Madison vs Oshkosh leftover
You'd keep $12 more a month in Oshkosh
$2,626/mo leftover in Oshkosh vs $2,614 in Madison after tax and rent ($12 more). +$144 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
Oshkosh leftover
$2,626
+$12 vs Madison
Compare Madison to another metro
Same paycheck. Try a different city next to Madison.
Monthly gap
Madison → Oshkosh
$12
more / month in Oshkosh
$2,626 in Oshkosh · $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, 129 households moved Madison → Oshkosh (avg AGI $50,085). 170 went the other way. The whole move →
+$12 / mo
| Per month | Madison | Oshkosh | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $7,792 | $7,285 | −$506 |
| Income and payroll tax | $1,933 | $1,756 | −$177 |
| Take-home pay | $5,859 | $5,529 | −$329 |
| Rent | $1,330 | $988 | −$342 |
| Getting around | $509 | $547 | +$38 |
| Groceries | $388 | $378 | −$10 |
| Healthcare | $437 | $425 | −$12 |
| Utilities | $243 | $236 | −$7 |
| Everything else | $340 | $330 | −$10 |
| Left over | $2,614 | $2,626 | +$12 |
To break even in Oshkosh, you'd need to earn
$87,000
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
+$322
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 24.8% in Madison, 24.1% in Oshkosh.
More about Oshkosh
Madison, WI in full
A university town with big-city wages and small-city commutes.
Oshkosh, WI in full
State income tax topping out at 7.65%, a median 2-bedroom asking rent of $1,176 and 191 sunny days; commutes average 19 minutes.
The reverse move
Same two cities, but starting from Oshkosh on Oshkosh wages.
Oshkosh → Madison →Questions
Is the cost of living lower in Oshkosh than Madison?
A one-bedroom is about $1,330 in Madison versus $988 in Oshkosh. On a one-adult, one-bedroom household, leftover is about $12 a month higher in Oshkosh. Change the job or household on the comparison to see your number.
Does Oshkosh have state income tax?
Oshkosh is in Wisconsin, which taxes wage income.
What changes if you move from Madison to Oshkosh?
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 Oshkosh 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.