Wausau vs Madison leftover
Moving to Madison costs you $377 a month
$2,633/mo leftover in Madison vs $3,010 in Wausau after tax and rent ($377 less). −$4,524 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms. Not a cost-of-living index.
Wausau leftover
$3,010
a month after tax and rent
Madison leftover
$2,633
−$377 vs Wausau
Compare Wausau to another metro
Same paycheck. Try a different city next to Wausau.
Monthly gap
Wausau → Madison
$377
less / month in Wausau
$2,633 in Madison · $3,010 in Wausau · 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, 135 households moved Wausau → Madison (avg AGI $66,104). 102 went the other way. The whole move →
−$377 / mo
| Per month | Wausau | Madison | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $7,500 | $7,821 | +$321 |
| Income and payroll tax | $1,831 | $1,943 | +$112 |
| Take-home pay | $5,669 | $5,878 | +$209 |
| Rent | $748 | $1,330 | +$582 |
| Getting around | $542 | $509 | −$33 |
| Groceries | $378 | $388 | +$10 |
| Healthcare | $425 | $437 | +$12 |
| Utilities | $236 | $243 | +$7 |
| Everything else | $330 | $340 | +$10 |
| Left over | $3,010 | $2,633 | −$377 |
To break even in Madison, you'd need to earn
$101,000
Household gross, versus $90,000 today. That's the salary that leaves you exactly as much at the end of the month as Wausau does now.
The tax difference alone
−$204
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 24.4% in Wausau, 24.8% in Madison.
More about Madison
Wausau, WI in full
State income tax topping out at 7.65%, a median 2-bedroom asking rent of $890 and 190 sunny days; commutes average 19 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 → Wausau →Questions
Is the cost of living lower in Madison than Wausau?
A one-bedroom is about $748 in Wausau versus $1,330 in Madison. On a one-adult, one-bedroom household, leftover is about $377 a month lower 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 Wausau 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 Wausau 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.