Appleton, WI

Across all occupations in the Appleton, WI metropolitan area, the median wage is $49,910 a year ($24.00 an hour) and the mean $62,240, May 2025. That median is −2% against the US median of $50,980 and −1% against Wisconsin's $50,270. BLS counts 124,230 jobs in the area. The highest-paying occupation is physicians, all other; the largest is retail salespersons.

All occupations: Appleton, WI vs Wisconsin and the United States

All occupations: wage percentiles, mean and employment in the Appleton, WI area, Wisconsin and nationally, May 2025
Area	Basis	Percentile wage					Mean	Employment
Area	Basis	10th	25th	Median	75th	90th	Mean	Employment
Appleton, WI	Hourly	$14.47	$18.02	$24.00	$35.98	$48.72	$29.93	124,230
Appleton, WI	Annual	$30,090	$37,480	$49,910	$74,840	$101,340	$62,240	124,230
Wisconsin	Hourly	$14.41	$18.12	$24.17	$36.71	$50.47	$30.90	2,941,540
Wisconsin	Annual	$29,980	$37,700	$50,270	$76,350	$104,990	$64,270	2,941,540
United States	Hourly	$15.00	$18.07	$24.51	$38.71	$61.81	$33.54	155,495,730
United States	Annual	$31,200	$37,590	$50,980	$80,520	$128,560	$69,770	155,495,730

Annual wage at the 10th, 25th, 50th (median), 75th and 90th percentiles across all occupations in the metro; the line marks the US median. The same numbers are in the table above.

347 detailed occupations publish a median in this area. State profile: Wisconsin. Compare any occupation across every area in the wage explorer.

20 highest-paying occupations in Appleton, WI

Rank	Occupation	Median annual	Median hourly	Employment
1	Physicians, All Other	$406,080	$195.23	160
2	Nurse Anesthetists	$269,690	$129.66	**
3	Dentists, General	$206,650	$99.35	130
4	Chief Executives	$201,300	$96.78	230
5	Optometrists	$150,060	$72.15	60
6	Computer and Information Systems Managers in Wisconsin	$149,070	$71.67	230
7	Pharmacists	$144,630	$69.53	190
8	Sales Managers in Wisconsin	$138,850	$66.76	420
9	Education Administrators, Postsecondary	$135,690	$65.24	50
10	Financial Managers in Wisconsin	$134,990	$64.90	580
11	Architectural and Engineering Managers	$134,430	$64.63	200
12	Computer Network Architects	$129,410	$62.22	60
13	Nurse Practitioners	$129,030	$62.04	150
14	Marketing Managers	$128,360	$61.71	160
15	Physician Assistants	$128,270	$61.67	120
16	Human Resources Managers	$126,580	$60.86	120
17	Lawyers in Wisconsin	$126,390	$60.76	250
18	Purchasing Managers	$123,490	$59.37	60
19	Construction Managers	$122,710	$59.00	460
20	Medical and Health Services Managers	$122,660	$58.97	170

Ranked by median; an occupation whose median BLS withholds or top-codes in this area cannot appear here, however well it pays.

20 largest occupations in Appleton, WI

Rank	Occupation	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient	Median annual
1	Retail Salespersons in Wisconsin	3,610	29.02	1.16	$34,540
2	Fast Food and Counter Workers in Wisconsin	3,150	25.32	1.02	$29,010
3	Home Health and Personal Care Aides in Wisconsin	2,820	22.69	0.82	$37,010
4	Cashiers in Wisconsin	2,750	22.14	1.11	$31,610
5	Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand in Wisconsin	2,610	21.04	1.11	$43,610
6	Customer Service Representatives in Wisconsin	2,540	20.42	1.22	$45,760
7	Registered Nurses in Wisconsin	2,310	18.58	0.85	$86,680
8	Office Clerks, General in Wisconsin	2,260	18.16	1.15	$45,640
9	Stockers and Order Fillers in Wisconsin	2,000	16.08	0.88	$34,430
10	Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers in Wisconsin	1,980	15.90	1.20	$58,730
11	Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners in Wisconsin	1,790	14.44	1.02	$36,700
12	Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators in Wisconsin	1,650	13.25	1.47	$45,670
13	General and Operations Managers in Wisconsin	1,640	13.16	0.58	$109,890
13	Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products in Wisconsin	1,640	13.20	1.66	$63,840
15	Waiters and Waitresses in Wisconsin	1,490	11.96	0.82	$30,370
16	Food Batchmakers	1,420	11.39	10.15	$49,390
17	Maintenance and Repair Workers, General in Wisconsin	1,340	10.79	1.10	$57,420
18	First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers in Wisconsin	1,240	9.95	2.30	$77,240
19	Bartenders in Wisconsin	1,230	9.91	2.04	$23,330
20	Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive in Wisconsin	1,180	9.52	0.87	$47,940

