Rideshare Driver Salary in Appleton, WI: Median $34,428 in 2026
Appleton (WI) · COL index 88 · Unemployment 3.0% · Metro pop 240,000 · Rank #225 of 283 for Rideshare Driver salary
A Rideshare Driver in Appleton earns an estimated median of $34,428 per year. That figure starts from the Wisconsin state-level BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics median[1]($36,470) and scales it by Appleton's composite cost-of-living index of 88 (US = 100). The 10th percentile comes in around $23,090; the 90th percentile reaches $88,028. After federal, Wisconsin state, and FICA taxes, a single-filer Rideshare Driver takes home approximately $29,036/year — about $2,420/month or $1,117 every other week.
Compared to the national Rideshare Driver median of $35,000, Appleton pays -1.6%. Relative to the Appleton median household income of $62,500, a Rideshare Driversalary runs -44.9%. Local unemployment is 3.0%[3], with an estimated 161 annual Rideshare Driver openings inferred from metro population share and national employment (1,500,000).
Rideshare Driver Snapshot — Appleton (2026)
Every row cites a primary public dataset. Rent + home values use Zillow where the metro is in the ZHVI/ZORI coverage set; otherwise ACS + census tract fallbacks.
| Metric | Appleton | National | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rideshare Driver median salary | $34,428 | $35,000 | [1] |
| 10th percentile | $23,090 | $20,000 | [1] |
| 90th percentile | $88,028 | $65,000 | [1] |
| Annual take-home (single filer) | $29,036 | — | [8][10] |
| Median home value (ZHVI) | $343,140 | — | [5] |
| Median rent (ZORI) | $1,238/mo | — | [5] |
| HUD Fair Market Rent (2BR) | $1,150/mo | — | [6] |
| Median household income (ACS) | $83,919 | — | [7] |
| Cost-of-living index | 88.0 | 100.0 | [4] |
| Unemployment rate | 3.0% | — | [3] |
How Rideshare Driver Salaries Work in Appleton
City-level wages aren't published directly by BLS for most SOC codes. We build them by anchoring to the Wisconsin state-level OEWS median ($36,470) and scaling by Appleton's composite cost-of-living index (88)[1][4]. That index combines Census ACS rent, Zillow ZHVI, BLS CPI, and AdvisorSmith / ApartmentAdvisor inputs to produce one number per metro. When BLS publishes a separate metro-level wage (MSA-level OEWS), that takes priority — a handful of large metros including New York, LA, Chicago, and DC have this coverage.
On top of the gross wage, the standard US payroll stack applies: federal income tax using 2025 IRS brackets and the $15,000 single standard deduction[8], FICA (Social Security 6.2% up to $176,100 wage base + Medicare 1.45%)[9], and Wisconsin state income tax at a 2.2% effective rate ($755/yr on the $34,428 median)[10].
Appleton also sits inside a larger metro labor market where commute patterns, remote-work policies, and adjacent-metro wages compete. A tight labor market (unemployment below 4%) gives candidates pricing power in negotiations. Median household income in the metro is $83,919, which frames what "a good Rideshare Driver salary" means locally: a $$34,428 wage pays about 41% of the median household income on a single earner.
The deterministic identity: take_home = gross − federal − state − FICA − pre_tax. All math runs client-side; nothing is sent to our servers.
Cost of Living Breakdown — Appleton
Estimated annual expense shares on a $29,036 take-home, using BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey baseline shares scaled to Appleton's COL index of 88. Housing uses the actual median rent.
BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey shares[1], scaled by Appleton's COL index of 88[4]. Housing uses actual median rent of $900/month.
Salary vs Housing Affordability in Appleton
Renting
Buying
At $2,420/mo take-home, the 30% rent rule caps housing at $726/mo. Appleton's typical 1–2BR rent runs $1,238/mo[5] (HUD 2BR FMR: $1,150/mo), making rent tight but manageable on a median Rideshare Driver salary. For homebuyers, the 6.8× price-to-income ratio is workable with a strong credit profile and manageable other debts.
How Appleton Stacks Up for Rideshare Drivers
Against 283 major US cities: Appleton ranks #225 for nominal Rideshare Driver salary, #38 for rent affordability, and #74 for overall purchasing power. Appleton is mid-pack: solid nominal salaries partly absorbed by cost of living. Whether it "pays well" depends heavily on housing choices.
Nearby Cities — Rideshare Driver Salary Comparison
Appleton's closest metros, scaled by each city's cost-of-living index. Useful for relocation decisions where commute or remote-work policies allow a neighboring metro trade-off.
| City | Est. salary | COL | Rent | vs WI |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Appleton, WI ★ | $34,428 | 88 | $900 | — |
| Milwaukee, WI | $31,500 | 90 | $1,195 | -8.5% |
| Madison, WI | $35,700 | 102 | $1,499 | +3.7% |
| Green Bay, WI | $30,450 | 87 | $900 | -11.6% |
| Buffalo, NY | $30,800 | 88 | $1,125 | -10.5% |
| Killeen, TX | $30,800 | 88 | $1,050 | -10.5% |
Rideshare Driver Job Market in Appleton
Appleton has an estimated 161 annual Rideshare Driveropenings, extrapolated from the metro's share of 1,500,000 national Rideshare Drivers[1]. The 3.0% unemployment rate[3] signals a competitive labor market where skilled professionals can push for top-of-band offers.
About the profession: Rideshare drivers use platforms like Uber and Lyft to transport passengers. As independent contractors, they must track miles carefully and pay quarterly estimated taxes. Typical entry requirement: high school diploma (or less). Projected growth through 2034: 10%[2].
Career Progression & Related Professions in Appleton
Early-career Rideshare Drivers in Appleton start around $23,090, reach the city median ($34,428) after 4–8 years, and hit 90th-percentile territory ($88,028) at senior / specialized levels.
Related gig & freelance professions in Appleton
Calculators for Rideshare Drivers in Appleton
Other professions in Appleton
Frequently Asked Questions — Rideshare Driver in Appleton
How much does a Rideshare Driver make in Appleton, WI?
The estimated median salary for a Rideshare Driver in Appleton is $34,428/year, scaled from the BLS OEWS Wisconsin state median ($36,470) by Appleton's composite cost-of-living index of 88 (US = 100). After federal, Wisconsin state, and FICA taxes, take-home is approximately $29,036/year or $2,420/month.
Can a Rideshare Driver afford to live in Appleton?
On $2,420/month take-home, the 30% rent rule affords $726/month. Appleton's Zillow ZORI median rent is $1,238/mo, HUD's 2BR Fair Market Rent is $1,150/mo. The rent-to-income ratio works out to 31.4%, making housing tight but manageable for a Rideshare Driver at the local median. Home-buyers face 6.8× price-to-income, needing roughly 6.8 years to save a 20% down payment at a 20% savings rate.
How much tax does a Rideshare Driver pay in Appleton?
On $34,428 gross, a Rideshare Driver in Appleton pays approximately $2,003 in federal income tax (5.8% effective), $755 in Wisconsin state income tax (2.2% effective), and $2,634 in FICA (Social Security + Medicare). Total effective rate: 15.7%. Some Wisconsin cities levy local income taxes in addition; check your municipal DoR before filing.
How does Appleton rank for Rideshare Driver salaries vs other cities?
Appleton ranks #225 out of 283 tracked metros for nominal Rideshare Driver salary, #38 for rent affordability (rent-to-income), and #74 for purchasing power (salary ÷ COL). The high-purchasing-power cities tend to be mid-size metros with strong local employers and moderate housing costs; the low-ranked cities trade high nominal pay for steep rents.
What is the cost-of-living breakdown for a Rideshare Driver in Appleton?
On $29,036 take-home, a reasonable baseline budget for Appleton looks like: housing $10,800/yr (37.2%); food $3,233/yr; transportation $2,764/yr; healthcare $1,959/yr; utilities $1,365/yr; savings + discretionary $8,915/yr. Numbers use BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey shares scaled to Appleton's COL index of 88 and the city's actual median rent.
What's the Rideshare Driver job market like in Appleton?
Appleton's unemployment rate is 3.0% across the metro of 240,000. Estimated annual Rideshare Driver openings: ~161 (extrapolated from 1,500,000 nationally employed and the metro's population share). The tight labor market favors candidates in salary negotiations.
Do Appleton employers pay above or below the Wisconsin median for Rideshare Drivers?
Not consistently — Appleton's estimated Rideshare Driver median of $34,428 is 1.6% below the national median. The trade-off is usually lower rents and (in some cases) lower state taxes, which can leave real purchasing power competitive.
Methodology — How we compute this page
Wage estimate. The Appleton median is derived from the Wisconsin state-level BLS OEWS median ($36,470), scaled by Appleton's composite cost-of-living index of 88. When BLS publishes a direct MSA-level wage for the occupation, that takes priority over the scaled state median. Percentile bands inherit the same scale factor.
Housing + rent. Median home value uses Zillow ZHVI; median rent prefers Zillow ZORI and falls back to Census ACS median gross rent. HUD Fair Market Rents (50th-percentile 2BR) are shown where HUD publishes the metro. Price-to-income and rent-to-income ratios use the estimated Rideshare Drivermedian (not the city's overall median household income) — to reflect the specific role-vs-city affordability picture.
Tax math. Federal tax uses 2025 IRS brackets and the $15,000 single standard deduction. FICA is Social Security 6.2% up to the $176,100 wage base + Medicare 1.45% (+ 0.9% Additional Medicare above $200,000). State tax uses Wisconsin's 2026 brackets from the state DoR (mirrored via Tax Foundation where the DoR's publication is paywalled or split). Local income taxes (e.g. NYC, Portland-OR supplemental, OH municipal) are NOT included — check your municipal authority for specifics.
Cost of living. The 88index is the composite used by CalcFi's /data/cities.ts, which merges Census ACS, BLS CPI shelter, Zillow ZORI, and commercial COL estimators. The COL-adjusted salary on this page assumes the statewide RPP = 93.2(BEA) approximates the state's purchasing power; cities are then scaled relative to that.
Refresh cadence. BLS OEWS releases annually (typically March); BEA RPP releases annually in December; IRS brackets adjust in October; Zillow ZHVI/ZORI updates monthly; HUD FMR publishes annually in August for the upcoming fiscal year. The dateModified shown above auto-bumps to the most recent retrievedAt on any sourced value the page consumes.
Known limits. Metro-level OEWS coverage is partial — only ~50 large MSAs have separately published occupation wages; the rest inherit state-level estimates scaled by COL. Rent and home data may trail the real-time market by 1–3 months (Zillow) or 8–12 months (ACS). Rankings are capped to the city set in our dataset (283 metros), not every incorporated US city.
Sources
Every number on this page cites a primary public dataset. Last reviewed (auto-bumped on the next ISR refresh after an ETL run).
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) — state-level occupational wages — www.bls.gov/oes. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- BLS Employment Projections — 2024–34 occupational growth rates — www.bls.gov/emp. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics — metro-level unemployment rate — www.bls.gov/lau. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- Bureau of Economic Analysis — Regional Price Parities (state + metro) — www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- Zillow Research — ZHVI (home value index) + ZORI (observed rent index) — www.zillow.com/research/data. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- HUD Fair Market Rents — 50th-percentile 2-bedroom FY — www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr.html. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- U.S. Census Bureau — American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates, metro level — www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- Internal Revenue Service — Federal individual income tax brackets and standard deductions — www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-publication-17. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- Social Security Administration — OASDI / Medicare contribution and wage-base rules — www.ssa.gov. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- Wisconsin Department of Revenue — 2026 individual income tax brackets (accessed via Tax Foundation mirror) — taxfoundation.org/data/all/state/state-income-tax-rates. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
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