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

Milwaukee housing costs at a glance

A one-bedroom in Milwaukee rents for a median of $954 a month, utilities the tenant pays included; a two-bedroom goes for $1,166 and a three-bedroom for $1,326. Over a full year, the two-bedroom median comes to $13,992.

Homeowners in Milwaukee report a median home value of $306,400. That works out to 3.9× the local median household income of $78,218, a mid-range ratio.

The Regional Price Parity, BEA's index of local prices with the US at 100, is 96.9 here. Below 100 means a paycheck stretches further: $100,000 in Milwaukee has the buying power of roughly $103,160 at national average prices.

Milwaukee: the pre-tax income for each grade

For two bedrooms, $155,000 is where Milwaukee turns Comfortable. Below that, $77,000 marks the start of Okay and $39,000 the start of Tight; under $39,000 the score reads Stretched. Rent at the Comfortable line is 9% of gross pay.

Royal, the top band, starts at $445,000. At that income rent is 3% of pay and the median home 0.7× income.

Each figure is the lowest income, to the next $1,000, at which the calculator itself would show that grade for a two-bedroom in Milwaukee.

Milwaukee at four common salaries

Home size shifts the grade at $75,000: Okay for one bedroom, Tight for two and Tight for three, as the rent share climbs from 15% to 21%.

None of the four salaries reaches Comfortable for two bedrooms; even $150,000 scores 64, Okay, which fits the $155,000 line above.

Milwaukee compared with every US metro

On price level Milwaukee is 130th of 387 (1 = most expensive); on two-bedroom rent it is 169th, and on median home value 145th. The two rankings agree, both falling in the middle half.

Next to Milwaukee on the national rent ranking: Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA ($1,166) and Visalia, CA ($1,166).

Comparing Milwaukee with Wisconsin

Statewide, Wisconsin's median two-bedroom rent is $1,106 and its median home value $266,500. Milwaukee's rent is +5% against that, and its home value +15%; the price parity is 96.9 versus 94.1 for the state.

Run Wisconsin's statewide medians through the same score and Comfortable begins at $133,000; Milwaukee's line is +17% from that.

If Milwaukee is on your list, Kenosha, WI, Racine-Mount Pleasant, WI, and La Crosse-Onalaska, WI-MN are the most similar Wisconsin metros by two-bedroom rent and price level; the table shows where each turns Comfortable.

The median Milwaukee household

The median household in the metro earns $78,218 (ACS 2020-2024). Run through the calculator with two bedrooms, that scores 46, Okay. The Comfortable line is 98% above what the median household makes. For Wisconsin as a whole, the median household income of $77,485 scores 50 against statewide rents. A household figure may pool several earners, unlike a single salary.

Treat every number here as a pre-tax, public-data estimate rather than financial advice.