Madison, WI Salaries
Highest published occupation medians in Madison, WI - BLS OEWS May 2025
Observed metro pay change
What changed, BLS OEWS 2024–2025
- BLS's published All Occupations median in Madison, WI moved from $54,620 in May 2024 to $58,080 in May 2025 (+6.3%).
- Across the 393 metros priced in both releases, the median place changed +3.1%.
- Madison, WI sits +3.2 pp ahead of that median, nominal dollars, no price deflator applied.
Based on wage level, year-over-year wage growth, and regional-price-parity-adjusted purchasing power from BLS and BEA sources, not job availability, industry mix, or day-to-day livability.
Bartenders shows the widest metro-area vs national median gap in Madison, WI
Bartenders publishes $23,210 here versus $34,340 nationally (-32.4%; 3,810metro-area jobs). Next is Construction Laborers at $57,000 locally versus $47,120 nationally (+21.0%).
- Bartenders$23,210 in Madison, WI sits 32.4% below the national Bartenders median of $34,340 (3,810 published local jobs).
- Construction Laborers$57,000 in Madison, WI sits 21.0% above the national Construction Laborers median of $47,120 (2,370 published local jobs).
- Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary$85,510 in Madison, WI sits 20.3% below the national Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary median of $107,310 (2,390 published local jobs).
- General and Operations Managers$126,620 in Madison, WI sits 19.7% above the national General and Operations Managers median of $105,770 (5,130 published local jobs).
Bartenders and the other occupations above are descriptive OEWS endpoints for Madison, WI; they are not findings about taxes, employers, or worker experience.
BLS OEWS metro wage desk
MSA 31540 · Madison, WI $71K mean
MEAN-MEGA · RPP-MID · OCC-MOST · TOP-LEAD · EMP-MIX · TREND-AHEAD · PHOTO-FINISH · BOOK-FULL
- MEAN-MEGA #42/528
- RPP-MID 97.3
- OCC-MOST 534 occs
- TOP-LEAD Emergency Medi… · $340K
- EMP-MIX Computer and…
- TREND-AHEAD +3.2 pp
- PHOTO-FINISH Salt Lake City-M…
- BOOK-FULL 523 rows · May 2025
Read with Salt Lake City-Murray, UT ($43 on published-row mean) · Highest-paying careers
Instrument codes from this MSA’s OEWS published-row mean, BEA RPP, occupation book, employment lead, All Occupations pay change, and nearest peer, not a moving recommendation.
Published-row mean neighbourhood around Madison, WI
Employment scale inside Madison, WI's top-pay list
Computer and Information Systems Managers and Financial Managers lead published employment inside Madison, WI's top-pay sample, order follows OEWS job counts, not median wage.
- 1. Computer and Information Systems Managers 2,540 jobs · $168,900
- 2. Financial Managers 2,320 jobs · $148,970
- 3. Sales Managers 1,660 jobs · $146,380
- 4. Pharmacists 1,120 jobs · $158,120
- 5. Marketing Managers 1,000 jobs · $138,270
- 6. Chief Executives 900 jobs · $217,010
- 7. Physicians, All Other 850 jobs · $301,940
- 8. Architectural and Engineering Managers 750 jobs · $160,700
- 9. Human Resources Managers 660 jobs · $140,680
- 10. Natural Sciences Managers 530 jobs · $136,990
- 11. Engineering Teachers, Postsecondary 340 jobs · $137,840
- 12. Computer Network Architects 340 jobs · $135,490
- 13. General Internal Medicine Physicians 270 jobs · $329,670
- 14. Dentists, General 270 jobs · $176,460
- 15. Business Teachers, Postsecondary 270 jobs · $137,060
- 16. Biological Science Teachers, Postsecondary 210 jobs · $142,490
- 17. Emergency Medicine Physicians 170 jobs · $340,150
- 18. Database Architects 170 jobs · $155,160
Occupations Tracked
534
with wage data
Published-Row Mean
$70,551
employment-weighted, 523 complete rows
Top Salary
$340,150
Emergency Medicine Physicians
Cost of Living
97.3
3% below US avg
Highest Paying Jobs in Madison, WI
| # | Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Emergency Medicine Physicians | $340,150 |
| 2 | General Internal Medicine Physicians | $329,670 |
