This tool provides general cost estimates for informational purposes only. It is NOT legal advice. Costs vary significantly based on individual circumstances. Consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for specific guidance.
2026 cost estimates for dui / dwi in Wisconsin, including attorney fees, court costs, and other expenses.
As of June 29, 2026, a dui / dwi in Wisconsin costs on average $7,450, typically $5,000-$10,000 for a moderate-complexity case, based on sourced attorney-fee and court-cost data. Typical attorney rates run $205 to $385 per hour. A moderate-complexity case typically takes 3-6 months to resolve. Common related costs include court filing fee ($100-$300) and dmv hearing fee ($100-$200).
Data verified: June 29, 2026
| Complexity | Low | Median | High | Typical Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simple | $2,000 | $3,450 | $5,000 | 1-3 months |
| Moderate | $5,000 | $7,450 | $10,000 | 3-6 months |
| Complex | $9,400 | $15,950 | $23,400 | 6-12 months |
Last verified: June 2026
$205 – $385/ hour
Median: $280/hr
3-6 months
For moderate complexity cases
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</script>DUI/DWI legal cost has two layers that are easy to underestimate: the attorney fee itself, and the non-attorney costs that follow a conviction or plea. The attorney fee is driven mainly by whether the case goes to trial (far more hours billed) or resolves through a plea agreement, plus complicating factors like BAC level, prior offenses, or an accident with injuries. Many DUI attorneys charge a flat fee for a straightforward first offense and switch to hourly billing once the case becomes contested.
Beyond the attorney, a DUI case typically layers on court fines, a state-mandated alcohol education or treatment program, license reinstatement fees, and — for many drivers — an ignition interlock device with ongoing monthly costs. Insurance premium increases are not a one-time legal cost but often the largest total expense over a 3-5 year period following conviction, which is why the figures on this page reflect legal defense costs specifically, not the lifetime cost of a conviction.
Take a moderate-complexity dui / dwi matter in Wisconsin. The recorded median total is $7,450, with reported quotes clustering between $5,000 and $10,000. Each statutory line below is sized against that median.
Added together the itemised lines come to $1,200–$3,500, which leaves roughly $3,950–$6,250 of the Wisconsin median as professional time — the part that differs between quotes. 2 further recorded fees are not itemised above and are not in that total.
At $7,450, the median dui / dwi cost in Wisconsin is in line with the $7,403 national average across all 50 states and DC.
Wisconsin carries 3 rows — simple, $2,000–$5,000 at $155–$305/hr over 1-3 months; moderate, $5,000–$10,000 at $205–$385/hr over 3-6 months; complex, $9,400–$23,400 at $255–$460/hr over 6-12 months — on 4 shared citations. They put it below the midpoint of the table without reaching the bottom quarter.
$7,450 is a median, not the middle of the band — $2,450 above the $5,000 floor, $2,550 under the $10,000 ceiling. Every rank below is out of 51.
Wisconsin is the 26th of 51 tracked states by median dui / dwi cost, and its $7,450 figure lands within a percent of the $7,450 midpoint of that table — the rank is meaningful, the distance is not.
Nevada ($7,450) and Wyoming ($7,450) bracket Wisconsin inside a $0 window — narrow enough that 26th is close to arbitrary.
Nevada, Wyoming record medians within three percent of Wisconsin's $7,450. A dui / dwi quote anywhere in that group is describing effectively the same market.
The two measures nearly agree: 24th of 51 on hourly rate at $280 an hour, 26th on total cost, 2 places apart.
| Rank | State | Median | Against Wisconsin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | Oregon | $7,950 | +$500 |
| 21 | Illinois | $7,850 | +$400 |
| 22 | Texas | $7,800 | +$350 |
| 23 | Utah | $7,750 | +$300 |
| 24 | Georgia | $7,700 | +$250 |
| 25 | Nevada | $7,450 | −$0 |
| 26 | Wisconsin | $7,450 | — |
| 27 | Wyoming | $7,450 | −$0 |
| 28 | Maine | $7,200 | −$250 |
| 29 | Florida | $7,150 | −$300 |
| 30 | Montana | $7,150 | −$300 |
| 31 | Pennsylvania | $6,950 | −$500 |
| 32 | Idaho | $6,850 | −$600 |
The 26th position is not a stable fact about Wisconsin: $0 up or $0 down moves Wisconsin a row, and a ten percent revision in either direction would cross 16 rows, 9 above and 7 below in near-equal numbers.
