--- title: "Hire in Wisconsin 2026: tax, pay & leave" description: "Hiring in Wisconsin? Graduated income tax topping at 7.65%, the federal $7.25 minimum, a $14,000 UI base. The state guides, one per layer." canonical: https://www.teamed.global/country-hiring-guides/united-states/wisconsin --- United States · Wisconsin · State overview Served by Teamed US Inc., Delaware · Payroll via SUNA Solutions # What do you need to know to hire in *Wisconsin*? A graduated income tax topping at 7.65%, the federal $7.25 wage floor, and a state Family and Medical Leave Act layered on the federal one. Each Wisconsin guide below takes one layer of state rule. Last reviewed 7 June 2026 · Wisconsin, United States guide ![A warm, wide illustration of the Madison skyline at golden hour seen across Lake Monona, the Wisconsin State Capitol dome rising white above the treeline among low downtown buildings, sailboats on the calm water under a clear amber sky.](/cluster-assets/country-hiring-guides/united-states/wisconsin/images/hero.webp) Illustration · Madison, Wisconsin Wisconsin withholds a graduated income tax that tops at 7.65%, so the paycheck math has four brackets, not one rate. The unemployment-insurance schedule and the state Family and Medical Leave Act are where the rest of the work sits. The federal floor is identical to every other state: FLSA, FICA, FUTA and FMLA set the baseline. Everything Wisconsin adds on top is what these guides cover. Most employers budget for the $14,000 unemployment wage base and forget that Wisconsin's own leave law runs alongside the federal one. This page is the map; each guide is the detail. ## What do you need to know to hire in Wisconsin? Wisconsin runs on the federal employment floor with a graduated state income tax on top and its own leave law layered on the federal FMLA. There's a four-bracket income tax topping at 7.65%, the federal $7.25 minimum with no state premium, and no state overtime beyond the 40-hour federal week. Where Wisconsin gets specific is income-tax withholding, unemployment insurance, and the state Family and Medical Leave Act. Each guide below takes one of those layers. Sienna runs payroll for a 12-person team and just approved her first Wisconsin hire. The federal stack she already knows still applies: Social Security to the [$184,500 wage base](https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p15.pdf), FUTA, and [FMLA](https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/fmla) once the company passes 50 employees. Wisconsin layers its own graduated income tax, its own unemployment tax, and its own Family and Medical Leave Act on top. Start from [the United States overview](/country-hiring-guides/united-states) for the federal baseline. This page is the Wisconsin-specific layer, and the guides below break it into the questions an employer actually asks before a first hire. ## What does an employer actually pay in Wisconsin? The Wisconsin-specific cost is income-tax withholding plus unemployment insurance on top of the federal pass-through. The income tax is graduated, so withholding tracks the bracket the wage falls in, up to 7.65%. Unemployment insurance runs on a $14,000 taxable wage base. A new employer starts at 3.05%, and experience-rated accounts land between 0% and 12%. Wisconsin DOR · Wisconsin DWD · US DOL · 2026 **State income tax:** graduated over four brackets, topping at 7.65%, with a $12,760 maximum standard deduction for a single filer. **Minimum wage:** the federal $7.25 an hour, with $2.33 cash for tipped roles. **Overtime:** time and a half after 40 hours a week, no daily rule, no mandated meal break for adults. **Unemployment insurance:** a $14,000 wage base, 3.05% for a new non-construction employer, 0% to 12% once experience-rated. **State leave:** Wisconsin's own Family and Medical Leave Act, 6/2/2 weeks, at employers with 50+ workers. Sources: [Wisconsin Department of Revenue, individual income tax](https://www.revenue.wi.gov/Pages/Individuals/income.aspx), [Wisconsin DWD 2026 employer tax rates](https://dwd.wisconsin.gov/ui/employers/taxrates.htm) and [US DOL state minimum wage](https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/minimum-wage/state). The figures above are the headline. The detail, from withholding setup to the SUTA filing cadence, the tip credit, and the exempt-salary threshold, sits in [the Wisconsin tax and unemployment guide](/country-hiring-guides/united-states/wisconsin/state-income-tax-and-unemployment-insurance) and [the wage and overtime guide](/country-hiring-guides/united-states/wisconsin/wage-overtime-and-meal-break-law). ## The Wisconsin guides, one layer at a time Three Wisconsin guides are live, one per layer of state rule. Each answers the questions an employer asks before the first hire, with the statutory numbers pulled from the same Wisconsin source set. - [State income tax & unemployment insuranceThe four graduated brackets topping at 7.65%, the $14,000 SUTA wage base, new-employer and experience rates, and the quarterly filing rhythm.](/country-hiring-guides/united-states/wisconsin/state-income-tax-and-unemployment-insurance) - [Wage, overtime & meal break lawThe federal $7.25 floor, the 40-hour