Madison, WI

Across all occupations in the Madison, WI metropolitan area, the median wage is $58,080 a year ($27.92 an hour) and the mean $70,990, May 2025. That median is +14% against the US median of $50,980 and +16% against Wisconsin's $50,270. BLS counts 408,070 jobs in the area. The highest-paying occupation is emergency medicine physicians; the largest is registered nurses.

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

All occupations: wage percentiles, mean and employment in the Madison, WI area, Wisconsin and nationally, May 2025
Area	Basis	Percentile wage					Mean	Employment
Area	Basis	10th	25th	Median	75th	90th	Mean	Employment
Madison, WI	Hourly	$15.67	$19.71	$27.92	$40.44	$59.80	$34.13	408,070
Madison, WI	Annual	$32,590	$40,990	$58,080	$84,110	$124,370	$70,990	408,070
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.

535 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 Madison, WI

Rank	Occupation	Median annual	Median hourly	Employment
1	Emergency Medicine Physicians	$340,150	$163.53	170
2	General Internal Medicine Physicians	$329,670	$158.50	270
3	Physicians, All Other	$301,940	$145.16	850
4	Psychiatrists	$296,230	$142.42	160
5	Family Medicine Physicians	$291,000	$139.90	160
6	Nurse Anesthetists	$283,980	$136.53	150
7	Obstetricians and Gynecologists	$227,650	$109.45	80
8	Chief Executives	$217,010	$104.33	900
9	Dentists, General	$176,460	$84.84	270
10	Computer and Information Systems Managers in Wisconsin	$168,900	$81.20	2,540
11	Architectural and Engineering Managers	$160,700	$77.26	750
12	Pharmacists	$158,120	$76.02	1,120
13	Database Architects	$155,160	$74.60	170
14	Financial Managers in Wisconsin	$148,970	$71.62	2,320
15	Sales Managers in Wisconsin	$146,380	$70.37	1,660
16	Biological Science Teachers, Postsecondary	$142,490	*	210
17	Human Resources Managers	$140,680	$67.63	660
18	Computer Science Teachers, Postsecondary	$140,660	*	90
19	Marketing Managers	$138,270	$66.48	1,000
20	Engineering Teachers, Postsecondary	$137,840	*	340

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 Madison, WI

Rank	Occupation	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient	Median annual
1	Registered Nurses in Wisconsin	10,650	26.10	1.20	$101,190
2	Fast Food and Counter Workers in Wisconsin	9,180	22.50	0.91	$29,820
3	Home Health and Personal Care Aides in Wisconsin	8,360	20.49	0.74	$37,220
4	Retail Salespersons in Wisconsin	8,330	20.42	0.81	$35,830
5	Cashiers in Wisconsin	7,960	19.51	0.98	$34,550
6	Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand in Wisconsin	7,130	17.46	0.92	$44,190
7	Customer Service Representatives in Wisconsin	7,120	17.45	1.05	$47,500
8	Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners in Wisconsin	6,780	16.61	1.17	$39,680
9	Software Developers in Wisconsin	6,720	16.47	1.52	$130,630
10	Office Clerks, General in Wisconsin	5,970	14.62	0.92	$46,590
11	Stockers and Order Fillers in Wisconsin	5,880	14.40	0.79	$36,710
12	General and Operations Managers in Wisconsin	5,130	12.57	0.56	$126,620
12	Waiters and Waitresses in Wisconsin	5,130	12.57	0.86	$30,910
14	Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive in Wisconsin	4,630	11.35	1.03	$51,410
15	Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators in Wisconsin	4,510	11.04	1.22	$47,360
16	Accountants and Auditors in Wisconsin	4,440	10.89	1.17	$81,130
17	Project Management Specialists in Wisconsin	4,280	10.49	1.53	$98,990
18	Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers in Wisconsin	4,160	10.18	0.77	$59,700
19	Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel in Wisconsin	4,060	9.96	1.23	$65,840
20	Bartenders in Wisconsin	3,810	9.34	1.92	$23,210

Most concentrated occupations in Madison, 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	Farm and Home Management Educators	30.67	660	1.62	$60,920
2	Animal Scientists	27.22	220	0.54	$84,310
3	Agricultural Sciences Teachers, Postsecondary	10.30	240	0.59	$98,920
4	Biological Technicians	7.18	1,310	3.21	$51,750
5	Agricultural Technicians	6.25	250	0.61	$47,030
6	Archivists	5.75	120	0.30	$63,040
7	Teaching Assistants, Postsecondary	5.62	2,420	5.93	$47,990
8	Microbiologists	5.39	270	0.66	$67,940
9	Soil and Plant Scientists	5.21	220	0.53	$73,510
10	Atmospheric and Space Scientists	4.53	120	0.29	$107,970

Occupation groups in Madison, WI

Group	Median annual	Mean annual	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient
Management	$130,600	$145,480	27,250	66.78	0.93
Computer and Mathematical	$101,970	$107,100	20,430	50.06	1.48
Legal	$98,530	$127,050	3,000	7.34	0.87
Architecture and Engineering	$93,400	$96,330	7,560	18.53	1.10
Healthcare Practitioners and Technical	$89,810	$104,480	30,780	75.43	1.19
Business and Financial Operations	$80,780	$88,920	32,500	79.65	1.18
Life, Physical, and Social Science	$76,870	$82,110	9,040	22.15	2.34
Construction and Extraction	$67,860	$72,980	15,310	37.53	0.91
Community and Social Service	$63,510	$66,220	6,540	16.02	0.93
Protective Service	$63,130	$64,190	6,560	16.08	0.66
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media	$62,890	$69,030	6,920	16.95	1.29
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair	$61,980	$65,580	13,150	32.24	0.82
Educational Instruction and Library	$60,830	$70,980	27,650	67.76	1.16
Office and Administrative Support	$49,090	$52,860	45,610	111.76	0.98
Production	$48,450	$52,330	23,800	58.32	1.06
Transportation and Material Moving	$44,710	$46,880	28,050	68.74	0.78
Sales and Related	$43,370	$55,930	32,570	79.81	0.92
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry	$42,130	$43,370	680	1.67	0.60
Healthcare Support	$40,710	$43,320	17,360	42.53	0.84
Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance	$40,090	$42,560	12,110	29.67	1.01
Personal Care and Service	$37,540	$41,430	8,310	20.37	0.97
Food Preparation and Serving Related	$33,430	$35,030	32,890	80.60	0.92

Every occupation in Wisconsin, and the area's place among the state's metros, is on the state profile. All 535 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 Madison, WI estimates (area 31540).

*: Wage 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 Madison, 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.