Kenosha, WI
Kenosha, WI Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Kenosha, WI Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Kenosha ranks 124th for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 84th for income. A household earns $83,529 a year while median rent runs $1,289/mo, making it moderately affordable for what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 1% above the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is hazard safety (4th of 300), while cost of living is the soft spot (243rd). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 162nd and home prices 128th 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 Kenosha, your take-home is worth about $57,807 once local prices are factored in — local prices stretch it less 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
- 84th of 300$83,529
- 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.
- 243rd of 300101 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $82,605
- Per-capita income
- $44,894
- Full-time pay
- $50,139
Housing
- Median rent
- 162nd of 300$1,289/mo
- Home value
- 128th of 300$286,800
- Property tax
- $3,744/yr · 1.3%
- Sales tax
- 5.70%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 63rd of 3003.5%
- Bachelor's+
- 142nd of 30033.9%
- Avg commute
- 156th of 30024.3 min
People
- Population
- 168,754
- Median age
- 40.0 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 5.7%
- Broadband
- 94.8%
Environment & risk
- Natural-hazard loss
- 4th of 300$6/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 122nd of 30017.7%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 9.9%
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (ACS), U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, FEMA, CDC, NOAA — every figure's source is listed on our methodology page. Data built 2026-06-14.
How CityLedger scores it
Transparent weights — see our methodology.
Strengths
- + Household income
- + Job market
- + Hazard safety
Watch-outs
- – Cost of living
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — kenosha rgnl ap.
What jobs pay in Kenosha
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- Family medicine physicians
- $359,760
- IT managers
- $172,660
- Financial managers
- $142,000
- Pharmacists
- $139,350
- Software developers
- $130,330
- Lawyers
- $108,420
- General & operations managers
- $106,310
- Civil engineers
- $95,090
- Registered nurses
- $83,110
- Accountants & auditors
- $78,840
- Police officers
- $78,780
- Plumbers
- $77,340
- Electricians
- $74,970
- Secondary school teachers
- $62,540
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $61,610
- Elementary school teachers
- $60,530
- Carpenters
- $60,120
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $58,740
- Construction laborers
- $50,040
- Customer service reps
- $48,360
- Janitors
- $37,500
- Retail salespersons
- $33,580
- Cashiers
- $32,380
- Waiters & waitresses
- $29,480
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 Kenosha 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.
- Illinois3,569
- North Carolina365
- Indiana191
- Tennessee187
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Kenosha
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Kenosha metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Kenosha metro?
- Median gross rent across the Kenosha, WI Metro Area is $1,289 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Kenosha.
- What is the median household income in the Kenosha metro?
- A typical household in the Kenosha, WI Metro Area earns $83,529 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Kenosha expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Kenosha, WI Metro Area runs about 1% above the U.S. average (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024) — prices are higher than average, before accounting for local pay.
- Does a paycheck go far in the Kenosha metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $82,605 (versus its face value of $83,529). CityLedger rates the Kenosha, WI Metro Area moderately affordable for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Kenosha metro?
- The median home value across the Kenosha, WI Metro Area is $286,800 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Kenosha metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Kenosha, WI Metro Area is 3.5% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).