Appleton vs Rochester
Metro-area medians — Appleton, WI Metro Area vs Rochester, MN Metro Area — not the cities proper.
Appleton and Rochester are evenly matched, each taking 4 of the clearly-decided measures.
Appleton and Rochester cost about the same to live in, but Rochester households earn about 10% more. Adjusted for local prices, a typical paycheck stretches further in Rochester.
Their widest everyday difference: Rochester is more educated — 44.5% of adults hold a bachelor's degree versus 33.3%.
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, Rochester leaves you about $286/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 Appleton for
- + Median rent
- + Median home value
- + Unemployment
- + Air quality (median AQI)
Choose Rochester for
- + Livability (CityLedger)
- + Cost-adjusted income (pay's real value)
- + Median household income
- + Bachelor's degree or higher
More comparisons
Metros closest to Appleton and Rochester on cost, income, size, and education.
Appleton vs Rochester — frequently asked
- Is Appleton cheaper than Rochester?
- They are about even — the overall cost of living in the Appleton and Rochester metros is within 3% of each other (BEA Regional Price Parities), so neither is meaningfully cheaper.
- Which has higher household income, Appleton or Rochester?
- Rochester has the higher median household income — $90,584 versus $82,501 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS), about 10% more.
- Does a paycheck go further in Appleton or Rochester?
- A paycheck stretches further in Rochester. Adjusted for local prices, the median income is worth $99,739 there versus $89,268 in Appleton.
- Which has cheaper rent, Appleton or Rochester?
- Appleton has cheaper rent — a median of $1,164/mo versus $1,378/mo (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS).