Fond du Lac vs Madison leftover
Moving to Madison costs you $207 a month
$2,615/mo leftover in Madison vs $2,822 in Fond du Lac after tax and rent ($207 less). −$2,484 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms. Not a cost-of-living index.
Fond du Lac leftover
$2,822
a month after tax and rent
Madison leftover
$2,615
−$207 vs Fond du Lac
Compare Fond du Lac to another metro
Same paycheck. Try a different city next to Fond du Lac.
Monthly gap
Fond du Lac → Madison
$207
less / month in Fond du Lac
$2,615 in Madison · $2,822 in Fond du Lac · 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, 97 households moved Fond du Lac → Madison (avg AGI $67,041). 62 went the other way. The whole move →
−$207 / mo
| Per month | Fond du Lac | Madison | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $7,458 | $7,793 | +$335 |
| Income and payroll tax | $1,816 | $1,933 | +$117 |
| Take-home pay | $5,642 | $5,860 | +$218 |
| Rent | $882 | $1,330 | +$448 |
| Getting around | $569 | $509 | −$60 |
| Groceries | $378 | $388 | +$10 |
| Healthcare | $425 | $437 | +$12 |
| Utilities | $236 | $243 | +$7 |
| Everything else | $330 | $340 | +$10 |
| Left over | $2,822 | $2,615 | −$207 |
To break even in Madison, you'd need to earn
$97,500
Household gross, versus $89,500 today. That's the salary that leaves you exactly as much at the end of the month as Fond du Lac does now.
The tax difference alone
−$213
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 24.4% in Fond du Lac, 24.8% in Madison.
More about Madison
Fond du Lac, WI in full
State income tax topping out at 7.65%, a median 2-bedroom asking rent of $1,050 and 193 sunny days; commutes average 22 minutes.
Madison, WI in full
A university town with big-city wages and small-city commutes.
The reverse move
Same two cities, but starting from Madison on Madison wages.
Madison → Fond du Lac →Questions
Is the cost of living lower in Madison than Fond du Lac?
A one-bedroom is about $882 in Fond du Lac versus $1,330 in Madison. On a one-adult, one-bedroom household, leftover is about $207 a month lower in Madison. Change the job or household on the comparison to see your number.
Does Madison have state income tax?
Madison is in Wisconsin, which taxes wage income.
What changes if you move from Fond du Lac to Madison?
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 Fond du Lac and Madison 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.