InterObservers.

Wisconsin Paycheck Calculator

Reviewed Sep 29, 2026 IRS Pub 15-T 2026, Wisconsin DOR How we verify

Not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. General information; laws vary by state. Terms of use

Wisconsin paycheck calculator for tax year 2026: take-home pay and what the employer pays, per paycheck and per year. Wisconsin withholding runs through graduated rates, from 3.54% to 7.65%, applied to yearly wages after a sliding deduction that shrinks as pay rises and $400 for each exemption on Form WT-4 (Publication W-166 (1/26), Withholding Tax Guide, Alternate Method of Withholding Wisconsin Income Tax). Figures checked on September 29, 2026; the result is an estimate, not tax advice.

Take-home pay and employer cost

How the pay is set
USD per paycheck

Federal Form W-4

Step 2: two jobs or a working spouse
Other Form W-4 entries and pre-tax deductions (optional)Defaults used: every amount 0
USD per year
USD per year
USD per year
USD per paycheck
USD per paycheck
USD per paycheck
Wisconsin Form WT-4 entries (optional)Defaults used: Single; 1 exemption
The Wisconsin certificate has its own status box, separate from the federal one. A married person who is legally separated checks Single.
exemptions
One for yourself, one for your spouse, one for each dependent, as totaled on the form. Zero if no form is on file.
USD per paycheck
An extra amount per pay period that your employer agreed to withhold. Leave at zero if none.

Example: $2,000.00 gross pay per paycheck, paid every two weeks (26 paychecks a year), single, with the default WT-4 entries below

Take-home pay

$1,602.78 per paycheck

$41,672.28 per year

Employee lines
LinePer paycheckPer year
Gross pay$2,000.00$52,000.00
Federal income tax withholding$156.15$4,059.90
Social Security$124.00$3,224.00
Medicare$29.00$754.00
Wisconsin income tax withholding$88.07$2,289.82
Take-home pay$1,602.78$41,672.28

What the employer pays

$2,215.00 per paycheck

$56,370.00 per year

Employer lines
LinePer paycheckPer year
Gross pay$2,000.00$52,000.00
Social Security (employer match)$124.00$3,224.00
Medicare (employer match)$29.00$754.00
Federal unemployment (FUTA)$12.00$42.00
State unemployment (new-employer rate)$50.00$350.00
Total employer cost$2,215.00$56,370.00

Sources: IRS Pub 15-T 2026 and Wisconsin DOR, checked September 29, 2026. Estimate for tax year 2026. Not tax advice.

What you type stays in this browser: the numbers are computed on this page, and we never receive or store them. A result link holds only the numbers and choices of the form.

How Wisconsin taxes a paycheck

The calculator applies the IRS Publication 15-T percentage method and, for Wisconsin, the Alternate Method of Withholding Wisconsin Income Tax, Publication W-166 (1/26), Withholding Tax Guide (tables and method effective for withholding periods beginning on or after January 1, 2022, in force for 2026) of the Wisconsin Department of Revenue, in force since January 1, 2022. Social Security takes 6.2% of wages up to $184,500 a year and Medicare 1.45% of all wages (plus 0.9% on wages above $200,000 a year), and the employer pays Social Security and Medicare again at the same rates (Publication 15 (2026), (Circular E), Employer's Tax Guide). The oldest Wisconsin document behind these figures was checked on September 29, 2026.

Wisconsin employers either read the wage bracket tables in the Withholding Tax Guide or use its one approved alternate method, which this calculator follows. The paycheck is turned into yearly earnings, a withholding deduction is subtracted, then $400 for each exemption, and the remainder runs through a graduated schedule, starting at 3.54% and ending at 7.65% above $280,950. The yearly tax is then divided by the number of paydays (Publication W-166 (1/26), Withholding Tax Guide, Alternate Method of Withholding Wisconsin Income Tax).

The deduction is what makes Wisconsin unusual. For a single worker it is $6,702 at low earnings, then it shrinks by a fixed share of every extra dollar and disappears once yearly earnings reach $73,630. Married workers start from a larger deduction of $9,461 that shrinks faster. The result is that a raise in the middle of the income range lifts Wisconsin withholding more than the rate schedule alone suggests (Publication W-166 (1/26), Withholding Tax Guide, Alternate Method of Withholding Wisconsin Income Tax).

Form WT-4 asks for a status and a count. The status boxes are Single, Married, and Married but withhold at the higher Single rate, which uses the single deduction; a legally separated person checks Single. The count covers the worker, a spouse and each dependent, and each exemption is worth only $400 a year, small next to the sliding deduction. A worker with no certificate on file is treated as claiming no exemptions (Publication W-166 (1/26), Withholding Tax Guide, Alternate Method of Withholding Wisconsin Income Tax).

The withholding schedule is the one the department introduced several years ago, and its latest withholding update says no change is planned. Meanwhile the rates on the yearly return for the current year, printed on the department's Employee Withholding Agreement worksheet, are lower in the lower brackets than the withholding schedule, so the regular method can take more than the final tax. That worksheet sets up an agreement with the employer to withhold less in that case.

