Eau Claire, WI
Eau Claire, WI Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Eau Claire, WI Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Eau Claire ranks 146th for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 160th for income. A household earns $74,869 a year while median rent runs $1,135/mo, making it moderately affordable for what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 7% below the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is commute (26th of 300), while household income is the soft spot (160th). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 108th and home prices 141st 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 Eau Claire, your take-home is worth about $62,992 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
- 160th of 300↑18%$74,869
- 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.
- 111th of 30093 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $80,681
- Per-capita income
- $40,588
- Full-time pay
- $41,896
Housing
- Median rent
- 108th of 300↑38.9%$1,135/mo
- Home value
- 141st of 300↑56.2%$294,700
- Property tax
- $3,326/yr · 1.1%
- Sales tax
- 5.70%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 99th of 3003.9%
- Bachelor's+
- 149th of 30033.5%
- Avg commute
- 26th of 30020.2 min
People
- Population
- 176,153
- Population change
- +4%
- Median age
- 38.7 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 3%
- Broadband
- 90.5%
Environment & risk
- Air quality (AQI)
- 42nd of 30038
- Natural-hazard loss
- 101st of 300$11/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 70th of 30016.3%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 7.6%
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
- + Job market
- + Commute
- + Air quality
- + Health
Watch-outs
- —
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — chippewa valley rgnl ap.
What jobs pay in Eau Claire
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- Family medicine physicians
- $327,730
- IT managers
- $155,460
- Pharmacists
- $149,720
- Financial managers
- $143,970
- Lawyers
- $116,320
- Software developers
- $104,490
- General & operations managers
- $103,330
- Registered nurses
- $93,410
- Civil engineers
- $93,280
- Plumbers
- $92,720
- Accountants & auditors
- $76,380
- Police officers
- $75,440
- Electricians
- $75,380
- Secondary school teachers
- $61,180
- Elementary school teachers
- $60,340
- Carpenters
- $59,090
- Construction laborers
- $58,240
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $57,220
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $53,890
- Customer service reps
- $45,930
- Janitors
- $37,230
- Retail salespersons
- $34,000
- Cashiers
- $31,440
- Waiters & waitresses
- $29,720
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 Eau Claire 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.
- Minnesota1,459
- California263
- Louisiana261
- Illinois234
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Eau Claire
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Eau Claire metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Eau Claire metro?
- Median gross rent across the Eau Claire, WI Metro Area is $1,135 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Eau Claire.
- What is the median household income in the Eau Claire metro?
- A typical household in the Eau Claire, WI Metro Area earns $74,869 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Eau Claire expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Eau Claire, WI Metro Area runs about 7% 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 Eau Claire metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $80,681 (versus its face value of $74,869). CityLedger rates the Eau Claire, WI Metro Area moderately affordable for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Eau Claire metro?
- The median home value across the Eau Claire, WI Metro Area is $294,700 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Eau Claire metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Eau Claire, WI Metro Area is 3.9% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).