Marketing Specialist salary in Appleton, WI

Pay in Appleton against Wisconsin and the US

The middle half of marketing specialists in Appleton earns $50,890–$81,090. Pay is tightly grouped: the top tenth starts at $104,080, only 2.5 times the bottom tenth, against 3.6 times across the US, so the going rate is easier to read. From the 25th to the 75th percentile, the local range is only $30,200 wide, against $37,110 across Wisconsin and $49,960 nationally: employers in Appleton pay within a narrower band.

What to budget for a marketing specialist here

The step from the 25th percentile to the median is $14,220 a year; from the median to the 75th it is $15,980, or about $20,619 once benefits are added. These percentiles describe what people in the job earn locally, not experience levels, so place your offer by the tasks and seniority you need.

For scale, the US median of $78,760 falls between the median and the 75th percentile in Appleton, and the Wisconsin statewide median of $64,800 falls between the 25th percentile and the median.

What a hire really costs in Appleton

At the $65,110 median, a local hire costs about $84,013 a year: benefits and payroll taxes other than paid leave are 22.5% of total compensation in US private industry², about $18,903 here. Recruiting, equipment and office space come on top. Benefit levels vary by employer, so treat this as an estimate.

We place executive assistants, customer support and e-commerce staff today; for marketing specialists we answer within one business day whether we can help. Enter the monthly pay you have in mind to compare it with a local hire. The fee field shows our standard fee³; Deel's contractor plan is the default payroll tool⁴.

Other roles in Appleton

Of the 17 roles we track in Appleton, this one ranks #5 by median pay, between executive assistants ($65,600) and recruiters ($63,650). Project Coordinator is the highest at $98,290.

Measured against the US median, this job is the lowest paid of the 17 roles we track in Appleton (-17.3%); virtual receptionists come first (+6.0%). The typical role here is at -1.1%, so, measured against the US, marketing specialists cost less in Appleton than the area's general pay level would suggest. Marketing specialists hold 5.7% of the jobs in these 17 roles in Appleton, 5.5% across Wisconsin and 5.7% nationally. That is close to the national mix.

Other areas in Wisconsin

Across the 17 areas of Wisconsin with data for this job, the median runs from $55,580 in the Northwestern Wisconsin nonmetro area to $73,880 in Milwaukee-Waukesha, a gap of $18,300 a year. Of the 4 areas in Wisconsin with more marketing specialists than Appleton, 2 pay less: Green Bay, WI ($63,050) and the South Central Wisconsin nonmetro area ($61,250).

Appleton against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, Appleton is #135 of 514 US areas for this job. Both its size and its pay sit in the middle half of US areas. Outside Wisconsin, Cape Coral-Fort Myers and Indianapolis-Carmel pay just above Appleton and Springfield and York-Hanover just below. All four are within $90 a year of the median in Appleton. Of the three markets with about as many marketing specialists, two pay more.

Questions

Sources

How these pages are built: methodology and data sources. Last updated 2026-11-12.