Pre-tax retirement plan deferrals and cafeteria plan health premiums reduce the wages Wisconsin taxes, as they do for federal withholding. Wisconsin cities and counties do not levy an income tax on wages, and there is no state payroll deduction for disability insurance or paid family leave. Residents of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Michigan who work in Wisconsin can file a reciprocity declaration so their employer skips Wisconsin withholding.

The employer's side in Wisconsin

The employer cost in Wisconsin is state unemployment insurance, paid to the Department of Workforce Development on each worker's wages up to the yearly taxable wage base, at the new employer rate until an experience rate is assigned. Wisconsin adds no employer paid family leave or disability contribution. Every newly hired employee hands the employer a completed Form WT-4, which also serves as the state new hire report.

Every employer also owes federal unemployment tax (FUTA): 6% on the first $7,000 of each employee's wages a year. With the full 5.4% credit for state unemployment tax paid on time, the net rate is 0.6%, at most $42 per employee a year (IRS Topic no. 759, Form 940, Employer's Annual Federal Unemployment (FUTA) Tax Return).

In Wisconsin, a new employer pays state unemployment tax at 2.5% on the first $14,000 of each employee's wages a year (U.S. DOL, Office of Unemployment Insurance: Significant Provisions of State Unemployment Insurance Laws, effective July 2026). Later the rate follows the employer's own record, so the line in the result is the starting cost, not a fixed one.

Payday and final pay rules in Wisconsin

The full Wisconsin rules, with each law quoted: Wisconsin employment rules. The date a final paycheck is due for a given last day: final paycheck calculator.

Worked examples

Three pay levels for a single filer paid every two weeks, with the default entries of the form, computed with the same code as the calculator.

Gross pay per paycheckFederal income tax per paycheckSocial Security and Medicare per paycheckWisconsin deductions per paycheckTake-home pay per paycheckEmployer cost per paycheck
$1,200.00$60.15$91.80$40.58$1,007.47$1,329.00
$2,500.00$216.15$191.25$117.75$1,974.85$2,768.75
$5,000.00$766.69$382.50$252.36$3,598.45$5,537.50

At $2,500.00 per paycheck the employee takes home $51,346.10 per year, and the employer spends $70,364.50 per year on that job before benefits.

Full time at the Wisconsin minimum wage of $7.25 per hour (Wis. Stat. ch. 104 (U.S. DOL WHD state minimum wage table), checked September 27, 2026), 40 hours per week, is $580.00 per paycheck every two weeks: $524.77 per paycheck take-home, and $642.35 per paycheck for the employer.

Method and sources

Federal figures used on every Pay Desk page:

  • Per paycheck and per year. Per paycheck is one paycheck early in the year, before any yearly wage base is reached; per year is the full year at this pay with every wage base applied (Social Security, unemployment tax and any capped state contribution).
  • Forms W-4 from before 2020. Not covered: the federal line follows Worksheet 1A for the 2020 and later form.
  • Tax year 2027. When this page was checked (September 29, 2026) the IRS had not published the 2027 withholding tables (IRS page of forms and publications posted before release), so the calculator stays on tax year 2026.
  • What it leaves out. Local taxes the form does not ask for, workers' compensation insurance, benefits the employer pays, and supplemental pay such as bonuses.

Questions people ask

What are the Wisconsin withholding rates?

Graduated rates apply to yearly wages after the deduction and exemptions, from 3.54% on the first slice up to 7.65% on the part above $280,950 (Publication W-166 (1/26), Withholding Tax Guide, Alternate Method of Withholding Wisconsin Income Tax).

Why does my Wisconsin withholding jump faster than my raise?

In the middle income range the withholding deduction shrinks as earnings grow, so each extra dollar both adds taxable wages and removes part of the deduction. For a single worker the deduction is gone at $73,630 a year (Publication W-166 (1/26), Withholding Tax Guide, Alternate Method of Withholding Wisconsin Income Tax).

How much is one exemption on the Wisconsin form worth?

Each exemption on Form WT-4 subtracts $400 from yearly wages before the rates are applied, so it changes withholding by only a few dollars a year (Publication W-166 (1/26), Withholding Tax Guide, Alternate Method of Withholding Wisconsin Income Tax).

What does Married, but withhold at higher Single rate do?

It keeps the married status on file but uses the smaller single deduction, which withholds more. It suits couples where both spouses work.

Do Milwaukee or Madison take city income tax from paychecks?

No. Wisconsin local governments do not tax wages, so the state withholding is the only income tax line besides federal.

I often get a Wisconsin refund. Can I have less withheld?

The Employee Withholding Agreement worksheet from the Department of Revenue sets up an agreement with the employer to withhold less when the regular method takes more than the expected yearly tax.

Where this goes next

ToolHourly to salary calculatorRulebookWisconsin employment rulesTemplateOffer letter template with the pay in writing

General information, not legal advice. Not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. This page is for general information only and isn’t legal, financial or tax advice. Laws vary by state and change; check the official source or talk to a qualified professional about your situation. Report an error