Racine vs Madison leftover
You'd keep $4 more a month in Madison
$2,608/mo leftover in Madison vs $2,604 in Racine after tax and rent ($4 more). +$48 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms. Not a cost-of-living index.
Racine leftover
$2,604
a month after tax and rent
Madison leftover
$2,608
+$4 vs Racine
Compare Racine to another metro
Same paycheck. Try a different city next to Racine.
Monthly gap
Racine → Madison
$4
more / month in Madison
$2,608 in Madison · $2,604 in Racine · 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, 148 households moved Racine → Madison (avg AGI $43,926). 62 went the other way. The whole move →
+$4 / mo
| Per month | Racine | Madison | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $7,542 | $7,783 | +$241 |
| Income and payroll tax | $1,846 | $1,930 | +$84 |
| Take-home pay | $5,696 | $5,853 | +$157 |
| Rent | $1,162 | $1,330 | +$168 |
| Getting around | $561 | $509 | −$52 |
| Groceries | $378 | $388 | +$10 |
| Healthcare | $425 | $437 | +$12 |
| Utilities | $236 | $243 | +$7 |
| Everything else | $330 | $340 | +$10 |
| Left over | $2,604 | $2,608 | +$4 |
To break even in Madison, you'd need to earn
$93,500
Household gross, versus $90,500 today. That's the salary that leaves you exactly as much at the end of the month as Racine does now.
The tax difference alone
−$153
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 24.5% in Racine, 24.8% in Madison.
More about Madison
Racine, WI in full
State income tax topping out at 7.65%, a median 2-bedroom asking rent of $1,383 and 191 sunny days; commutes average 24 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 → Racine →Questions
Is the cost of living lower in Madison than Racine?
A one-bedroom is about $1,162 in Racine versus $1,330 in Madison. On a one-adult, one-bedroom household, leftover is about $4 a month higher 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 Racine 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 Racine 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.