Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI

Across all occupations in the Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI metropolitan area, the median wage is $51,160 a year ($24.60 an hour) and the mean $67,440, May 2025. That median is 0% against the US median of $50,980 and +2% against Wisconsin's $50,270. BLS counts 820,780 jobs in the area. The highest-paying occupation is surgeons, all other; the largest is home health and personal care aides.

All occupations: Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI vs Wisconsin and the United States

All occupations: wage percentiles, mean and employment in the Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI area, Wisconsin and nationally, May 2025
Area	Basis	Percentile wage					Mean	Employment
Area	Basis	10th	25th	Median	75th	90th	Mean	Employment
Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI	Hourly	$14.43	$18.24	$24.60	$38.19	$54.96	$32.42	820,780
Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI	Annual	$30,010	$37,940	$51,160	$79,440	$114,320	$67,440	820,780
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.

589 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 Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI

Rank	Occupation	Median annual	Median hourly	Employment
1	Surgeons, All Other	$762,360	$366.52	140
2	Physicians, All Other	$411,200	$197.69	2,390
3	Psychiatrists	$331,500	$159.38	180
4	Obstetricians and Gynecologists	$300,470	$144.46	170
5	Family Medicine Physicians	$287,350	$138.15	390
6	Nurse Anesthetists	$282,840	$135.98	210
7	Pediatricians, General	$276,470	$132.92	60
8	Chief Executives	$216,240	$103.96	**
9	Commercial Pilots	$177,730	*	420
10	Physicists	$173,160	$83.25	50
11	Real Estate Brokers	$168,320	$80.93	160
12	Computer and Information Systems Managers in Wisconsin	$161,220	$77.51	2,520
13	Financial Managers in Wisconsin	$156,100	$75.05	5,160
14	Dentists, General	$155,940	$74.97	830
15	Pharmacists	$153,340	$73.72	1,760
16	Database Architects	$148,020	$71.16	130
17	Advertising and Promotions Managers	$144,960	$69.69	50
18	Sales Managers in Wisconsin	$144,560	$69.50	3,240
19	Architectural and Engineering Managers	$143,570	$69.02	1,610
20	Nurse Midwives	$141,520	$68.04	50

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 Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI

Rank	Occupation	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient	Median annual
1	Home Health and Personal Care Aides in Wisconsin	30,090	36.66	1.32	$37,020
2	Registered Nurses in Wisconsin	22,400	27.29	1.26	$97,360
3	Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand in Wisconsin	19,810	24.13	1.27	$44,840
4	Retail Salespersons in Wisconsin	18,850	22.97	0.92	$34,410
5	Fast Food and Counter Workers in Wisconsin	17,490	21.31	0.86	$28,440
6	Cashiers in Wisconsin	15,050	18.34	0.92	$30,400
7	Office Clerks, General in Wisconsin	14,820	18.05	1.14	$44,040
8	Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners in Wisconsin	14,380	17.52	1.23	$36,620
9	Customer Service Representatives in Wisconsin	14,080	17.15	1.03	$47,840
10	Stockers and Order Fillers in Wisconsin	12,020	14.64	0.80	$34,470
11	Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products in Wisconsin	10,790	13.14	1.65	$73,880
12	Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators in Wisconsin	10,520	12.82	1.42	$45,770
13	General and Operations Managers in Wisconsin	10,480	12.76	0.57	$125,490
14	Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers in Wisconsin	10,250	12.49	0.94	$59,580
15	Waiters and Waitresses in Wisconsin	10,020	12.20	0.84	$30,330
16	Maintenance and Repair Workers, General in Wisconsin	8,270	10.08	1.02	$56,320
17	Accountants and Auditors in Wisconsin	7,960	9.70	1.04	$80,290
18	Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive in Wisconsin	7,930	9.67	0.88	$48,480
19	Nursing Assistants in Wisconsin	7,880	9.60	1.03	$45,690
20	Bartenders in Wisconsin	7,330	8.93	1.84	$25,970

Most concentrated occupations in Milwaukee-Waukesha, 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	Patternmakers, Metal and Plastic	14.52	110	0.14	$49,070
2	Print Binding and Finishing Workers	8.51	1,490	1.82	$44,360
3	Foundry Mold and Coremakers	5.93	400	0.49	$46,200
4	Shoe and Leather Workers and Repairers	5.66	220	0.27	$46,210
5	Psychologists, All Other	4.56	450	0.55	$80,200
6	Computer Numerically Controlled Tool Programmers	4.29	650	0.79	$66,860
7	Pourers and Casters, Metal	4.10	100	0.12	$53,100
8	Disc Jockeys, Except Radio	4.06	170	0.21	*
9	Surgical Assistants	3.59	420	0.52	$81,690
10	Printing Press Operators	3.40	2,590	3.15	$47,400

Occupation groups in Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI

Group	Median annual	Mean annual	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient
Management	$128,250	$143,800	50,810	61.91	0.86
Legal	$100,570	$144,320	6,310	7.69	0.92
Computer and Mathematical	$98,330	$100,580	22,720	27.68	0.82
Healthcare Practitioners and Technical	$91,160	$117,770	59,420	72.39	1.15
Architecture and Engineering	$88,410	$93,230	15,730	19.17	1.14
Business and Financial Operations	$79,820	$89,290	56,530	68.87	1.02
Life, Physical, and Social Science	$78,000	$84,380	5,340	6.51	0.69
Construction and Extraction	$69,650	$73,000	30,050	36.61	0.89
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair	$62,030	$65,190	28,510	34.73	0.89
Educational Instruction and Library	$59,840	$63,060	44,280	53.95	0.92
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media	$59,820	$65,440	11,080	13.50	1.03
Community and Social Service	$59,570	$62,550	11,870	14.46	0.84
Protective Service	$57,510	$60,980	16,400	19.99	0.82
Production	$48,450	$52,570	68,890	83.94	1.52
Office and Administrative Support	$48,440	$51,180	89,880	109.51	0.96
Transportation and Material Moving	$44,820	$46,440	71,880	87.57	1.00
Sales and Related	$41,770	$56,650	70,510	85.90	1.00
Healthcare Support	$38,450	$40,090	49,340	60.11	1.18
Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance	$37,900	$41,340	25,800	31.43	1.07
Personal Care and Service	$36,880	$40,090	17,340	21.13	1.01
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry	$36,570	$39,590	420	0.51	0.18
Food Preparation and Serving Related	$30,630	$33,500	67,680	82.45	0.94

Every occupation in Wisconsin, and the area's place among the state's metros, is on the state profile. All 589 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 Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI estimates (area 33340).

*: Wage estimate not available.
**: 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 Milwaukee-Waukesha, 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.