Most concentrated occupations in Appleton, WI

The 10 occupations with the highest location quotient among those employing at least 100 people in the area. A quotient of 2.00 means the occupation's share of local jobs is twice its national share.

Rank	Occupation	Location quotient	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Median annual
1	Food Batchmakers	10.15	1,420	11.39	$49,390
2	Print Binding and Finishing Workers	9.35	250	2.00	$38,970
3	Paper Goods Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders	9.21	710	5.69	$59,550
4	Farm Equipment Mechanics and Service Technicians	6.73	200	1.64	$58,970
5	Extruding and Drawing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic	5.21	250	2.04	$61,960
6	Printing Press Operators	4.64	530	4.30	$46,090
7	Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining	4.52	120	1.00	$64,720
8	Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic	4.48	610	4.94	$53,560
9	Sheet Metal Workers	4.21	400	3.24	$81,400
10	Telemarketers	3.82	180	1.44	$35,670

Occupation groups in Appleton, WI

Group	Median annual	Mean annual	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient
Management	$119,890	$133,080	6,480	52.16	0.73
Computer and Mathematical	$86,070	$94,650	2,230	17.95	0.53
Healthcare Practitioners and Technical	$84,850	$111,330	6,650	53.49	0.85
Architecture and Engineering	$80,720	$87,750	2,430	19.57	1.16
Legal	$79,230	$114,320	490	3.92	0.47
Business and Financial Operations	$77,030	$85,100	6,890	55.43	0.82
Life, Physical, and Social Science	$73,190	$78,200	710	5.70	0.60
Construction and Extraction	$72,430	$73,050	7,210	58.01	1.40
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair	$61,940	$64,610	6,020	48.42	1.24
Community and Social Service	$59,840	$60,680	1,560	12.59	0.73
Educational Instruction and Library	$58,340	$59,020	6,180	49.75	0.85
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media	$52,290	$60,000	1,170	9.42	0.72
Production	$50,140	$53,620	15,030	120.98	2.20
Protective Service	$47,840	$55,850	2,020	16.24	0.67
Office and Administrative Support	$47,100	$50,010	13,780	110.94	0.97
Transportation and Material Moving	$43,770	$45,220	11,690	94.11	1.07
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry	$38,520	$41,110	190	1.51	0.54
Healthcare Support	$38,210	$41,310	5,220	41.99	0.83
Sales and Related	$38,070	$52,270	12,150	97.79	1.13
Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance	$37,920	$40,500	3,410	27.42	0.94
Personal Care and Service	$35,450	$38,620	2,210	17.82	0.85
Food Preparation and Serving Related	$29,900	$32,850	10,530	84.80	0.96

Every occupation in Wisconsin, and the area's place among the state's metros, is on the state profile. All 347 published occupations for this area are in the wage explorer; other metros are on the metros hub.

Source and notes

Data: BLS OEWS May 2025, released 2026-05-15. Cross-industry estimates, all ownerships. BLS page: OEWS Appleton, WI estimates (area 11540).

**: Employment estimate not available.

Annual wages assume 2,080 hours a year at the hourly rate; occupations BLS publishes on one basis only show an en dash (–) on the other.
Employment is rounded to the nearest 10 by BLS. Where BLS withholds a cell, nothing is estimated in its place.
Jobs per 1,000 is the occupation's employment per 1,000 jobs in the Appleton, WI area; the location quotient is that share divided by the national share.
The concentration table keeps only occupations with employment of 100 or more in the area, so a quotient built on a handful of rounded jobs cannot top it.