Pharmacist Salary in Wisconsin 2026,
$148,740 Median | BLS Data by City

Wisconsin pharmacists earn a median $148,740 a year, $71.51 an hour, per BLS OEWS May 2025, with the middle half between $131,780 and $167,430 and a full range of $112,020 to $178,090. That is 5.6% above the $140,910 national median, one of the stronger state figures in the country.

La Crosse-Onalaska at $159,020, just ahead of Madison at $158,120, then Milwaukee-Waukesha at $153,340, Janesville-Beloit at $150,120 and Eau Claire at $149,720. Every published metro sits above the statewide $148,740, which means the rural and small-town pharmacies outside the metro areas are what pull the state figure down.

Through the Wisconsin Pharmacy Examining Board at the Department of Safety and Professional Services: a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from an accredited programme, the NAPLEX, the Wisconsin multistate pharmacy jurisprudence examination and supervised internship hours. Pharmacists licensed elsewhere may transfer by reciprocity but must still sit the Wisconsin jurisprudence examination.

Yes, and it is under-recognised. The $148,740 median is 5.6% above the national figure, every published metro pays above it, and Wisconsin's cost of living outside Madison and Milwaukee is well below the national average. The offset is a graduated state income tax reaching 7.65%, which is less favourable at this income than the flat rates in neighbouring states.

Wisconsin uses a graduated income tax topping out at 7.65%, with no municipal income tax anywhere in the state. At pharmacist earnings this is the least favourable structure in this batch — a flat-rate state would tax the same income considerably more lightly — but the wage level and low cost base outside the metros more than offset it.

Because a pharmacy cannot operate without a pharmacist on duty, and western Wisconsin has fewer of them. La Crosse-Onalaska anchors a large regional health system serving a wide rural catchment, with no local pharmacy school pipeline of the kind Madison enjoys, so employers there must bid up to fill posts. Madison at $158,120 is close behind for a different reason — it is the state's centre of hospital, specialty and clinical pharmacy practice rather than a retail scarcity market.

The tenth percentile of $112,020 reflects part-time, relief and floating positions rather than a genuine entry salary for a full-time role. And every metro on this table sits above the statewide median, which means the pharmacies pulling that median down — small independent and rural chain locations outside the metro areas — are not visible anywhere on this page even though they represent a real part of the Wisconsin market.

Residency for the clinical route, scarcity for the retail one. A PGY1 and a PGY2 in oncology, critical care or infectious disease open the clinical specialist roles that reach the $167,430 seventy-fifth percentile, and Wisconsin's academic and regional systems run competitive programmes. On the retail side, the western and northern markets pay a scarcity premium — La Crosse-Onalaska at $159,020 is the clearest example. Health system pharmacy leadership and specialty and infusion practice reach the $178,090 ninetieth percentile.