Minneapolis, MN · Madison, WI
Madison is 3% cheaper than Minneapolis overall.
Home Price
Minneapolis: $330,000
Madison: $380,000
Monthly Rent
Minneapolis: $1,114/mo
Madison: $1,499/mo
COL Index
Minneapolis: 105
Madison: 102
Median Income
Minneapolis: $80,600
Madison: $74,200
Median Home Price
Monthly Rent (Median)
Median Household Income
Property Tax Rate
Cost of Living Index
100 = national average
Avg. Commute
Unemployment Rate
Median Age
A $100,000 salary in Minneapolis has the same purchasing power as $97,143 in Madison — based on each city's cost of living index.
Homes in Madison are 15% cheaper (-$50,000 less). That's a significant down payment and monthly payment difference.
Renting in Minneapolis saves you $385/month — $4,620 per year. Median rent: $1,114/mo in Minneapolis vs $1,499/mo in Madison.
On a median-priced home, Minneapolis owners pay roughly $3,630/year in property taxes vs $6,840/year in Madison. That's a $3,210 annual difference.
Median household income is $80,600 in Minneapolis and $74,200 in Madison. Madison residents earn 8% more — but remember to factor in cost of living.
Average commute is 25 minutes in Minneapolis vs 22 minutes in Madison. Commute times are nearly identical.
To maintain the same lifestyle when moving from Minneapolis to Madison, here's the salary you'd need:
| Salary in Minneapolis | Equivalent in Madison | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $48,571 | -$1,429 |
| $75,000 | $72,857 | -$2,143 |
| $100,000 | $97,143 | -$2,857 |
| $150,000 | $145,714 | -$4,286 |
| $200,000 | $194,286 | -$5,714 |
* Calculated using cost of living indices (national average = 100). Does not account for state income tax differences.
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Cost of Living
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Property Tax Calculator
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Based on cost of living indices, Madison is cheaper overall. Minneapolis has a COL index of 105 while Madison scores 102 (national average = 100).
The median home price in Minneapolis is $330,000 vs $380,000 in Madison — a difference of $50,000 (15%).
Use the salary equivalence table above. For example, a $100K salary in Minneapolis is equivalent to $97,143 in Madison in terms of purchasing power.
Minneapolis has a lower property tax rate (1.1% vs 1.8%). On a median-priced home, that means paying $3,630/year vs $6,840/year.
Median monthly rent: $1,114 in Minneapolis vs $1,499 in Madison. Annualized: $13,368 vs $17,988.
Minneapolis: $80,600/yr. Madison: $74,200/yr (Census ACS).
Lower-cost Madison typically lets remote-workers keeping a coastal salary stretch further. Higher-cost cities usually win on amenities and labor-market depth.
Numbers are pulled from Zillow ZHVI/ZORI (home values, rent), the U.S. Census Bureau ACS (income), and BEA RPP (cost-of-living index). Each value is timestamped on the page.
Source feeds refresh on their native cadence — hourly for mortgage rates, monthly for ZHVI/ZORI, annually for ACS. Page caches revalidate every 24 hours via Next.js ISR.
No. This page is educational reference using public data and standard formulas. It is not personalized tax, legal, or investment advice. Consult a licensed professional for material decisions.
City-level metrics (median home price, median rent, median household income, property tax rate, COL index, commute, unemployment, median age) are sourced from Zillow ZHVI/ZORI[1], Census ACS 5-year estimates[2], BEA Regional Price Parities[3], Tax Foundation[4], and BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics[5].
The Cost of Living Index uses 100 = national average (C2ER methodology[6]): values above 100 indicate a city is more expensive than the national average, below 100 less expensive.
Salary equivalence uses the ratio adjustedSalary = salary × (colDestination / colOrigin). This accounts for cost-of-living differences but does not model state income tax variation, which can be significant.
Annual property tax is computed as medianHomePrice × propertyTaxRate. Actual assessed value may differ from sale price. Effective rates vary within a metro; these are metro-wide medians.
Commute-hours calculations assume 250 working days/year and a round-trip commute. "Tied" in the comparison table means values within ±1% of each other.
Last reviewed reflects the maximum retrievedAt timestamp across every sourced dataset feeding this page. When any source refreshes, the next ISR revalidation (every 24 hours) picks the new date.
Cost of living data sourced from [6] C2ER, [2] U.S. Census Bureau, and [1] Zillow Research. Tax rates from [4] Tax Foundation. Last reviewed .