Illinois vs Wisconsin

Household income

Currently in

Moving to

Your $100,000 in Illinois is worth

$100,000

at national prices · RPP 100.0BEA RPP SARPPSource: BEA Regional Price Parities · SARPP · 2024 vintage · released February 2026 · Official API

The same income in Wisconsin is worth

$106,270

at national prices · RPP 94.1BEA RPP SARPPSource: BEA Regional Price Parities · SARPP · 2024 vintage · released February 2026 · Official API

Your income goes +$6,270 further in Wisconsin (+6.3% purchasing power).

Show the math

adjusted = income ÷ (RPP ÷ 100)

Illinois: $100,000 ÷ (100.0 ÷ 100) = $100,000

Wisconsin: $100,000 ÷ (94.1 ÷ 100) = $106,270

difference: $106,270 − $100,000 = +$6,270

Where the difference comes from

Price level by component, 100 = US average. Higher means more expensive.

Regional price parity by component for the two states, with the percentage difference.
Component	Illinois	Wisconsin	Difference
All items	100.0	94.1	−5.9%
Housing rents	93.9	79.3	−15.5%
Goods	103.8	94.3	−9.2%
Utilities	85.0	89.9	+5.8%
Other services	100.2	99.5	−0.7%

BEA Regional Price Parities · SARPP · 2024 · rel. February 2026 · Official API

Housing reality check

Typical rent and home price in each state — tangible context beyond the index.

IllinoisMedian rent$1,274/moMedian home$263,300

WisconsinMedian rent$1,087/moMedian home$266,500

US Census ACS 5-Year Estimates · ACS5 · 2024 · rel. December 2025 · Official API

Tax at a glance

Hand-curated, tax year 2026 · verified 2026-07-20

Income and sales tax for the two states.
Tax	Illinois	Wisconsin
Income tax (top rate)	4.95%	7.65%
Sales tax (combined avg)	8.96%	5.72%

Tax Foundation (income & sales) · Tax · 2026 · rel. tax year 2026 · Manually maintained · verified 2026-07-20

Official API Manually maintained2 of 3 metrics sourced from official APIs, 1 manually maintained. How every number is calculated →

Illinois vs Wisconsin: the read

The bottom line

Move a $100,000 income from Illinois to Wisconsin and its purchasing power changes from $100,000 to $106,270 in national-average terms — a gain of $6,270. Wisconsin is the cheaper of the two, running at 94.1 on the price index versus 100.

Where the difference comes from

The widest gap is housing rents: Illinois sits at 93.9 and Wisconsin at 79.3 (100 = national). Wisconsin has the edge there, and it's the main reason the two states diverge.

Housing

Median rent runs $1,274 in Illinois against $1,087 in Wisconsin, and the typical home $263,300 versus $266,500. Illinois is the more affordable place to buy.

Taxes

On tax, Illinois has 4.95% top income tax and a combined sales tax of 8.96%; Wisconsin has 7.65% top income tax and 5.72%. Weigh both against the purchasing-power figure above.

Full profiles: Illinois ·Wisconsin. Every figure here is sourced on the pages linked above.

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