What salary do you need to live in Appleton, WI?

What housing costs in Appleton

A one-bedroom in Appleton rents for a median of $819 a month, utilities the tenant pays included; a two-bedroom goes for $1,069 and a three-bedroom for $1,358. Over a full year, the two-bedroom median comes to $12,828.

Buying is the other half of the housing picture: owners put the median home in Appleton, WI at $268,900. That is only 3.1× the area's median household income of $85,825, a low ratio by national standards.

Price levels matter beyond rent. The Bureau of Economic Analysis measures Appleton's overall prices at 92.4 on a scale where the nation is 100, which makes a $100,000 salary feel like about $108,203 would elsewhere.

Income needed for each grade in Appleton

For two bedrooms, $126,000 is where Appleton turns Comfortable. Below that, $63,000 marks the start of Okay and $31,000 the start of Tight; under $31,000 the score reads Stretched. Rent at the Comfortable line is 10% of gross pay.

Reaching Royal takes $336,000 — 2.7× the Comfortable line — because the last points come slowly once rent is already a small share.

These lines come straight from the calculator's formula: the income is raised until the two-bedroom score crosses each cutoff, then rounded up to the next $1,000.

Four salaries, three home sizes in Appleton

At $75,000 home size barely changes the picture: one, two and three bedrooms all grade Okay, with scores from 47 to 55.

Read down the two-bedroom column and the first Comfortable row is $150,000, consistent with the $126,000 line above.

Where Appleton falls nationally

On price level Appleton is 234th of 387 (1 = most expensive); on two-bedroom rent it is 240th, and on median home value 182nd. The two rankings agree, both falling near the middle.

South Bend-Mishawaka, IN-MI ($1,074) and Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC ($1,069) bracket Appleton on two-bedroom rent.

Comparing Appleton with Wisconsin

How Appleton stacks up against its state: $1,069 for a two-bedroom against Wisconsin's $1,106, $268,900 for the median home against $266,500, and a price level of 92.4 against 94.1.

Run Wisconsin's statewide medians through the same score and Comfortable begins at $133,000; Appleton's line is −5% from that.

Looking for somewhere comparable without leaving Wisconsin? Eau Claire, WI, Janesville-Beloit, WI, and Green Bay, WI have the closest mix of rent and overall prices.

Appleton's median income on the scale

The median household in the metro earns $85,825 (ACS 2020-2024). Run through the calculator with two bedrooms, that scores 54, Okay. Reaching Comfortable would take $40,175 more than the median household earns. For Wisconsin as a whole, the median household income of $77,485 scores 50 against statewide rents. Keep in mind a household median often combines two incomes.

These are pre-tax estimates from public statistics, not financial advice.