| 3 | Physicians, All Other | $301,940 |
| 4 | Psychiatrists | $296,230 |
| 5 | Family Medicine Physicians | $291,000 |
| 6 | Nurse Anesthetists | $283,980 |
| 7 | Obstetricians and Gynecologists | $227,650 |
| 8 | Chief Executives | $217,010 |
| 9 | Dentists, General | $176,460 |
| 10 | Computer and Information Systems Managers | $168,900 |
| 11 | Architectural and Engineering Managers | $160,700 |
| 12 | Pharmacists | $158,120 |
| 13 | Database Architects | $155,160 |
| 14 | Financial Managers | $148,970 |
| 15 | Sales Managers | $146,380 |
| 16 | Biological Science Teachers, Postsecondary | $142,490 |
| 17 | Human Resources Managers | $140,680 |
| 18 | Computer Science Teachers, Postsecondary | $140,660 |
| 19 | Marketing Managers | $138,270 |
| 20 | Engineering Teachers, Postsecondary | $137,840 |
| 21 | Business Teachers, Postsecondary | $137,060 |
| 22 | Natural Sciences Managers | $136,990 |
| 23 | Physicists | $136,450 |
| 24 | Computer Network Architects | $135,490 |
| 25 | Actuaries | $135,330 |
Lowest Paying Jobs in Madison, WI
| Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|
| Bartenders | $23,210 |
| Food Preparation and Serving Related Workers, All Other | $25,850 |
| Ushers, Lobby Attendants, and Ticket Takers | $27,840 |
| Personal Care and Service Workers, All Other | $28,110 |
| Cooks, Short Order | $28,650 |
| Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers | $28,710 |
| Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop | $29,000 |
| Cooks, Fast Food | $29,640 |
| Fast Food and Counter Workers | $29,820 |
| Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers | $30,830 |
Other BLS Wage Areas in WI
Other metropolitan or nonmetropolitan OEWS areas assigned to the same state. Cross-state pay and employment peers live in Nationwide similar metros below.
Nationwide metros with similar published-row mean pay or employment scale
Two OEWS peer sets outside WI. Same-state wage areas above stay geographic; these neighborhoods are cross-state nearest neighbors on employment-weighted published-row mean wage ($70,551 here) and summed published employment.
Similar mean wage
Nearest other metros by employment-weighted published-row annual mean wage.
Similar employment scale
Nearest headcount peers (floor 100,000 summed published jobs), distinct from the mean-wage column.
Peers are nearest-neighbor matches on BLS OEWS employment-weighted published-row mean wage and summed occupation employment. Employment peers exclude metros already listed in the mean-wage column so the two link sets stay distinct. Mean wage here is not a worker-level median.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the average salary in Madison, WI? ▼
Which published medians lead Madison, WI? ▼
What is the cost of living in Madison, WI? ▼
Where does BLS salary data for Madison, WI come from? ▼
Related federal data
What to do with this data
How to use Madison, WI wage figures in a real decision
- Emergency Medicine Physicians leads published medians in Madison, WI at $340,150/year; open the occupation for percentile bands and state rows. Emergency Medicine Physicians
- The employment-weighted published-row mean of $70,551 adjusts to about $72,518 on a national-price basis at BEA RPP 97.3. Salary vs cost of living
- Compare this metropolitan statistical area against the statewide occupation table for WI before treating one geography as the other. State wage page
BLS OEWS estimates reflect the May 2025 reference period; small occupation-area cells can be suppressed, and figures are not employer offers.
Source data and WageDex calculations are identified in context on this page. Occupation rows use BLS OEWS May 2025. The metro benchmark is WageDex's employment-weighted mean of published occupation means; where BEA RPP is available, the price-level figure divides that benchmark by the published area parity. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.