Climbing five places would mean passing Illinois, Texas, Utah, Georgia, Nevada and adding $400 to the $7,450 recorded here.
Five places down means passing under Wyoming, Maine, Florida, Montana, Pennsylvania: $500.
$2,350 short of Washington ($9,800), $1,900 clear of South Carolina ($5,550).
The $7,450 median divided by the $280 median rate implies roughly 27 billable hours. That rounds to the same 27 hours as the peer median, so on workload Wisconsin is indistinguishable from the middle of the table at this precision.
The escalation is comparatively shallow on hours. A complex dui / dwi costs 4.6x a simple one in Wisconsin, but the implied workload only rises 2.9x — 15 hours at $230 becomes 44 hours at $360 — meaning the senior-rate premium of 1.57x carries an unusually large share of the increase.
From $5,000 to $10,000 the moderate band is $5,000 wide, close to the $5,000 peer median. End to end that is 18 hours at $280.
Per month of elapsed time the two tiers are close: about $1,656 a month across the 3-6 months recorded for a moderate matter, and $1,772 a month across the 6-12 months recorded for a complex one.
By implied hours Wisconsin falls to 38th of 51 at 27 hours, 12 places below its 26th on cost — the dui / dwi total arriving on less recorded work.
49% up the $5,000–$10,000 band sits the $7,450 table midpoint, buying 27 hours at $280 against the 27 the local dui / dwi median implies — 0 hours apart.
| Measure | Wisconsin | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Moderate median | $7,450 | 26th |
| Hourly median | $280 | 24th |
| Implied hours | 27 | 38th |
| Simple median | $3,450 | 25th |
| Complex median | $15,950 | 30th |
$280 an hour puts Wisconsin between Arizona ($280) and Nevada ($275) — not the dui / dwi cost pairing.
Arizona records the same $280: rate cannot separate them, totals do.
$7,450 buys 32 hours at $230, 27 at $280, 21 at $360.
| Rank | State | Median rate |
|---|---|---|
| 22 | Utah | $285 |
| 23 | Arizona | $280 |
| 24 | Wisconsin | $280 |
| 25 | Nevada | $275 |
| 26 | Maine | $270 |
Ranked tier by tier, Wisconsin slides 5 places downward: 25th at the simple tier, 26th at moderate, 30th at complex. Its headline moderate position sits between the two extremes rather than summarising them.
$3,450 is 25th of 51 on a straightforward dui / dwi, under Nevada ($3,500) and over Texas ($3,400), $50 over the $3,400 tier midpoint.
$15,950 is 30th of 51 once contested, between Maine ($15,950) and Nebraska ($15,300), $400 off the $16,350 tier midpoint.
The three bands are continuous in Wisconsin: the simple tier reaches $5,000 where the moderate tier starts at $5,000, and the moderate tier reaches $10,000 where the complex tier starts at $9,400. A single quoted figure can therefore belong to two different tiers, and the tier label — not the number — is what identifies which.
| Tier | Wisconsin | Rank | Tier midpoint | Implied hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| simple | $3,450 | 25th | $3,400 | 15 |
| moderate | $7,450 | 26th | $7,450 | 27 |
| complex | $15,950 | 30th | $16,350 | 44 |
$3,450 puts Wisconsin 25th of 51 on straightforward matters, 1 up on its moderate position, and $50 (1%) over the $3,400 tier midpoint.
15 implied hours at $230: 56% of the moderate tier's 27, over 1-3 months.
Nevada ($3,500) and Texas ($3,400) bracket it — a $100 window.
2 states sit within three percent of the $3,450 here, against 2 at the moderate row.
