Hagerstown vs Racine
Metro-area medians — Hagerstown-Martinsburg, MD-WV Metro Area vs Racine-Mount Pleasant, WI Metro Area — not the cities proper.
Hagerstown comes out ahead, winning 5 of the 8 clearly-decided measures.
Hagerstown and Racine cost about the same to live in, but Hagerstown households earn about 4% more. Adjusted for local prices, a typical paycheck stretches further in Hagerstown.
Their widest everyday difference: Hagerstown has the tighter job market — 3.9% unemployment versus 5.2%.
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, Hagerstown leaves you about $604/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 Hagerstown for
- + Livability (CityLedger)
- + Cost-adjusted income (pay's real value)
- + Median household income
- + Median rent
- + Unemployment
Choose Racine for
- + Median home value
- + Bachelor's degree or higher
- + Average commute
More comparisons
Metros closest to Hagerstown and Racine on cost, income, size, and education.
Hagerstown vs Racine — frequently asked
- Is Hagerstown cheaper than Racine?
- They are about even — the overall cost of living in the Hagerstown and Racine metros is within 3% of each other (BEA Regional Price Parities), so neither is meaningfully cheaper.
- Which has higher household income, Hagerstown or Racine?
- Hagerstown has the higher median household income — $80,901 versus $77,830 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS), about 4% more.
- Does a paycheck go further in Hagerstown or Racine?
- A paycheck stretches further in Hagerstown. Adjusted for local prices, the median income is worth $85,909 there versus $81,106 in Racine.
- Which has cheaper rent, Hagerstown or Racine?
- Hagerstown has cheaper rent — a median of $1,122/mo versus $1,202/mo (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS).