Eau Claire vs Milwaukee leftover
You'd keep $80 more a month in Milwaukee
$2,609/mo leftover in Milwaukee vs $2,529 in Eau Claire after tax and rent ($80 more). +$960 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms. Not a cost-of-living index.
Eau Claire leftover
$2,529
a month after tax and rent
Milwaukee leftover
$2,609
+$80 vs Eau Claire
Compare Eau Claire to another metro
Same paycheck. Try a different city next to Eau Claire.
Monthly gap
Eau Claire → Milwaukee
$80
more / month in Milwaukee
$2,609 in Milwaukee · $2,529 in Eau Claire · One adult, renting a 1-bedroom
Home
Only when you tap. We match the nearest metro and don't keep the coordinates.
Destination
In 2022-2023, 78 households moved Eau Claire → Milwaukee (avg AGI $49,436). 73 went the other way. The whole move →
+$80 / mo
| Per month | Eau Claire | Milwaukee | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $7,000 | $7,648 | +$648 |
| Income and payroll tax | $1,656 | $1,883 | +$226 |
| Take-home pay | $5,344 | $5,765 | +$421 |
| Rent | $911 | $1,261 | +$350 |
| Getting around | $535 | $503 | −$32 |
| Groceries | $378 | $384 | +$6 |
| Healthcare | $425 | $432 | +$7 |
| Utilities | $236 | $240 | +$4 |
| Everything else | $330 | $336 | +$6 |
| Left over | $2,529 | $2,609 | +$80 |
To break even in Milwaukee, you'd need to earn
$90,500
Household gross, versus $84,000 today. That's the salary that leaves you exactly as much at the end of the month as Eau Claire does now.
The tax difference alone
−$412
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 23.7% in Eau Claire, 24.6% in Milwaukee.
More about Milwaukee
Eau Claire, WI in full
State income tax topping out at 7.65%, a median 2-bedroom asking rent of $1,085 and 184 sunny days; commutes average 20 minutes.
Milwaukee, WI in full
Lake Michigan summers, cheap housing, and a 1.5% property tax.
The reverse move
Same two cities, but starting from Milwaukee on Milwaukee wages.
Milwaukee → Eau Claire →Questions
Is the cost of living lower in Milwaukee than Eau Claire?
A one-bedroom is about $911 in Eau Claire versus $1,261 in Milwaukee. On a one-adult, one-bedroom household, leftover is about $80 a month higher in Milwaukee. Change the job or household on the comparison to see your number.
Does Milwaukee have state income tax?
Milwaukee is in Wisconsin, which taxes wage income.
What changes if you move from Eau Claire to Milwaukee?
Take-home pay is recalculated under Wisconsin tax, rent is priced at the same bedroom count, and leftover is the gap. The from-to page also lists IRS households that already made the move, when that data exists.
Leftover is take-home after federal, state and city wage tax, minus asking rent at the bedroom count you set, minus a modelled month of groceries, utilities, healthcare, transport and childcare. It is not a cost-of-living index and not a moving quote. The dollar gap between Eau Claire and Milwaukee moves when you change the job, remote versus local pay, or bedrooms. How the math works · Leftover vs a COL index · Why a cheaper COL% can still lose leftover.
Rent is Zillow's asking rent for each metro; taxes and living costs are modelled. An estimate, not a quote or tax advice. How this is calculated.