What Stockers and Order Fillers earn in Milwaukee County, WI
According to the latest federal wage data for the Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI metropolitan area, the median pay for Stockers and Order Fillers in Milwaukee County, WI is $34,470 a year, or $16.57 an hour. After federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare and state income tax, the paycheck shrinks to $29,068 a year, and rent, food and energy take another bite. The sections below walk through each step with the actual math for Milwaukee County, WI.
The mean wage is $36,540, which is 6.0% above the median, a sign that a group of high earners lifts the average. The survey counts about 12,020 people working in this occupation across the Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Milwaukee County, WI has roughly 926,331 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Stockers and Order Fillers in the Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $29,210 a year ($14.04 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $48,250 or more ($23.20 an hour). That is a gap of $19,040 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $30,320 at the 25th percentile and $39,080 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 1.7 times what someone at the bottom makes, so experience, certification and employer all matter.
What the hourly rate looks like
Employers quote this occupation by the hour or by the year, so here are both: $16.57 an hour or $34,470 a year at the median for Milwaukee County, WI. Before any deductions, that is $2,873 a month, $1,326 every two weeks and $663 each week. After taxes the same job pays $13.98 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
How pay in Milwaukee County, WI compares
Compared with the Wisconsin average
Pay in Milwaukee County, WI runs $1,759 below the Wisconsin average of $36,229, a gap of 4.9%. A worker who moved to a better-paying part of Wisconsin would, on paper, gain that difference before taxes. Within Wisconsin, Milwaukee County, WI already has the highest median we track for this job.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Stockers and Order Fillers is $37,561 across the contiguous United States. At $34,470, Milwaukee County, WI pays $3,091 less, which is 8.2% below that benchmark. Keep in mind that a higher salary only helps if living costs do not rise faster, which is why the cost sections below matter as much as the headline number.
Where this job ranks in Milwaukee County, WI
Among the 523 occupations with published wages in Milwaukee County, WI, Stockers and Order Fillers ranks number 498 by median pay, ahead of about 5% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is General and Operations Managers at $125,490 a year, which is $91,020 more than the median for Stockers and Order Fillers.
From gross pay to take-home pay
Three separate tax bills sit between the gross salary and the bank account: federal income tax, FICA, and state income tax. For Stockers and Order Fillers earning the Milwaukee County, WI median of $34,470, they add up to $5,402. The result is $29,068 of take-home pay a year ($2,422 a month), based on a single filer using the standard deduction.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $16 goes to taxes and $84 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 15.7%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $18,720. Federal brackets are marginal, so only the slice of income above each threshold is taxed at the higher rate; the last dollars of this salary fall in the 12% bracket. The resulting federal income tax is $2,008, an effective 5.8% of gross pay, well below the 12% marginal rate because the lower brackets are cheaper.
Social Security and Medicare (FICA)
Payroll taxes are a flat percentage of wages. Social Security takes 6.2% up to a wage base of $176,100, which costs $2,137 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $500. FICA totals $2,637, which is 7.7% of gross pay.
State income tax in Wisconsin
Wisconsin income tax on this salary is $757 a year, or 2.2% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 38% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $63 a month. Local taxes such as county or city income taxes are not included, so a few jurisdictions may withhold slightly more.
A cross-check with IRS data for Milwaukee County, WI
IRS Statistics of Income data for Milwaukee County, WI show an average adjusted gross income of $73,173 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 12.5% across all filers. Filers in the $25,000 to under $50,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 5.0%, compared with the 5.8% estimated here for a single filer taking the standard deduction. Gaps between the two reflect filing status, dependents, credits and other income, none of which a single-person wage estimate includes.
Cost of living in Milwaukee County, WI
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Milwaukee County, WI: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $29,068 of take-home pay.
Rent
Housing is the largest line in most budgets. For Milwaukee County, WI, HUD sets the Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom unit at $1,060 a month ($12,720 a year), and at $1,263 for two bedrooms. For Stockers and Order Fillers, a one-bedroom absorbs 43.8% of take-home pay and 36.9% of gross pay.
Food
The USDA Thrifty Food Plan (August 2026) puts the cost of a nutritious home-cooked diet for an adult at about $3,436 a year, which is $286 a month or $66.07 a week. That equals 10.0% of gross pay for Stockers and Order Fillers in Milwaukee County, WI. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using Wisconsin residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $1,816 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $393, for $2,209 in total. Gasoline in Wisconsin averages $3.28 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,518.
What is left over
Rent, food, energy and gasoline cost $19,883 a year in Milwaukee County, WI. Subtract that from $29,068 of take-home pay and $9,185 remains, which is $765 a month of breathing room. That margin equals 26.6% of gross pay, a comfortable cushion by common budgeting rules.
Can Stockers and Order Fillers afford to live in Milwaukee County, WI?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $34,470 that ceiling is $862 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,060 is $198 over it, so rent breaks the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $20.38 an hour; the median for Stockers and Order Fillers is $16.57, which is 19% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $13.98 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 17.5 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $1,263 a month means $632 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $5,142 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $14,327.
How fast you can save
At $765 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 14 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 28 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Stockers and Order Fillers pay in Milwaukee County, WI
How much do Stockers and Order Fillers make per hour in Milwaukee County, WI?
The median is $16.57 per hour, based on $34,470 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $14.04 at the 10th percentile to $23.20 at the 90th percentile.
How much do Stockers and Order Fillers take home after taxes in Milwaukee County, WI?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $34,470 becomes $29,068 a year. That is $2,422 a month, $1,118 every two weeks or $559 a week.
How much tax do Stockers and Order Fillers pay in Milwaukee County, WI?
Total taxes are $5,402 a year, an effective rate of 15.7%: $2,008 federal income tax, $2,637 FICA and $757 Wisconsin income tax.
Do Stockers and Order Fillers earn more in Milwaukee County, WI than elsewhere in Wisconsin?
No. The local median of $34,470 is -4.9% versus the Wisconsin average of $36,229, a difference of $1,759 a year.
Can Stockers and Order Fillers afford a one-bedroom apartment in Milwaukee County, WI?
A one-bedroom costs $1,060 a month against take-home pay of $2,422, which is 43.8% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $862 a month.
What is the monthly budget margin for Stockers and Order Fillers in Milwaukee County, WI?
About $765 a month ($9,185 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $19,883 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Milwaukee County, WI at the 30% guideline?
$20.38 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $12,720 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Stockers and Order Fillers is $16.57.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI metropolitan area; hourly-only values are annualized at 2,080 hours. Rents are HUD Fair Market Rents, food costs come from the USDA Thrifty Food Plan, and energy prices come from the Energy Information Administration. County-level tax statistics come from the IRS Statistics of Income.
Taxes use tax-year 2025 federal brackets, FICA rates and the Wisconsin rules for a single filer with wage income only. Figures are estimates for planning and comparison, not tax or financial advice, and they exclude local income taxes, benefits, retirement contributions and individual circumstances.