Software Engineer Salary in Wisconsin and How to Increase It

By | July 16, 2023
Wisconsin Software Engineer Salary
Software engineers find Wisconsin attractive to live and work due to its low cost of living.

The software engineer salary in Wisconsin is $90,144 yearly.

Wisconsin is located in the Upper Midwest of the US, and it’s a State where software engineers are enjoying relative ease of life.

The State is ranked 38 for software engineers in the US.

With salaries of $90,144, 21% lower than the National average, the Wisconsin software engineer enjoys a yearly bonus of $2,500.

Wisconsin is a State where the cost of living, 96.3%, is affordable.

Software Engineer Salary in Wisconsin Cities

Wisconsin has some cities within the State that are good places for software engineers to work and live, with higher salaries; cities like Green Bay, which pays ($60,453), Appleton and La Crosse are cities that also stand out tall.  

With 20% between the top paying city (Green Bay) and Racine, the only set back here is that salary may not grow potentially in these cities.

Cities with Highest Software Engineer Salary in Wisconsin

The table below highlights the cities in the State of Wisconsin where software engineers are paid the highest salaries:

CityYearly Salary ($)
Green Bay60,453
Appleton59,341
La Crosse53,884
Kenosha53,592
Madison52,453
Milwaukee52,409
Oshkosh51,789
Eau Claire51,246
Wausau49,785
Racine49,306
Cities that pay the highest salaries to software engineers in Wisconsin

Skill-based Software Engineer Salary in Wisconsin

Skills play a vital part in a software engineer getting ahead in Wisconsin and having overall growth in terms of salary and potential career upward movement.

In the State of Wisconsin, the much needed skills a software engineer needs are basically listed below alongside how much is added to their yearly salary due to having a specific skill.

  • Scala skilled software engineers earn 24.30% in Wisconsin, which translates to $21,904 as add on to salary.
  • Os kernel skilled software engineers in Wisconsin earn 17.55%, which is $15,820 yearly add on to salary.
  • Big Data skilled software engineers in Wisconsin earn 17.35%, which is $15,639 added yearly to salary.
  • Microservices skilled software engineers in Wisconsin earn 16.13%, which translates to $14,540 yearly add on to salary.
  • Machine Learning skilled software engineers in Wisconsin earn 11.91%, which is $10,555 added to salary yearly.
  • Data Structures skilled software engineers in Wisconsin earn 10.99%, which adds up to $9,906 to salary yearly.

Experience-based Software Engineer Salary in Wisconsin

Experience makes a professional stand out as the best in his/her career. In Wisconsin, the software engineer salary is listed below based on the number of years of experience on the job:

  • 1 year experience as software engineer in Wisconsin earns $75,580 salary yearly.
  • 1 – 2 years experience on the job as software engineer in Wisconsin can earn you $77,651 yearly salary.
  • 3 – 5 years experience on the job as software engineer in Wisconsin earns $80,000 yearly salary.
  • 6 – 9 years experience on the job as software engineer in Wisconsin can earn you a salary of $88,817 yearly.
  • 10 years and above experience in Wisconsin as software engineer can earn you $101,754 salary yearly.

10 Companies with Highest Software Engineer Salary in Wisconsin

Wisconsin has many thriving and aspiring startups and large corporations scattered in various parts of the State that offer employment to software engineers.

In the table below listed are the top paying companies in Wisconsin where software engineers earn high:

CompaniesSalary Yearly ($)
Apple169,027
Facebook158,727
Octo Consulting Group153,511
Capital One153,074
Juniper Networks145,627
 Oracle142,086
 Experian135,925
Salesforce135,038
Cisco132,779
Wayfair132,367
Companies that pay the highest salaries to software engineers in Wisconsin

More Benefits for Software Engineers in Wisconsin

Aside the payment of yearly bonus and salary, there are other benefits software engineers enjoy in Wisconsin; these benefits may sometimes converted to cash or long term incentives.

  • Health insurance

The software engineer in Wisconsin gets a comprehensive health insurance scheme that the employing company contributes towards.

  • Vision insurance

Wisconsin software engineers are given vision insurance by their employers; the vision of the software engineer is very important to their employers, so they go all out to help keep their vision healthy.

  • Visa assistance program

Wisconsin software engineers can sometimes be invited to programs outside the country; the employer helps the engineer in processing and getting the visa for the event.

  • Stocks benefits

Software engineers are given company stocks, which they convert to cash after maturity.

  • Food Provided

Due to the long hours of work and the short breaks in between during birth and testing of applications, the software engineer is unable to cater for food during these periods.

The companies provide foods at such times for their software engineers in the State of Wisconsin.

What Related Job Titles to Software Engineer Earn in Wisconsin

Highlighted below are the related job titles to software engineering and how much they earn in the State of Wisconsin:

  • Full Stack Developers in Wisconsin earn $96,866 yearly.
  • Frontend Developers in Wisconsin earn $78,978 yearly.
  • Backend Developers in Wisconsin earn $74,504 yearly.
  • Application Developers in Wisconsin earn $78,962 yearly.
  • Developers in Wisconsin earn $39,427 yearly.

Software Engineer Salary and Job Outlook in Wisconsin

Wisconsin is one of the States within the Upper Midwest and it has a cost of living ratio of 96.3%, with salaries in the range of $90,144 yearly.

Between the top paying cities in the State, Green Bay ($60,453) and the least paying city Racine ($49.306), the difference in salary is 20%, which greatly highlights the limited growth for a potential salary increase.

However, due to the affordable cost of living in Wisconsin, it might be a good State to consider for software engineers to live and work, since it pays 21% lower than National average.

How to increase your Salary as Software Engineer in Wisconsin

Looking to increase your take home pay as a software engineer in the State of Wisconsin? If yes, then here are some ideas to apply:

  • Improve on your skill set and see the effect it has on your salary. The list above shows how much software engineers in Wisconsin make with certain skills.
  • A good qualification. A good and sound qualification will propel the upward increase of the salary you desire in Wisconsin. So get certified and get a salary increase.
  • Relocate. Some cities in Wisconsin pay very high salaries to software engineers, even higher than some States; it will be to your advantage if you relocate from your present city to a place paying higher salaries.
  • Work for higher paying companies. Some companies in Wisconsin pay higher salaries to software engineers than others (see above). To help increase your salary, it would be a good idea to seek a way to work for one of the high paying companies.
  • Network other professionals. Networking with other professionals with Wisconsin can yield an increase in your salary, some insider jobs are left open for insiders to fill. A good network of friends can help you get a better paying software engineering job in Wisconsin.

More Career Opportunities for Software Engineers in Wisconsin

Software engineers in Wisconsin can further advance their careers in some other similar industries, including:

  • Computer network architects in Wisconsin earn $99,000 yearly.
  • Sales engineers in Wisconsin earn $91,000 yearly.
  • Chemical engineers in Wisconsin earn $88,000 yearly.
  • Computer hardware engineers in Wisconsin earn $87,000 yearly.
  • Biochemical engineers in Wisconsin earn $84,000 yearly.

Conclusion

With a 96.3% cost of living and salary 21% lower than National average ($90,144 yearly), and ranked 38, the State of Wisconsin is a State software engineers can consider living in.

It is one of the States that are setting the pace for others to follow in the region. It’s best selling attribute is its affordable cost of living, which is attractive to software engineers.

Information sources: bls.gov, careerexplorer.com, indeed.com, insight.dice.com, payscale.com, ziprecruiter.com, glassdoor.com, hackreactor.com, and fullstackacademy.com.