Seattle, WA → Madison, WI
Moving to Madison costs you $780 a month
−$9,360 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms.
In 2022-2023, 153 households moved Seattle → Madison (avg AGI $102,451). 256 went the other way. The whole move →
| Per month | Seattle | Madison | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $9,375 | $7,813 | −$1,562 |
| Income and payroll tax | $2,081 | $1,940 | −$141 |
| Take-home pay | $7,294 | $5,872 | −$1,422 |
| Rent | $1,761 | $1,335 | −$426 |
| Getting around | $493 | $509 | +$16 |
| Groceries | $452 | $388 | −$64 |
| Healthcare | $508 | $437 | −$71 |
| Utilities | $283 | $243 | −$40 |
| Everything else | $395 | $340 | −$55 |
| Left over | $3,402 | $2,622 | −$780 |
To break even in Madison, you'd need to earn
$108,000
Household gross, versus $112,500 today. That's the salary that leaves you exactly as much at the end of the month as Seattle does now.
The tax difference alone
−$3,871
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 22.2% in Seattle, 24.8% in Madison.
More about Madison
Seattle, WA in full
No state income tax and high wages, offset by home prices and 150 sunny days.
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 → Seattle →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.