2023-24 data available here
Faculty Salary Data is Updated Annually
Tabulations and scatterplots of faculty salary data by department (including gender, rank, and years since degree) are provided to assist in assessing whether an individual faculty member’s salary is appropriately and equitably related to career merit. Deans, directors, department chairs, and faculty may view this information.
To view the data you must be connected to the UW-Madison network (on campus or through VPN) and will be required to enter your NetID and password. Individuals with a business need who do not currently have access to the scatterplots should contact Noah Natzke in the Office of Data, Academic Planning & Institutional Research.
Keep in mind that these data presume a straight-line relationship between salary and time from highest degree. Variations from the line result from differences in other factors – principally, differences in performance. Therefore, these tables and plots should be used only as a starting point for assessing whether an individual’s salary is appropriately related to career merit. For example, an individual whose salary is about average (near a regression line for salary vs. years since degree) may be underpaid on the basis of career merit relative to his or her peers if he or she is an exceptional performer. Or an individual whose salary is below average may be paid appropriately relative to career accomplishments. These determinations should be made using the guidelines in the salary equity review policy.
Faculty Salary Equity Policy – General Information
General information about faculty and staff resources
The salary equity review policy mandates periodic review of faculty salaries to assess whether individuals are appropriately and equitably paid in comparison with peers at UW-Madison. In addition to reviewing the annual accomplishments of a faculty member for the annual merit exercise, it is important to consider salary equity in relation to career merit. At a minimum these evaluations should occur at times when in-depth career-merit review and evaluation already take place: reappointment in the third year of the probationary period, promotion to associate professor, promotion to full professor, and each five-year post-tenure review. Thus, each year on average about one-fifth of the faculty members in a unit would reach one of these milestones and should be reviewed.
Further Information and Questions
Questions about the salary equity review policy may be directed to Beth Meyerand, Vice Provost for Faculty and Staff Affairs (meyerand@wisc.edu, 262-5246).
Questions about the scatterplot data or access to the data may be directed to Noah Natzke.
Note: Certain elements of these data are collected from employees on the condition that the data will be used only for limited affirmative action and related University purposes. Therefore, your access to the data is with the understanding and agreement that you will not disclose them to others who do not themselves have access.
Technical Notes
Faculty members are shown in each department where they hold a tenure or tenure-track appointment. The percent tenure commitment for the department is shown in the table under “Tenure % this Dept.” For some individuals years of relevant experience may be greater or less than years since highest degree. Note that other pertinent information such as type of work performed, the market for an individual’s skills or specialties, number of publications, and grants and awards received is not provided.
Tables report salaries on a 12-month basis for “A” appointments and 9-month basis for “C” appointments. In addition, the table column labeled “9-Month Salary (converted)” converts all 12-month salaries to a 9-month basis. The graphs show all salaries on a 9-month basis.
Faculty with zero-dollar appointments and those paid 100% through an administrative appointment (such as chancellor or dean) are excluded from the graphs. However, these faculty members are listed in the tables with $0 faculty salary.
Faculty with missing degree information are included in the tables but excluded from the graphs.
This dataset also includes information on pay basis, type of degree held and year of highest degree, date of hire, date tenure was granted and date of promotion to full professor (if applicable).
To download the data from the Tableau visualization:
- Click somewhere in the chart or the table. If you would like to include faculty with zero-dollar appointments or missing degree information, click in the table.
- Click the Download button
at the top or bottom of the visualization and select Data. (The location of this button varies by web browser.) - A new window opens. Choose the tab labeled “Full Data” and check the box “Show all columns.”
- Click the link “Download all rows as a text file.” Tableau automatically determines the organization of the file and the format is not ideal.
If you have questions about Tableau or downloading the data, contact Noah Natzke.
Note that this data is based on HRS (Human Resources System) and is complete through January. Any additions, subtractions, or changes to the faculty data in HRS since then will not be reflected in these tables and graphs. If you have any questions about the tables or graphs, or are interested in prior years, please contact Noah Natzke.
Updated annually in February/March