What salary do you need to live in Eau Claire, WI?

Rent, home values and prices in Eau Claire

Renters in Eau Claire pay a median $1,065 a month for two bedrooms. Size matters: one bedroom is $821, three bedrooms $1,350, so going from the smallest to the largest of the three adds $6,348 a year.

Buying is the other half of the housing picture: owners put the median home in Eau Claire, WI at $259,900. Against a median household income of $74,595, the ratio is 3.5× — one of the gentler home-price-to-income ratios in the country.

The Regional Price Parity, BEA's index of local prices with the US at 100, is 92.8 here. Below 100 means a paycheck stretches further: $100,000 in Eau Claire has the buying power of roughly $107,763 at national average prices.

How much you need to earn in Eau Claire

The salary lines for a two-bedroom household land at $31,000 for Tight, $62,000 for Okay and $125,000 for Comfortable. The gap between the Okay and Comfortable lines alone is $63,000, which says how much extra income it takes to make housing feel roomy here rather than merely workable.

The Royal grade is within reach at $340,000 a year, where both rent and the median home price look small next to income.

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.

Scores at $50K, $75K, $100K and $150K in Eau Claire

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 $125,000 line above.

Eau Claire on the national list

Out of 387 metros, Eau Claire has the 216th highest price parity and the 245th highest two-bedroom rent, which puts it in the middle half on overall prices and near the middle on rent.

Next to Eau Claire on the national rent ranking: Duluth, MN-WI ($1,066) and Bloomington, IL ($1,063).

Eau Claire vs. the rest of Wisconsin

Statewide, Wisconsin's median two-bedroom rent is $1,106 and its median home value $266,500. Eau Claire's rent is −4% against that, and its home value −2%; the price parity is 92.8 versus 94.1 for the state.

On statewide medians, a two-bedroom budget reaches Comfortable at $133,000 — above Eau Claire's $125,000 line.

Within Wisconsin, the metros closest to Eau Claire on rent and overall prices are Appleton, WI, Janesville-Beloit, WI, and Green Bay, WI. Their Comfortable lines for two bedrooms sit at $126,000, $121,000, and $124,000.

Does the typical Eau Claire income clear the bar?

A household at the Eau Claire median income of $74,595 would see a two-bedroom score of 50 — Okay — with rent at 17% of income. The Comfortable line is 68% above what the median household makes. For Wisconsin as a whole, the median household income of $77,485 scores 50 against statewide rents. Since a household can have two or more earners, compare it with a combined income rather than one paycheck.

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