Wausau, WI Salaries
Highest published occupation medians in Wausau, WI - BLS OEWS May 2025
Observed metro pay change
What changed, BLS OEWS 2024–2025
- BLS's published All Occupations median in Wausau, WI moved from $47,970 in May 2024 to $48,790 in May 2025 (+1.7%).
- Across the 393 metros priced in both releases, the median place changed +3.1%.
- Wausau, WI sits -1.4 pp behind 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.
Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators shows the widest metro-area vs national median gap in Wausau, WI
Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators publishes $45,670 here versus $44,650 nationally (+2.3%; 2,110metro-area jobs).
- Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators$45,670 in Wausau, WI sits 2.3% above the national Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators median of $44,650 (2,110 published local jobs).
Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators and the other occupations above are descriptive OEWS endpoints for Wausau, WI; they are not findings about taxes, employers, or worker experience.
BLS OEWS metro wage desk
MSA 48140 · Wausau, WI $59K mean
MEAN-MID · RPP-LOW · OCC-MID · TOP-LEAD · EMP-MIX · TREND-INLINE · PHOTO-FINISH · BOOK-MOST
- MEAN-MID #229/528
- RPP-LOW 92.7
- OCC-MID 268 occs
- TOP-LEAD Physicians, Al… · $364K
- EMP-MIX General and…
- TREND-INLINE -1.4 pp
- PHOTO-FINISH Eastern Oregon n…
- BOOK-MOST 265 rows · May 2025
Read with Eastern Oregon nonmetropolitan area ($9 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 Wausau, WI
Employment scale inside Wausau, WI's top-pay list
General and Operations Managers and Financial Managers lead published employment inside Wausau, WI's top-pay sample, order follows OEWS job counts, not median wage.
- 1. General and Operations Managers 810 jobs · $107,550
- 2. Financial Managers 300 jobs · $131,320
- 3. Nurse Practitioners 220 jobs · $129,720
- 4. Sales Managers 190 jobs · $123,230
- 5. Medical and Health Services Managers 180 jobs · $125,550
- 6. Physicians, All Other 170 jobs · $364,260
- 7. Lawyers 150 jobs · $106,290
- 8. Pharmacists 130 jobs · $148,740
- 9. Chief Executives 120 jobs · $202,460
- 10. Computer and Information Systems Managers 120 jobs · $129,620
- 11. Architectural and Engineering Managers 100 jobs · $126,530
- 12. Physician Assistants 90 jobs · $129,980
- 13. Construction Managers 90 jobs · $106,480
- 14. Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary 90 jobs · $105,910
- 15. Nurse Anesthetists 70 jobs · $269,790
- 16. Dentists, General 70 jobs · $202,250
- 17. Human Resources Managers 70 jobs · $131,240
- 18. Personal Financial Advisors 70 jobs · $100,500
Occupations Tracked
268
with wage data
Published-Row Mean
$58,745
employment-weighted, 265 complete rows
Top Salary
$364,260
Physicians, All Other
Cost of Living
92.7
7% below US avg
Highest Paying Jobs in Wausau, WI
| # | Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Physicians, All Other | $364,260 |
| 2 | Nurse Anesthetists | $269,790 |
| 3 | Chief Executives | $202,460 |
| 4 | Dentists, General | $202,250 |
| 5 | Pharmacists | $148,740 |
| 6 | Optometrists | $142,690 |
| 7 | Marketing Managers | $141,150 |
| 8 | Financial Managers | $131,320 |
| 9 | Human Resources Managers | $131,240 |
| 10 | Physician Assistants | $129,980 |
| 11 | Nurse Practitioners | $129,720 |
| 12 | Computer and Information Systems Managers | $129,620 |
| 13 | Architectural and Engineering Managers | $126,530 |
| 14 | Medical and Health Services Managers | $125,550 |
| 15 | Sales Managers | $123,230 |
| 16 | Purchasing Managers | $121,610 |
| 17 | Clinical and Counseling Psychologists | $114,400 |
| 18 | General and Operations Managers | $107,550 |
| 19 | Construction Managers | $106,480 |
| 20 | Lawyers | $106,290 |
| 21 | Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary | $105,910 |
| 22 | Data Scientists | $104,420 |
| 23 | Facilities Managers | $102,420 |
| 24 | Veterinarians | $101,540 |
| 25 | Personal Financial Advisors | $100,500 |
Lowest Paying Jobs in Wausau, WI
| Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|
| Bartenders | $22,640 |
| Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers | $25,690 |
| Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers | $26,690 |
| Driver/Sales Workers | $26,810 |
| Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop | $27,340 |
| Information and Record Clerks, All Other | $27,610 |
| Fast Food and Counter Workers | $27,830 |
| Dishwashers | $27,860 |
| Farmworkers, Farm, Ranch, and Aquacultural Animals | $28,030 |
| Waiters and Waitresses | $29,060 |
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 ($58,745 here) and summed published employment.
Similar mean wage
Nearest other metros by employment-weighted published-row annual mean wage.
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 Wausau, WI? ▼
Which published medians lead Wausau, WI? ▼
What is the cost of living in Wausau, WI? ▼
Where does BLS salary data for Wausau, WI come from? ▼
Related federal data
What to do with this data
How to use Wausau, WI wage figures in a real decision
- Physicians, All Other leads published medians in Wausau, WI at $364,260/year; open the occupation for percentile bands and state rows. Physicians, All Other
- The employment-weighted published-row mean of $58,745 adjusts to about $63,405 on a national-price basis at BEA RPP 92.7. 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.