Uprootmap

Madison, WI

Hand-reviewed metro

Cost of living in Madison: $2,631 leftover

Cost of living in Madison, as leftover, is $2,631 a month for one adult, renting a 1-bedroom on local pay — take-home after tax minus rent of $1,330 and the rest of the modelled month. A price index would say non-housing costs sit near the US average (index 0.97). Wisconsin taxes wage income on a bracket schedule. Madison is a hand-reviewed metro.

Compare vs ChicagoHow the math works

These figures start from one adult in a one-bedroom, on local pay of about $98,500. Change the job, the pay, or how many bedrooms you need, and leftover changes. This is a monthly budget, not a cost-of-living index.

The month, in dollars

Take-home is $5,876 after tax. These lines are the modelled bills, then what is left. The monthly costs page is the same household inside the city hub.

Monthly costs and leftover in Madison
Rent$1,330
Groceries$388
Transport$509
Healthcare$437
Utilities$243
Childcare$0
Everything else$340
Total costs$3,245
Leftover$2,631

Sales tax is about 5.7%. Property tax is modelled at 1.60% of a $344,600 median home. Non-housing lines scale a national baseline by this metro's cost index (0.97).

Asking rent by bedroom

Turnover asking rent in Madison, not the Census median of occupied stock. Rent versus buying.

  • Studio

    $1,140

  • 1 bedroom

    $1,330

  • 2 bedrooms

    $1,583

  • 3 bedrooms

    $2,074

  • 4 bedrooms

    $2,454

Leftover in other metros nearby

Same household. Each leftover is take-home after that metro's tax minus its rent.

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. Change the job, remote versus local pay, or bedrooms and the ranking is a different city. How the math works · Leftover vs a COL index · Why a cheaper COL% can still lose leftover.

Cost of living in Madison

What is the cost of living in Madison?

On the default one-adult, one-bedroom household, leftover in Madison, WI is about $2,631 a month after tax and rent. Asking rent is about $1,330 for a one-bedroom and $1,583 for a two-bedroom. That is a budget, not a cost-of-living index.

How does Madison compare with a cost-of-living index?

A price index would say non-housing costs sit near the US average (index 0.97). Leftover still depends on your tax bill and bedroom count, which an index does not. Madison is a hand-reviewed metro.

Where is take-home pay in Madison calculated?

The take-home page for Madison splits federal, payroll, state and local wage tax, then subtracts rent. The city paycheck page is the same leftover math with the map.

Popular compares from Madison

Moving from Madison

Other Wisconsin metros

Other metros in Wisconsin, with leftover, rent, and day-to-day pages.

All Wisconsin metros