Dental Assistant Salary in Wisconsin: What Dental Assistants Earn in 2026
25th percentile
$45,560
Median (50th)
$47,520
75th percentile
$55,630
National median
$48,070
BLS OEWS (SOC 31-9091), May 2025
What does a dental assistant make in Wisconsin?
The median dental assistant in Wisconsin earns $47,520 a year ($22.85 an hour), which is $550 below the national median of $48,070, but less than in nearby Minnesota ($65,270), Michigan ($48,820) and Illinois ($48,610). The mean is $49,150.
That ranks 30th of the 49 states plus DC where BLS publishes a dental assistant median.
Entry-level vs top earners in Wisconsin
The middle half of Wisconsin dental assistants earn $45,560 to $55,630. The lowest-paid tenth earn under $39,500, $2,370 above the national 10th percentile. The top tenth earn over $58,840, $3,410 below the national 90th percentile.
How far the pay goes in Wisconsin
The Bureau of Economic Analysis puts Wisconsin's 2024 price level at 94.1 (U.S. = 100): prices overall run 5.9% below the national average, and housing (index 79.3) runs 20.7% below.
Converted to national average prices, the $47,520 median is worth about $50,500 — $2,430 above the national median of $48,070.
How many dental assistants work in Wisconsin
BLS counts about 7,760 dental assistant jobs in Wisconsin, 2.0% of the 387,790 nationwide, or 2.637 per 1,000 jobs in the state. Dental assistants hold a 6% larger share of local jobs than nationally (location quotient 1.06).
Dental Assistant Salary by City in Wisconsin
Across the 13 Wisconsin metro areas where BLS publishes a dental assistant median, pay runs from $45,190 in Racine to $49,930 in Madison, a spread of $4,740.
All dental roles by metro: Appleton · Eau Claire · Green Bay · Janesville · Kenosha · La Crosse · Madison · Milwaukee · Oshkosh · Racine · Wausau
Who's hiring dental assistants in Wisconsin now
DentistryHires has 98 open dental assistant listings in Wisconsin from 30 employers, the most of them in Madison (10).
25 post hourly pay, from $17 to $29 an hour. These are employers' posted ranges, not survey figures.
Dental Assistant Regulatory Context in Wisconsin
Dental assistant practice in Wisconsin is regulated by the Wisconsin Dentistry Examining Board.
Scope of practice — what a dental assistant may do, and under what level of supervision — is set by state law and changes over time, so verify current rules with the board before relying on them.
How Wisconsin Compares
Other dental salaries in Wisconsin
- Dentist salary in Wisconsin: median $193,690, $146,170 above the dental assistant median
- Dental Hygienist salary in Wisconsin: median $96,540, $49,020 above the dental assistant median
- Dental Lab Technician salary in Wisconsin: median $47,170, $350 below the dental assistant median
- Orthodontist salary in Wisconsin: median $212,860, $165,340 above the dental assistant median
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (state and national estimates, all industries); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024. Price-adjusted pay divides the median by the price level. Listing counts and posted pay are live DentistryHires listings, refreshed hourly. A dash means BLS did not publish that figure; nothing is estimated.