$15,950 drops Wisconsin to 30th of 51 on contested matters, 4 below its moderate position and $400 (2%) under the $16,350 tier midpoint.
44 implied hours at $360: 163% of the moderate tier's 27, over 6-12 months.
Maine ($15,950) and Nebraska ($15,300) bracket it — a $650 window.
4 states record a complex-tier median within three percent of $15,950, denser than the 2 around the moderate row.
| Rank | State | Median |
|---|---|---|
| 23 | Vermont | $3,600 |
| 24 | Nevada | $3,500 |
| 25 | Wisconsin | $3,450 |
| 26 | Texas | $3,400 |
| 27 | Arizona | $3,300 |
| Rank | State | Median |
|---|---|---|
| 28 | Indiana | $16,000 |
| 29 | Maine | $15,950 |
| 30 | Wisconsin | $15,950 |
| 31 | Nebraska | $15,300 |
| 32 | Michigan | $15,250 |
$7,450 ranks a dui / dwi 3rd of 8 in Wisconsin, under Divorce, over Personal Injury. At 72% of Criminal Defense ($10,400).
The state does not rank uniformly. Wisconsin is 11th of 51 for Personal Injury but 28th for Divorce, a 17-place spread across the matter types tracked here, so its 26th on dui / dwi says little about what the other lines cost.
Wisconsin is not equally priced in every practice area. Measured against each matter's own midpoint, Real Estate Closing runs 10% above its own midpoint while Divorce runs 3% below its own midpoint — a 13-point spread between the extremes.
The largest tracked median in Wisconsin is 5x the smallest, effectively the 5.1x that the typical state records: the internal spread is ordinary even where the levels are not.
3 of 8 matter types rank Wisconsin in the upper third, 0 in the lower, 5 between; dui / dwi is 26th.
In percentile terms it sits at the 50th percentile of the 51 tracked states.
| Matter | Simple | Moderate | Complex | Hours | Rank | vs mid | Above |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Criminal Defense | $3,950 | $10,400 | $32,100 | 34 | 25th | +2% | Michigan |
| Divorce | $3,300 | $8,300 | $21,600 | 27 | 28th | −3% | Pennsylvania |
| DUI / DWI | $3,450 | $7,450 | $15,950 | 27 | 26th | level | Nevada |
| Personal Injury | $1,650 | $5,550 | $15,500 | — | 11th | +7% | New Jersey |
| Immigration | $2,100 | $4,850 | $10,550 | 17 | 23rd | +2% | Pennsylvania |
| Bankruptcy | $1,500 | $3,900 | $5,350 | 15 | 15th | +8% | Illinois |
| Real Estate Closing | $1,100 | $2,450 | $4,550 | 10 | 14th | +10% | Rhode Island |
| Estate Planning / Probate | $550 | $2,100 | $5,750 | 8 | 23rd | +1% | Utah |
Simple tier. $3,450 ÷ $230 = about 15 hours, spread over 1-3 months at roughly $1,725 a month. The $4,000 step to the moderate tier is 12 more hours at that rate.
Work against price. $7,450 to $15,950 is a $8,500 step weighted toward price: 17 more hours at $280 is $4,760, but $360 across 44 hours adds $3,520 — 43% of it.
Borrowing the wrong row. Budgeting from Wyoming ($7,450) lands $0 under Wisconsin; from Nevada ($7,450), $0 over; from the $7,450 table midpoint, $0 out.
Both ends, in time. $5,000 is 18 hours at $280; $10,000 is 36. Over the 3-6 months recorded for a moderate dui / dwi, that is 4 to 8 hours a month — the difference between an occasional file review and continuous work.
Contested against simple. At Wisconsin's own recorded figures, $15,950 buys 4.6 matters at the $3,450 simple median — or, counted in time, 44 implied hours against 15, a factor of 2.9 — the two ratios differing because the rate rises with the tier.
Verified June 2026. Filing fees change on the Wisconsincourt's own schedule; billing models are covered in the legal fees guide.
This tool provides general cost estimates for informational purposes only. It is NOT legal advice. Costs vary significantly based on individual circumstances. Consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for specific guidance.