Milwaukee vs La Crosse leftover
You'd keep $19 more a month in La Crosse
$2,613/mo leftover in La Crosse vs $2,594 in Milwaukee after tax and rent ($19 more). +$228 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms. Not a cost-of-living index.
Milwaukee leftover
$2,594
a month after tax and rent
La Crosse leftover
$2,613
+$19 vs Milwaukee
Compare Milwaukee to another metro
Same paycheck. Try a different city next to Milwaukee.
Monthly gap
Milwaukee → La Crosse
$19
more / month in La Crosse
$2,613 in La Crosse · $2,594 in Milwaukee · 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, 107 households moved Milwaukee → La Crosse (avg AGI $44,720). 120 went the other way. The whole move →
+$19 / mo
| Per month | Milwaukee | La Crosse | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $7,625 | $7,088 | −$537 |
| Income and payroll tax | $1,875 | $1,687 | −$188 |
| Take-home pay | $5,750 | $5,401 | −$349 |
| Rent | $1,261 | $894 | −$367 |
| Getting around | $503 | $525 | +$22 |
| Groceries | $384 | $378 | −$6 |
| Healthcare | $432 | $425 | −$7 |
| Utilities | $240 | $236 | −$4 |
| Everything else | $336 | $330 | −$6 |
| Left over | $2,594 | $2,613 | +$19 |
To break even in La Crosse, you'd need to earn
$84,500
Household gross, versus $91,500 today. That's the salary that leaves you exactly as much at the end of the month as Milwaukee does now.
The tax difference alone
+$341
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 24.6% in Milwaukee, 23.8% in La Crosse.
More about La Crosse
Milwaukee, WI in full
Lake Michigan summers, cheap housing, and a 1.5% property tax.
La Crosse, WI in full
State income tax topping out at 7.65%, a median 2-bedroom asking rent of $1,064 and 192 sunny days; commutes average 21 minutes.
The reverse move
Same two cities, but starting from La Crosse on La Crosse wages.
La Crosse → Milwaukee →Questions
Is the cost of living lower in La Crosse than Milwaukee?
A one-bedroom is about $1,261 in Milwaukee versus $894 in La Crosse. On a one-adult, one-bedroom household, leftover is about $19 a month higher in La Crosse. Change the job or household on the comparison to see your number.
Does La Crosse have state income tax?
La Crosse is in Wisconsin, which taxes wage income.
What changes if you move from Milwaukee to La Crosse?
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 Milwaukee and La Crosse 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.