Overall
- Fond du Lac
- 91.6
- La Crosse-Onalaska
- 91.8
Diff +0.1 RPP
Fond du Lac vs La Crosse-Onalaska
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. La Crosse-Onalaska is 0.1% more expensive than Fond du Lac.
0.1% more expensive
La Crosse-Onalaska, WI-MN is 0.1% more expensive than Fond du Lac, WI on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 91.8 vs 91.6). A $100,000 salary in Fond du Lac buys about the same as $100,137 in La Crosse-Onalaska; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 91.6 (Fond du Lac) vs 91.8 (La Crosse-Onalaska)
- $100k in Fond du Lac ≈ $100,137 purchasing power in La Crosse-Onalaska
- Rents drives the gap (+2.1 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair WI:WI 91.6→91.8
PHOTO-FINISH · SAME-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- SAME-STATE Same state · WI
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-BELOW Both below 100
- PP-PAR PP near-par
Instrument codes from this pair's BEA Regional Price Parities (overall · goods · services · rents · national benchmark 100 · purchasing-power conversion), not a ranking or recommendation.
Fond du Lac
91.6
Cost Index
La Crosse-Onalaska
91.8
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Fond du Lac, WI and La Crosse-Onalaska, WI-MN are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.1 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Rents creates the largest separation: La Crosse-Onalaska is 2.1 points higher. But services move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
Both metros remain below the U.S. benchmark of 100. This comparison chooses between two below-average price levels; “more expensive” here does not mean nationally expensive.
For a housing-sensitive move, validate the rent gap first: HUD Fair Market Rent and the actual unit size can overturn what the blended index implies. On the BEA ratio alone, $100,000 in Fond du Lac corresponds to $100,137 in La Crosse-Onalaska.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Fond du Lac
- 93.8
- La Crosse-Onalaska
- 93.8
Diff +0.0 RPP
Services
- Fond du Lac
- 91.1
- La Crosse-Onalaska
- 89.5
Diff -1.6 RPP
Rents
- Fond du Lac
- 67.3
- La Crosse-Onalaska
- 69.4
Diff +2.1 RPP
| Category | Fond du Lac | La Crosse-Onalaska | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 91.6 | 91.8 | +0.1 |
| Goods | 93.8 | 93.8 | +0.0 |
| Services | 91.1 | 89.5 | -1.6 |
| Rents | 67.3 | 69.4 | +2.1 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Fond du Lac 91.6
La Crosse-Onalaska 91.8
Goods
Fond du Lac 93.8
La Crosse-Onalaska 93.8
Services
Fond du Lac 91.1
La Crosse-Onalaska 89.5
Rents
Fond du Lac 67.3
La Crosse-Onalaska 69.4
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Fond du Lac and La Crosse-Onalaska share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 9.9 to 0.1 RPP points. La Crosse-Onalaska remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Goods changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 16.6 points between the first and latest shared releases (16.6 to 0.0 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Fond du Lac RPP | La Crosse-Onalaska RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 83.4 | 93.3 | 9.9 points La Crosse-Onalaska higher |
| 2012 | 91.0 | 93.2 | 2.2 points La Crosse-Onalaska higher |
| 2016 | 88.2 | 92.8 | 4.6 points La Crosse-Onalaska higher |
| 2020 | 91.2 | 89.5 | 1.7 points Fond du Lac higher |
| 2024 | 91.6 | 91.8 | 0.1 points La Crosse-Onalaska higher |
Annual BEA Regional Price Parity releases; a higher index means a higher price level relative to the national average of 100. Selected years shown from the full shared series.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Fond du Lac would need to be in La Crosse-Onalaska for the same purchasing power:
| In Fond du Lac | In La Crosse-Onalaska | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,069 | +$69 |
| $75,000 | $75,103 | +$103 |
| $100,000 | $100,137 | +$137 |
| $150,000 | $150,206 | +$206 |
$ in Fond du Lac = in La Crosse-Onalaska
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (91.6 → 91.8), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is La Crosse-Onalaska more expensive than Fond du Lac?
La Crosse-Onalaska is 0.1% more expensive than Fond du Lac. The overall cost index is 91.8 vs 91.6 (national average = 100).
What salary in La Crosse-Onalaska equals $100K in Fond du Lac?
A $100,000 salary in Fond du Lac has the same purchasing power as $100,137 in La Crosse-Onalaska. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Fond du Lac and La Crosse-Onalaska?
Rents in Fond du Lac are indexed at 67.3 while La Crosse-Onalaska is at 69.4 (national average = 100). La Crosse-Onalaska has higher rents.
Data sources
- BEA Regional Price Parities (RPP), the cost-of-living indices shown on this page
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS), gross-rent observations behind the rents component
- BLS Consumer Price Index (CPI), goods and services price relatives
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), labor-driven services component
- HUD Fair Market Rents (FMR), 40th-percentile rent cross-reference
Every figure on PlainCost is rendered directly from BEA Regional Price Parity source data, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, our changelog, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-08-11. Rankings measure the published cost-of-living index only; we don't recommend where to live or rate any metro's quality of life.