overtime week, the tip credit, and why Wisconsin mandates no meal break for adults.](/country-hiring-guides/united-states/wisconsin/wage-overtime-and-meal-break-law) - [Paid family & sick leaveWisconsin's own Family and Medical Leave Act, 6/2/2 weeks at 50+ workers, and how it runs alongside federal FMLA.](/country-hiring-guides/united-states/wisconsin/paid-family-and-sick-leave) The Wisconsin termination guide and the worker-classification guide, the state's test for employee versus contractor, are the next two we're building. Need one sooner? [Tell us](https://www.teamed.global/contact) and we'll move it up the queue. ## How does Wisconsin compare to its neighbours? Wisconsin's graduated income tax and its own leave law set it apart, but each neighbour breaks the pattern somewhere. The federal floor is identical; the state layer is not. Cross a state line and the math changes. [Minnesota](/country-hiring-guides/united-states/minnesota) runs its own statewide paid family and medical leave programme that Wisconsin has no premium-funded equivalent for. [Illinois](/country-hiring-guides/united-states/illinois) sets a state minimum wage well above the federal $7.25 floor Wisconsin uses. [Michigan](/country-hiring-guides/united-states/michigan) levies a flat income tax rather than Wisconsin's four graduated brackets. If you're hiring across the region, read each state's guides before you set payroll. The structure is the same everywhere; the income-tax shape, the SUTA base, and the leave mandate are not. ## How does Teamed hire in Wisconsin for you? Teamed becomes your legal [employer of record](/lp/employer-of-record) in Wisconsin for [**from $599 per employee per month**](/pricing), with **zero FX mark-up** in any currency. Payroll, the income-tax withholding, the unemployment registration, and the federal stack run on one platform. There's no setup fee and no exit fee, and statutory employer cost passes through at cost, itemised on every invoice. **Real HR and legal experts** handle your Wisconsin hires, from the first offer letter to a contested termination. **An actual person**, not a chatbot or a pooled queue, who knows the state Family and Medical Leave Act and how it runs alongside the federal one. There's **no setup fee** and **no exit fee**, the platform tracks every federal trigger in real time, and statutory employer cost **passes through at cost, itemised** on every invoice. Contractor onboarding, EOR payroll, and entity setup live on **one platform**. A Wisconsin contractor who converts to W-2 keeps their record, and that same employee can **graduate** from EOR to your own US entity without re-onboarding. Run the [Crossover Calculator](https://www.teamed.global/tools/crossover-calculator) to see the month the model flips. EOR is the right model for a first Wisconsin hire, **until it isn't**. Teamed Legal Operations Wisconsin reads as middle-of-the-road: a graduated income tax, a federal wage floor, a light break code. The catch is the state leave law that runs alongside the federal one and the four brackets withholding has to track. These guides exist so the first Wisconsin hire never becomes the first Wisconsin filing. A note from Tom Price-Daniel Wisconsin looks like a steady state to hire in. A graduated income tax, the federal wage floor, little fuss on breaks. The detail is the layering. Four tax brackets to 7.65%, and a state leave law that sits on top of the federal one. Read the right guide before the first hire, not after the first dispute. Tom Price-Daniel · Co-founder, Teamed ## Related United States guides - [Wisconsin state tax & unemployment insurance](/country-hiring-guides/united-states/wisconsin/state-income-tax-and-unemployment-insurance)guide - [Wisconsin wage, overtime & meal break law](/country-hiring-guides/united-states/wisconsin/wage-overtime-and-meal-break-law)guide - [Wisconsin paid family & sick leave](/country-hiring-guides/united-states/wisconsin/paid-family-and-sick-leave)guide - [Hiring in the United States, overview](/country-hiring-guides/united-states)country parent - [Minnesota hiring overview](/country-hiring-guides/united-states/minnesota)neighbour - [Illinois hiring overview](/country-hiring-guides/united-states/illinois)neighbour - [Michigan hiring overview](/country-hiring-guides/united-states/michigan)neighbour - [Employer of Record overview](/lp/employer-of-record)core - [Pricing, Zero FX Fixed](/pricing)core - [EOR vs Entity Crossover Calculator](https://www.teamed.global/tools/crossover-calculator)tool - [Talk to an expert](https://www.teamed.global/contact)CTA A note on this page. This is a guide, not legal or tax advice. Wisconsin runs a graduated state income tax topping at 7.65%, follows the federal minimum wage, is an at-will state, and has its own Family and Medical Leave Act that runs alongside the federal one; federal FLSA, FICA, FMLA, Title VII and the WARN Act layer on top and can change when a rule is finalised or a court rules. Confirm specific figures with the Wisconsin Department of Revenue, the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, the US Department of Labor or the IRS, or your Teamed US specialist, before relying on any number here.