Loading
Assembling your view…
Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Military veterans have earned every benefit — where do those benefits go furthest? We analyzed 2 cities in Wisconsin: cost, state taxes, and supplemental healthcare. Milwaukee — index 82, 7.65% state tax — leads.
#1 Ranked: Milwaukee — cost index 82, rent $1,398/mo, income $51,888
Milwaukee rent up 3% over the past year
Veteran scoring: cost index 82, state tax 7.65%, healthcare index 96 — preserving earned benefits
Data sourced from Census Bureau, Zillow, BLS, and Tax Foundation — current as of 2026
Military veterans have earned every benefit — where do those benefits go furthest? We analyzed 2 cities in Wisconsin: cost, state taxes, and supplemental healthcare. Milwaukee — index 82, 7.65% state tax — leads.
Milwaukee rent up 3% over the past year. Rent in #1-ranked Milwaukee has increased from $1,360 to $1,398/mo over the past 12 months — a 3% increase. Rising costs may erode its top ranking over time.
Look, Here's Milwaukee by the numbers — and there's a lot to like (and a little to watch). Cost index: 82. Rent: $1,398/month. Income: $51,888/year. Not the most exciting stat, but it matters. Home price: $216,278. Population: 561,385. The strongest category is Housing at 82; the most expensive is Healthcare at 96. Translate that rent to annual numbers, and residents are saving renters $5,964 per year vs. the national median. That's not a marginal difference — it reshapes your monthly budget.
Veterans have unique financial considerations: pension, VA disability, GI Bill benefits all interact with local costs and taxes. Our model weights cost of living (20pts), state tax burden (20pts), and healthcare costs (15pts) for supplemental care beyond VA. Milwaukee scores highest with a 82 cost index and 7.65% state tax (we double-checked this one).
Contrast this with: Across Wisconsin, the average cost of living index is 89 — 22 points below the national median. Known for dairy state stability with surprisingly low costs, the state offers 2 tracked cities with median rents averaging $1,524/month. That's $371 less than the national average of $1,895. If you're debt-free, those savings go straight to building wealth.
If you're ready to act on this, three things to do next: 1) Click into the city pages for the top 3 and check rent trends — direction matters more than the snapshot. 2) Run your income through the salary calculator for a personalized cost comparison. 3) Compare your top two picks head-to-head on our comparison page. That's a reasonable number. The data is here; the decision is yours.
561,385 residents · Wisconsin
A closer look at Milwaukee: the cost index of 82 breaks down to a Housing index of 82 (strongest category) and a Healthcare index of 96 (weakest). Median rent is $1,398/month — 26% below the national median — while household income sits at $51,888, meaning locals spend about 32% of income on rent. That exceeds the recommended 30% threshold — affordability here depends on earning above the median.
280,305 residents · Wisconsin
What does daily life actually cost in Madison? Start with the 26% rent-to-income ratio — tight but manageable for most households. On the category level, Housing (index 96) is where the real savings show up, while Healthcare (index 99) is the line item most likely to surprise newcomers. Income at $76,983 and homes at $415,530 round out a profile that ranks #2 for clear reasons.
Milwaukee ranks #1 in Wisconsin for this analysis with a cost index of 82 and median income of $51,888.
Milwaukee scores highest for military veterans due to its below-average cost of living, median rent of $1,398/mo, and competitive median income of $51,888.
Our cost of living index uses real Zillow rent data as the foundation, indexed to 100 (national median). Sub-categories (housing, food, transport, utilities, healthcare) are derived from the overall index with regional adjustments. Data is updated monthly.
Milwaukee (ranked #1) has a cost index of 82 and rent of $1,398/mo, while Madison (ranked #2) has a cost index of 96 and rent of $1,649/mo — a 14-point difference in cost of living.
City data is refreshed monthly from Census Bureau population estimates, Zillow rent and home price indices, BLS salary data, and Tax Foundation tax rates. Last updated: 2026.
The median 1-bedroom rent in Milwaukee is $1,398/month as of 2026, based on Zillow's Observed Rent Index. This is $497 below the national median of $1,895/month.
The median home price in Milwaukee is $216,278, which is 4.2× the local median income. It's on the edge of affordability for median-income households. The national median home price is $467,370.
Wisconsin has a 7.65% state income tax rate. Combined state and local sales tax averages 5.44%, and the effective property tax rate is 1.51%.
This ranking was generated using data current as of early 2026. Population and income data comes from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey (5-year estimates). Rent and home price data is from Zillow's monthly releases. Tax rates are from the Tax Foundation's 2025 edition. Rankings are refreshed monthly.