In Wisconsin, the median household income for a single person was $43,666 as of 2015,
according to the U.S. Department of Justice. The minimum wage in Wisconsin, however, is less than half the state’s median income.
As in many other states, the annual salary for a minimum wage job in Wisconsin falls below the state’s median income.
As the University of California-Davis noted, for example, a worker earning $7.25 per hour would earn an annual income of $15,080. This is just a few thousand dollars above the poverty threshold, which was $11,770 as of 2015,
according to the website FamiliesUSA. The state’s median income, by contrast, is well above the poverty line, falling between 300 percent and 400 percent.
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The minimum wage in Wisconsin is $7.25 per hour, the same as the federal minimum wage. In fact, the last time Wisconsin’s minimum wage was raised was in 2009 as part of the federal government’s plan to increase the national minimum wage.
According to Payscale.com, the median hourly wage is double the minimum wage in some areas of the state, ranging from $14.95 in the city of Kenosha, to $17.72 in Madison.
Unlike the minimum wage, Wisconsin’s median income is not fixed. Instead, it may fluctuate from year to year as certain industries pay more or less than they previously did, or as more workers move into either higher or lower paying jobs. However, the minimum wage has remained the same since 2009, and will not change unless the state or federal government authorizes an increase.
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