Pilot Salary in Wisconsin (2026)

Worth knowing: Air Wisconsin Airlines HQ Appleton is the country's largest regional airline HQ'd in WI and a feature most national pilot-career surveys understate for the state. Air Wisconsin (founded 1965 in Appleton, ~600 pilots + ~1,800 employees, operates CRJ-200 regional jet fleet) operates as United Express + American Eagle regional carrier serving United + American mainline networks under capacity purchase agreements — Air Wisconsin pilots benefit from flow-through agreements that provide priority hiring at parent mainline carriers (currently American Airlines after the 2023+ American Air Wisconsin flow agreement). Senior Air Wisconsin captains clear $135-235K TC. 49 USC 40116(f)(2) federal preemption routes airline pilot wages through legal-residence-state taxation only — WI-resident pilots flying any major US carrier (Delta MSP, American DFW, United ORD, Southwest MDW, FedEx Memphis) pay only WI's 7.65% top bracket on senior captain TC. WI's top bracket is appreciably lower than MN's 9.85% — for a senior MSP-based Delta captain at $385K TC who lives in WI rather than MN, WI residency saves ~$8-9K/year vs MN residency at top brackets. EAA AirVenture Oshkosh (annual aviation gathering, ~10K aircraft + ~600K attendees, the world's largest aviation event) anchors WI aviation community. WI is decisively second-tier as pilot tax-residency vs SD/FL/NV (0% income tax) but substantially better than MN (9.85% top) — supporting WI relocation appeal for senior MSP-based pilots.