Appleton, WI
Appleton, WI Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Appleton, WI Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Appleton ranks 60th for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 92nd for income. A household earns $82,501 a year while median rent runs $1,164/mo, making it moderately affordable for what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 8% below the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is hazard safety (4th of 300), while education is the soft spot (152nd). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 121st and home prices 144th among the 300 metros CityLedger tracks.
For your salary & household
Enter your pay and household size to see what it's really worth here — the numbers update live and the link stays shareable.
On $75,000 for just you in Appleton, your take-home is worth about $63,248 once local prices are factored in — local prices stretch it further than the U.S. average.
Take-home estimates a single filer taking the standard deduction (2025 federal brackets, FICA, and state income tax) and isn't tax advice. “Real value” rebases take-home to average U.S. prices using the BEA cost-of-living index; the per-person figure uses the OECD square-root equivalence scale.
The numbers
Income & cost
- Median income
- 92nd of 300↑20.7%$82,501
- Cost of living?The local price level vs. the U.S. average of 100 (BEA). Lower means cheaper. This is raw prices, not adjusted for income.
- 96th of 30092 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $89,268
- Per-capita income
- $44,386
- Full-time pay
- $50,268
Housing
- Median rent
- 121st of 300↑45%$1,164/mo
- Home value
- 144th of 300↑61.8%$297,500
- Property tax
- $3,638/yr · 1.2%
- Sales tax
- 5.70%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 5th of 3002.1%
- Bachelor's+
- 152nd of 30033.3%
- Avg commute
- 22nd of 30019.9 min
People
- Population
- 248,992
- Population change
- +4.6%
- Median age
- 39.9 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 4.5%
- Broadband
- 93.3%
Environment & risk
- Air quality (AQI)
- 29th of 30037
- Natural-hazard loss
- 4th of 300$6/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 25th of 30015.2%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 7.4%
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (ACS), U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. EPA, FEMA, CDC, NOAA — every figure's source is listed on our methodology page. Data built 2026-06-14. ↑↓ mark the change since 2019.
How CityLedger scores it
Transparent weights — see our methodology.
Strengths
- + Affordability
- + Cost of living
- + Household income
- + Job market
- + Commute
- + Air quality
- + Hazard safety
- + Health
Watch-outs
- —
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — green bay.
What jobs pay in Appleton
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- IT managers
- $149,070
- Pharmacists
- $144,630
- Financial managers
- $134,990
- Lawyers
- $126,390
- General & operations managers
- $109,890
- Software developers
- $102,970
- Civil engineers
- $92,590
- Plumbers
- $91,750
- Registered nurses
- $86,680
- Accountants & auditors
- $80,360
- Police officers
- $77,620
- Electricians
- $66,830
- Carpenters
- $62,490
- Secondary school teachers
- $61,600
- Web developers
- $61,110
- Elementary school teachers
- $60,840
- Construction laborers
- $59,260
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $58,730
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $57,420
- Customer service reps
- $45,760
- Janitors
- $36,700
- Retail salespersons
- $34,540
- Cashiers
- $31,610
- Waiters & waitresses
- $30,370
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS 2025 — annual median wage. Cross-industry, all experience levels.
Where new residents move from
The states sending the most people to the Appleton metro, by estimated movers (U.S. Census 2022 migration flows, 5-year). Moves from elsewhere in Wisconsin are excluded to show where out-of-state arrivals originate.
- Illinois487
- Minnesota368
- Arizona283
- California258
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Appleton
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Appleton metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Appleton metro?
- Median gross rent across the Appleton, WI Metro Area is $1,164 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Appleton.
- What is the median household income in the Appleton metro?
- A typical household in the Appleton, WI Metro Area earns $82,501 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Appleton expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Appleton, WI Metro Area runs about 8% below the U.S. average (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024) — prices are lower than average, before accounting for local pay.
- Does a paycheck go far in the Appleton metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $89,268 (versus its face value of $82,501). CityLedger rates the Appleton, WI Metro Area moderately affordable for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Appleton metro?
- The median home value across the Appleton, WI Metro Area is $297,500 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Appleton metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Appleton, WI Metro Area is 2.1% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).