Chico vs Kenosha
Metro-area medians — Chico, CA Metro Area vs Kenosha, WI Metro Area — not the cities proper.
Kenosha comes out ahead, winning 7 of the 8 clearly-decided measures.
Chico and Kenosha cost about the same to live in, but Kenosha households earn about 28% more. Adjusted for local prices, a typical paycheck stretches further in Kenosha.
Their widest everyday difference: Kenosha has the tighter job market — 3.5% unemployment versus 7.6%.
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, Kenosha leaves you about $200/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 Kenosha for
- + Livability (CityLedger)
- + Cost-adjusted income (pay's real value)
- + Median household income
- + Median rent
- + Median home value
- + Unemployment
- + Bachelor's degree or higher
More comparisons
Metros closest to Chico and Kenosha on cost, income, size, and education.
Chico vs Kenosha — frequently asked
- Is Chico cheaper than Kenosha?
- They are about even — the overall cost of living in the Chico and Kenosha metros is within 3% of each other (BEA Regional Price Parities), so neither is meaningfully cheaper.
- Which has higher household income, Chico or Kenosha?
- Kenosha has the higher median household income — $83,529 versus $65,221 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS), about 28% more.
- Does a paycheck go further in Chico or Kenosha?
- A paycheck stretches further in Kenosha. Adjusted for local prices, the median income is worth $82,605 there versus $64,450 in Chico.
- Which has cheaper rent, Chico or Kenosha?
- Kenosha has cheaper rent — a median of $1,289/mo versus $1,446/mo (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS).