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

Rent, home values and prices in Wausau

Census figures put the median gross rent in the Wausau, WI metro at $768 for a one-bedroom, $1,025 for a two-bedroom and $1,205 for a three-bedroom. Moving from one to two bedrooms adds $257 a month, and the third bedroom another $180.

On the ownership side, the typical owner-occupied home is valued at $219,600. Against a median household income of $77,884, the ratio is 2.8× — one of the gentler home-price-to-income ratios in the country.

Price levels matter beyond rent. The Bureau of Economic Analysis measures Wausau's overall prices at 92.7 on a scale where the nation is 100, which makes a $100,000 salary feel like about $107,932 would elsewhere.

Wausau: the pre-tax income for each grade

The salary lines for a two-bedroom household land at $28,000 for Tight, $56,000 for Okay and $113,000 for Comfortable. The gap between the Okay and Comfortable lines alone is $57,000, 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 $326,000 a year, where both rent and the median home price look small next to income.

How they were found: the same scoring function the calculator runs was evaluated at rising incomes until each cutoff was crossed, and the crossing rounded up to a whole $1,000.

Four salaries, three home sizes in Wausau

Choosing a bigger place in Wausau at $75,000 trims the score from 58 to 51 without leaving Okay.

The two-bedroom column turns Comfortable at the $150,000 row. One row up, $100,000 scores 62.

How Wausau ranks among 387 metros

On price level Wausau is 225th of 387 (1 = most expensive); on two-bedroom rent it is 269th, and on median home value 259th. The two rankings agree, both falling near the middle.

Next to Wausau on the national rent ranking: Twin Falls, ID ($1,026) and Fond du Lac, WI ($1,024).

Wausau in a Wisconsin context

Compared with Wisconsin as a whole, two-bedroom rent in Wausau is 7% lower ($1,025 vs. $1,106) and the median home is 18% lower ($219,600 vs. $266,500).

On statewide medians, a two-bedroom budget reaches Comfortable at $133,000 — above Wausau's $113,000 line.

Within Wisconsin, the metros closest to Wausau on rent and overall prices are Fond du Lac, WI, Green Bay, WI, and Oshkosh-Neenah, WI. Their Comfortable lines for two bedrooms sit at $111,000, $124,000, and $113,000.

The median Wausau household

A household at the Wausau median income of $77,884 would see a two-bedroom score of 55 — Okay — with rent at 16% of income. The Comfortable line is 45% 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.

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