Wisconsin vs Texas

Enter your annual household income to compare its purchasing power between the two states.

Your $100,000 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

The same income in Texas is worth

$102,987

at national prices · RPP 97.1BEA RPP SARPPSource: BEA Regional Price Parities · SARPP · 2024 vintage · released February 2026 · Official API

Your income goes −$3,283 less far in Texas (−3.1% purchasing power).

Show the math
adjusted = income ÷ (RPP ÷ 100)
Wisconsin: $100,000 ÷ (94.1 ÷ 100) = $106,270
Texas: $100,000 ÷ (97.1 ÷ 100) = $102,987
difference: $102,987 − $106,270 = −$3,283

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.
ComponentWisconsinTexasDifference
All items94.197.1+3.2%
Housing rents79.396.5+21.7%
Goods94.398.1+4.0%
Utilities89.987.5−2.7%
Other services99.597.1−2.4%

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.

WisconsinMedian rent$1,087/moMedian home$266,500
TexasMedian rent$1,403/moMedian home$283,800

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.
TaxWisconsinTexas
Income tax (top rate)7.65%None
Sales tax (combined avg)5.72%8.20%

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 →

Wisconsin vs Texas: the read

The bottom line

Move a $100,000 income from Wisconsin to Texas and its purchasing power changes from $106,270 to $102,987 in national-average terms — a loss of $3,283. Wisconsin is the cheaper of the two, running at 94.1 on the price index versus 97.1.

Where the difference comes from

The widest gap is housing rents: Wisconsin sits at 79.3 and Texas at 96.5 (100 = national). Wisconsin has the edge there, and it's the main reason the two states diverge.

Housing

Median rent runs $1,087 in Wisconsin against $1,403 in Texas, and the typical home $266,500 versus $283,800. Wisconsin is the more affordable place to buy.

Taxes

On tax, Wisconsin has 7.65% top income tax and a combined sales tax of 5.72%; Texas has no wage income tax and 8.20%. That income-tax difference can outweigh a chunk of the cost-of-living gap for higher earners.

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

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