Janesville, WI
Janesville-Beloit, WI Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Janesville-Beloit, WI Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Janesville ranks 201st for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 198th for income. A household earns $70,556 a year while median rent runs $1,150/mo, making it expensive relative to what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 6% below the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is job market (57th of 300), while education is the soft spot (248th). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 115th and home prices 99th 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 Janesville, your take-home is worth about $62,382 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
- 198th of 300↑15.2%$70,556
- 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.
- 135th of 30094 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $75,297
- Per-capita income
- $37,816
- Full-time pay
- $47,109
Housing
- Median rent
- 115th of 300↑31.3%$1,150/mo
- Home value
- 99th of 300↑59.2%$259,100
- Property tax
- $3,524/yr · 1.4%
- Sales tax
- 5.70%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 57th of 3003.4%
- Bachelor's+
- 248th of 30025.4%
- Avg commute
- 104th of 30023.1 min
People
- Population
- 165,461
- Population change
- +1.3%
- Median age
- 40.7 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 3.7%
- Broadband
- 93%
Environment & risk
- Air quality (AQI)
- 80th of 30041
- Natural-hazard loss
- 145th of 300$12/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 147th of 30018.4%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 9.2%
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
- + Home prices
- + Job market
- + Air quality
Watch-outs
- – Affordability
- – Education
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — rockford gtr rockford ap.
What jobs pay in Janesville
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- IT managers
- $157,340
- Pharmacists
- $150,120
- Financial managers
- $138,360
- General & operations managers
- $121,540
- Lawyers
- $110,380
- Software developers
- $105,670
- Registered nurses
- $93,030
- Civil engineers
- $85,740
- Electricians
- $82,170
- Plumbers
- $79,070
- Accountants & auditors
- $77,100
- Carpenters
- $75,390
- Police officers
- $74,220
- Secondary school teachers
- $66,180
- Elementary school teachers
- $60,220
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $59,800
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $56,610
- Construction laborers
- $55,690
- Customer service reps
- $46,210
- Janitors
- $36,570
- Retail salespersons
- $34,000
- Cashiers
- $31,240
- Waiters & waitresses
- $28,990
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 Janesville 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.
- Illinois1,108
- Missouri254
- Florida219
- Texas196
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Janesville
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Janesville metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Janesville metro?
- Median gross rent across the Janesville-Beloit, WI Metro Area is $1,150 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Janesville.
- What is the median household income in the Janesville metro?
- A typical household in the Janesville-Beloit, WI Metro Area earns $70,556 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Janesville expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Janesville-Beloit, WI Metro Area runs about 6% 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 Janesville metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $75,297 (versus its face value of $70,556). CityLedger rates the Janesville-Beloit, WI Metro Area expensive for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Janesville metro?
- The median home value across the Janesville-Beloit, WI Metro Area is $259,100 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Janesville metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Janesville-Beloit, WI Metro Area is 3.4% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).