Tech salaries vary widely around the nation, but no matter where you are, employees with tech skills are earning a much higher wage than their non-tech counterparts.
Wisconsin tech workers earn an annual median wage of $80,564, which is 89% higher than the state's overall median wage, according to a report from the Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA). The median tech wage in metro Milwaukee was $84,995, which is 92% higher than the metro's overall median wage.
The data is from 2021, which is the most recent available, but the hot talent market of the past two years likely took the median significantly higher — with tech industry workers seeing some of the most substantial gains, according to recruiters.
Nationwide, the median tech wage is $100,615, which is 103% higher than the median national wage.
But there are signs some of those gains are slowing.
The tech landscape has continued to evolve this year, with challenging conditions pushing layoffs across the sector. Some companies, including Microsoft Corp., are pausing salary hikes this year. Microsoft also said performance bonuses for executives will be down considerably compared to the year before.
Meanwhile, experts have said many companies are dialing back on the aggressive raises of the past two years — although they've noted workers with specific, in-demand skills are often an exception, depending on the market.
Top states for tech salaries
While tech salaries in Wisconsin are high compared with other industries in the state, Wisconsin tech salaries aren't the highest across the nation.
Tech workers in Washington state have the highest median wage in the country at nearly $130,000, according to CompTIA's data. Washington, D.C., California, New Jersey and Massachusetts offer the next-highest tech wages.
The lowest-paying states for tech workers are South Dakota, Mississippi, Wyoming, Louisiana and West Virginia, which all have a median tech wage of less than $70,000. But those wages are still significantly higher than each state's median wage for all workers. In Mississippi, for instance, the median tech wage of $66,901 is 101% higher than the state's overall median wage.
Scroll through the chart below to see the median tech wage in each state and how it compares to the overall wage in that state.
