Ann Arbor vs Madison
Metro-area medians — Ann Arbor, MI Metro Area vs Madison, WI Metro Area — not the cities proper.
Madison comes out ahead, winning 5 of the 7 clearly-decided measures.
Madison costs about 4% less to live in, and household incomes are similar. Adjusted for local prices, a typical paycheck stretches about as far in either.
Their widest everyday difference: Madison has the tighter job market — 2.2% unemployment versus 4.3%.
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, Madison leaves you about $2,465/yr better off after tax and local prices.
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.
Choose Madison for
- + Livability (CityLedger)
- + Cost of living (price level, US = 100)
- + Median rent
- + Unemployment
- + Average commute
More comparisons
Metros closest to Ann Arbor and Madison on cost, income, size, and education.
Ann Arbor vs Madison — frequently asked
- Is Ann Arbor cheaper than Madison?
- Madison is cheaper: its overall cost of living runs about 4% below Ann Arbor's (BEA Regional Price Parities).
- Which has higher household income, Ann Arbor or Madison?
- Household incomes are similar — $90,523 in the Ann Arbor metro versus $89,714 in Madison (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS).
- Does a paycheck go further in Ann Arbor or Madison?
- It is roughly a wash. After adjusting income for local prices, a typical paycheck is worth about the same in both metros ($89,733 versus $92,216).
- Which has cheaper rent, Ann Arbor or Madison?
- Madison has cheaper rent — a median of $1,437/mo versus $1,554/mo (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS).