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Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Student life means every dollar counts. We scored 2 cities across Wisconsin for rent, food, and cost of living. Milwaukee (rent $1,398/mo, cost index 82) ranks #1 for 2026 (though the trend is moving in the right direction).
561,385 residents · Wisconsin
Dive into Milwaukee's numbers: cost index 82 (29 points below national average), rent $1,398/month, income $51,888, and a home price of $216,278. The city's cost profile isn't flat — Housing is the cheapest category at 82, while Healthcare runs 96. As a major city with 561,385 residents, amenities and job markets are robust.
280,305 residents · Wisconsin
In plain English: the #2 spot goes to Madison, and the breakdown explains why. About what you'd guess. Renters here pay $1,649/month — saving renters $2,952 per year compared to the national average. Meanwhile, Housing is the standout at index 96, keeping costs manageable. The weak spot? Healthcare at 99. A 26% rent-to-income ratio keeps most households inside the safe zone.
#1 Ranked: Milwaukee — cost index 82, rent $1,398/mo, income $51,888
Milwaukee rent up 3% over the past year
Student-budget scoring: rent $1,398/mo, food index 94, cost index 82 — survival-level affordability
Data sourced from Census Bureau, Zillow, BLS, and Tax Foundation — current as of 2026
Student life means every dollar counts. We scored 2 cities across Wisconsin for rent, food, and cost of living. Milwaukee (rent $1,398/mo, cost index 82) ranks #1 for 2026 (though the trend is moving in the right direction).
The numbers for Milwaukee are straightforward: 82 on the cost index, $1,398/month rent, $51,888 income. Not the most exciting entry in the list, but solid. Fairly typical for a city this size (that's pre-tax, of course).
What to do with this data: use the ranking as a shortlist, then dig into the city profiles for trend lines and category breakdowns. And as a general rule, the difference between #1 and #5 is often smaller than the difference between "good on paper" and "actually fits my life." Compare your top picks with our calculator to see real take-home numbers (that's pre-tax, of course).
Our persona scoring model weights cost, income, rent, healthcare, taxes, and city size based on what matters most to students. Each factor scores 10-25 points out of a 100-point composite. The guide ranks every tracked city in Wisconsin by this personalized metric. All data is sourced from federal agencies and verified research institutions. Cost of living indices are normalized to 100 (national median) using Zillow rent as the primary signal, with sub-category adjustments derived from regional BLS price data. Rankings are updated monthly as new data is released.
Milwaukee ranks #1 in Wisconsin for this analysis with a cost index of 82 and median income of $51,888.
Milwaukee scores highest for students 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.