of Revenue rate tables — county-level rows only; city, transit and special-district levies excluded — as of 2026-01-01, last verified 2026-08-29.
What this page does not cover
- Only sampled locations appear in the first Wisconsin county table and calculator list. Covering every one would mean maintaining thousands of rates that change on their own local timetables, so this site samples instead. The consequence is simple: treat the figures as the shape of the thing, and your receipt as the truth.
- Wisconsin taxes some things through this general rate and other things through taxes of their own. Fuel, alcohol and tobacco fall in the second group, and those charges sit inside the price rather than on the receipt. Vehicle purchases, hotel stays and eating out often add their own charges as well.
- Exemptions are broader on paper than in a shop. Wisconsin draws its own lines inside each category — what counts as a grocery rather than a prepared meal, what counts as clothing rather than an accessory. Those lines decide the tax on a real basket, and they are where two states with identical rates stop agreeing.
- Wisconsin's first county table and calculator location list are curated samples rather than an exhaustive address dataset, a deliberate trade against maintaining several thousand independently-revised local rates. The figures characterise the distribution of local add-ons; they do not establish a minimum or maximum for the state. Address-level accuracy requires either the state revenue authority's lookup or a recent transaction record.
- Wisconsin's general sales tax is one of several consumption taxes it levies, and the only one modeled on this page. Motor fuel, alcoholic beverages and tobacco are taxed under separate excise schedules, normally price-inclusive and therefore not visible as a line item. Lodging, prepared meals and vehicle transfers are frequently subject to additional dedicated rates at state or local level.
- The exemption classes shown for Wisconsin are broad categories, and the statutory boundaries inside each one govern the actual charge. Prepared and heated food routinely falls outside a grocery exemption; footwear, athletic wear and accessories are commonly carved out of a clothing exemption. Because these definitions differ between states, two jurisdictions with matching rates and matching exemption lists can produce materially different tax on an identical basket.
Questions people ask
Why is the tax at the register higher than the state rate?
Because the state rate is only the first layer. Counties, cities and special districts add their own on top, which takes about 5% up to about 5.72% — and it changes as you cross town lines rather than staying put.
Is food taxed the same as everything else?
No — groceries are exempt in Wisconsin, which is why a basket of raw ingredients can leave a shop untaxed while a sandwich from the same shop does not. The line is drawn at preparation, not at the food itself.
Is clothing exempt here?
It is not. Clothing takes the standard rate here — only a small group of states exempt it, and Wisconsin is outside that group.
Will the rate change if I shop in the next town?
Not by much. Only about 12.59% of the combined rate is set below state level here, so the figure moves a little across county lines rather than a lot — the state rate is most of what you pay wherever you are.
What composes the combined rate in this state?
The combined rate is the state levy plus every local levy sourced to the point of sale. Wisconsin sets about 5%; the representative combined rate is about 5.72%, of which about 12.59% is decided locally. A single statewide figure is therefore an approximation.
How are groceries classified for sales tax here?
Wisconsin exempts groceries from general sales tax. The exemption typically excludes prepared food, and definitional boundaries — utensils supplied, heating, or a seller's prepared-food share — determine which side a specific item falls on. Those tests vary by state and are not uniform.
How is apparel classified for sales tax in this state?
Wisconsin applies the standard rate to apparel with no general exemption. Only a small minority of states exempt clothing, and among those several impose per-item caps or exclude athletic and formal wear, so cross-state assumptions about apparel are unreliable.
How much intra-state variation is there in the combined rate?
Locally determined levies account for about 12.59% of the representative combined rate, so intra-state dispersion is limited and the statewide figure approximates most locations closely. Rates remain sourced to the point of sale.