What Bartenders earn in Washington County, WI
If you are weighing a move or a job offer, start with $25,970: the median annual pay for Bartenders in Washington County, WI. Spread over a standard 2,080-hour work year, that is $12.49 an hour. Because the wage survey covers the whole Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI metropolitan area, the number reflects employers across the region rather than a single town or a single company.
The mean wage is $27,850, which is 7.2% above the median, a sign that a group of high earners lifts the average. The survey counts about 7,330 people working in this occupation across the Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Washington County, WI has roughly 137,879 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Bartenders in the Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $16,930 a year ($8.14 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $40,250 or more ($19.35 an hour). That is a gap of $23,320 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $21,250 at the 25th percentile and $30,070 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 2.4 times what someone at the bottom makes, so experience, certification and employer all matter.
What the hourly rate looks like
Converted to an hourly wage, the median for Bartenders in Washington County, WI is $12.49. A full-time schedule of 40 hours for 52 weeks adds up to $25,970, and the same salary is $2,164 a month before taxes or about $999 per biweekly pay period. After taxes the same job pays $10.84 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
About this occupation: Bartenders
The U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET database describes the work of Bartenders this way: "Mix and serve drinks to patrons, directly or through waitstaff."
Core tasks recorded by O*NET include: "Collect money for drinks served"; "Check identification of customers to verify age requirements for purchase of alcohol"; "Balance cash receipts"; "Attempt to limit problems and liability related to customers' excessive drinking by taking steps such as persuading customers to stop drinking, or ordering taxis or other transportation for intoxicated patrons".
Job outlook for Bartenders
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects national employment in this occupation to grow from 762,600 jobs in 2025 to 800,500 in 2035, a change of +5%, faster than the 3.5% projected for all occupations. The projection counts 121,200 openings a year on average, including positions created by growth and positions left by workers who retire or move to another occupation; that equals 15.9% of current employment each year.
Typical entry-level education: no formal educational credential. Typical on-the-job training to reach competency: short-term on-the-job training. BLS lists a national median annual wage of $34,340 for this occupation; the Washington County, WI median of $25,970 is 24.4% below it.
How pay in Washington County, WI compares
Compared with the Wisconsin average
Washington County, WI pays above the state benchmark. The Wisconsin employment-weighted average for Bartenders is $25,109; the local median of $25,970 beats it by $861, or 3.4%. Within Wisconsin, the highest median we track for this job is $27,600 in St. Croix County, WI.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Bartenders is $34,134 across the contiguous United States. At $25,970, Washington County, WI pays $8,164 less, which is 23.9% 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 Washington County, WI
Among the 523 occupations with published wages in Washington County, WI, Bartenders ranks number 521 by median pay, ahead of about 0% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is General and Operations Managers at $125,490 a year, which is $99,520 more than the median for Bartenders.
From gross pay to take-home pay
A salary of $25,970 does not arrive in full. We model a single filer with wage income only, the standard deduction and tax-year 2025 rules, and we keep the three tax layers apart: federal income tax, FICA (Social Security and Medicare) and state income tax. Together they take $3,419 a year, which leaves $22,551, or $1,879 a month.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $13 goes to taxes and $87 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 13.2%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $10,220. 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 10% bracket. The resulting federal income tax is $1,022, an effective 3.9% of gross pay, well below the 10% 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 $1,610 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $377. FICA totals $1,987, which is 7.7% of gross pay.
State income tax in Wisconsin
Wisconsin income tax on this salary is $410 a year, or 1.6% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 40% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $34 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 Washington County, WI
IRS Statistics of Income data for Washington County, WI show an average adjusted gross income of $95,431 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 12.7% across all filers. Filers in the $25,000 to under $50,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 5.6%, compared with the 3.9% 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 Washington County, WI
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Washington County, WI: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $22,551 of take-home pay.
Rent
The HUD Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Washington County, WI is $1,060 a month, or $12,720 a year. A two-bedroom costs $1,263 a month. For Bartenders, a one-bedroom absorbs 56.4% of take-home pay and 49.0% 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 13.2% of gross pay for Bartenders in Washington 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
Add the four basics together and living costs come to $19,883 a year, 88% of take-home pay. That leaves $2,668 a year, or $222 a month, for savings, transportation beyond fuel, health care, debt and everything else. That margin equals 10.3% of gross pay, a workable but modest cushion.
Local housing and commute data for Washington County, WI
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Washington County, WI: property taxes, housing prices and the daily commute. The figures below are exact U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates for Washington County, WI, set beside the Wisconsin and national medians.
Property taxes in Washington County, WI
Homeowners in Washington County, WI pay a median of $3,802 a year in real estate taxes, in line with the Wisconsin median of $3,792 and 22% above the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $344,800, the median tax bill is 1.10% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Bartenders median of $25,970, a tax bill of that size would equal 14.6% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in Washington County, WI
Renters in Washington County, WI pay a median gross rent of $1,153 a month in the Census survey, 6% above the Wisconsin median of $1,087. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which this site uses in the budget, is $1,060 a month; the two measures differ because the Census figure covers units of every size that renters already occupy, while the HUD figure is a one-bedroom benchmark. The median value of an owner-occupied home is $344,800, 29% above the Wisconsin median of $266,500. Median household income is $96,359, 24% above the Wisconsin median of $77,485, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 13.2% of that income.
Commuting in Washington County, WI
Workers in Washington County, WI who travel to a workplace spend an average of 26.4 minutes each way, 19% above the Wisconsin average of 22.2. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 4.4 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 13.9% of workers in Washington County, WI work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Bartenders afford to live in Washington 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 $25,970 that ceiling is $649 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,060 is $411 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 Bartenders is $12.49, which is 39% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $10.84 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 22.6 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 $7,810.
How fast you can save
At $222 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 45 months (3.8 years). Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 90 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Bartenders pay in Washington County, WI
What is the hourly wage for Bartenders in Washington County, WI?
The median is $12.49 per hour, based on $25,970 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $8.14 at the 10th percentile to $19.35 at the 90th percentile.
What is the take-home pay for Bartenders in Washington County, WI?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $25,970 becomes $22,551 a year. That is $1,879 a month, $867 every two weeks or $434 a week.
What percentage of pay goes to taxes for Bartenders in Washington County, WI?
Total taxes are $3,419 a year, an effective rate of 13.2%: $1,022 federal income tax, $1,987 FICA and $410 Wisconsin income tax.
Is pay for Bartenders in Washington County, WI above the Wisconsin average?
Yes. The local median of $25,970 is +3.4% versus the Wisconsin average of $25,109, a difference of $861 a year.
Is a one-bedroom rent affordable on the median Bartenders salary in Washington County, WI?
A one-bedroom costs $1,060 a month against take-home pay of $1,879, which is 56.4% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $649 a month.
How much is left after rent, food and energy for Bartenders in Washington County, WI?
About $222 a month ($2,668 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 Washington 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 Bartenders is $12.49.
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.