Madison vs Fond du Lac leftover
You'd keep $207 more a month in Fond du Lac
$2,821/mo leftover in Fond du Lac vs $2,614 in Madison after tax and rent ($207 more). +$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.
Madison leftover
$2,614
a month after tax and rent
Fond du Lac leftover
$2,821
+$207 vs Madison
Compare Madison to another metro
Same paycheck. Try a different city next to Madison.
Monthly gap
Madison → Fond du Lac
$207
more / month in Fond du Lac
$2,821 in Fond du Lac · $2,614 in Madison · 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, 62 households moved Madison → Fond du Lac (avg AGI $60,855). 97 went the other way. The whole move →
+$207 / mo
| Per month | Madison | Fond du Lac | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $7,792 | $7,457 | −$335 |
| Income and payroll tax | $1,933 | $1,816 | −$117 |
| Take-home pay | $5,859 | $5,641 | −$218 |
| Rent | $1,330 | $882 | −$448 |
| Getting around | $509 | $569 | +$60 |
| Groceries | $388 | $378 | −$10 |
| Healthcare | $437 | $425 | −$12 |
| Utilities | $243 | $236 | −$7 |
| Everything else | $340 | $330 | −$10 |
| Left over | $2,614 | $2,821 | +$207 |
To break even in Fond du Lac, you'd need to earn
$85,500
Household gross, versus $93,500 today. That's the salary that leaves you exactly as much at the end of the month as Madison does now.
The tax difference alone
+$213
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 24.8% in Madison, 24.4% in Fond du Lac.
More about Fond du Lac
Madison, WI in full
A university town with big-city wages and small-city commutes.
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.
The reverse move
Same two cities, but starting from Fond du Lac on Fond du Lac wages.
Fond du Lac → Madison →Questions
Is the cost of living lower in Fond du Lac than Madison?
A one-bedroom is about $1,330 in Madison versus $882 in Fond du Lac. On a one-adult, one-bedroom household, leftover is about $207 a month higher in Fond du Lac. Change the job or household on the comparison to see your number.
Does Fond du Lac have state income tax?
Fond du Lac is in Wisconsin, which taxes wage income.
What changes if you move from Madison to Fond du Lac?
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 Madison and Fond du Lac 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.