Overall
- La Crosse-Onalaska
- 91.8
- Omaha
- 91.9
Diff +0.1 RPP
La Crosse-Onalaska vs Omaha
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Omaha is 0.2% more expensive than La Crosse-Onalaska.
0.2% more expensive
Omaha, NE-IA is 0.2% more expensive than La Crosse-Onalaska, WI-MN on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 91.9 vs 91.8). A $100,000 salary in La Crosse-Onalaska buys about the same as $100,155 in Omaha; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 91.8 (La Crosse-Onalaska) vs 91.9 (Omaha)
- $100k in La Crosse-Onalaska ≈ $100,155 purchasing power in Omaha
- Rents drives the gap (+17.0 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair WI:NE 91.8→91.9
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE WI × NE
- 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.
La Crosse-Onalaska
91.8
Cost Index
Omaha
91.9
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
La Crosse-Onalaska, WI-MN and Omaha, NE-IA 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: Omaha is 17.0 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 La Crosse-Onalaska corresponds to $100,155 in Omaha.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- La Crosse-Onalaska
- 93.8
- Omaha
- 94.1
Diff +0.3 RPP
Services
- La Crosse-Onalaska
- 89.5
- Omaha
- 76.4
Diff -13.2 RPP
Rents
- La Crosse-Onalaska
- 69.4
- Omaha
- 86.4
Diff +17.0 RPP
| Category | La Crosse-Onalaska | Omaha | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 91.8 | 91.9 | +0.1 |
| Goods | 93.8 | 94.1 | +0.3 |
| Services | 89.5 | 76.4 | -13.2 |
| Rents | 69.4 | 86.4 | +17.0 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
La Crosse-Onalaska 91.8
Omaha 91.9
Goods
La Crosse-Onalaska 93.8
Omaha 94.1
Services
La Crosse-Onalaska 89.5
Omaha 76.4
Rents
La Crosse-Onalaska 69.4
Omaha 86.4
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
La Crosse-Onalaska and Omaha share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 2.7 to 0.1 RPP points. Omaha remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 9.8 points between the first and latest shared releases (7.2 to 17.0 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | La Crosse-Onalaska RPP | Omaha RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 93.3 | 96.0 | 2.7 points Omaha higher |
| 2012 | 93.2 | 95.7 | 2.5 points Omaha higher |
| 2016 | 92.8 | 94.6 | 1.8 points Omaha higher |
| 2020 | 89.5 | 95.0 | 5.5 points Omaha higher |
| 2024 | 91.8 | 91.9 | 0.1 points Omaha 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 La Crosse-Onalaska would need to be in Omaha for the same purchasing power:
| In La Crosse-Onalaska | In Omaha | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,077 | +$77 |
| $75,000 | $75,116 | +$116 |
| $100,000 | $100,155 | +$155 |
| $150,000 | $150,232 | +$232 |
$ in La Crosse-Onalaska = in Omaha
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (91.8 → 91.9), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Omaha more expensive than La Crosse-Onalaska?
Omaha is 0.2% more expensive than La Crosse-Onalaska. The overall cost index is 91.9 vs 91.8 (national average = 100).
What salary in Omaha equals $100K in La Crosse-Onalaska?
A $100,000 salary in La Crosse-Onalaska has the same purchasing power as $100,155 in Omaha. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between La Crosse-Onalaska and Omaha?
Rents in La Crosse-Onalaska are indexed at 69.4 while Omaha is at 86.4 (national average = 100). Omaha 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.