Overall
- Madison
- 97.3
Diff -16.3 RPP
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim vs Madison
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Madison is 14.3% less expensive than Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim.
14.3% less expensive
Madison, WI is 14.3% less expensive than Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 97.3 vs 113.6). A $100,000 salary in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim buys about the same as $85,666 in Madison; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 113.6 (Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim) vs 97.3 (Madison)
- $100k in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim ≈ $85,666 purchasing power in Madison
- Rents drives the gap (-70.7 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair CA:WI 113.6→97.3
TIER-GAP · CROSS-STATE · RENT-LED · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- CROSS-STATE CA × WI
- RENT-LED Rent-led gap
- BENCH-CROSS Benchmark cross
- PP-SHIFT PP shift
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.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim would need to be in Madison for the same purchasing power:
| In Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim | In Madison | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $42,833 | $-7,167 |
| $75,000 | $64,249 | $-10,751 |
| $100,000 | $85,666 | $-14,334 |
| $150,000 | $128,498 | $-21,502 |
$ in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim = in Madison
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (113.6 → 97.3), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA and Madison, WI sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 16.3 RPP points. At this distance, treating the same nominal salary as equivalent would materially change purchasing power.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim is above 100 while Madison is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
Rents leads the difference, with Madison 70.7 points lower than Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim. Goods, services, and rents all point in the same broad direction, making the headline comparison more transferable across household types.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
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 Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim corresponds to $85,666 in Madison.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Madison
- 93.8
Diff -12.8 RPP
Services
- Madison
- 89.8
Diff -68.8 RPP
Rents
- Madison
- 99.7
Diff -70.7 RPP
| Category | Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim | Madison | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 113.6 | 97.3 | -16.3 |
| Goods | 106.6 | 93.8 | -12.8 |
| Services | 158.6 | 89.8 | -68.8 |
| Rents | 170.4 | 99.7 | -70.7 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim 113.6
Madison 97.3
Goods
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim 106.6
Madison 93.8
Services
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim 158.6
Madison 89.8
Rents
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim 170.4
Madison 99.7
Vertical line = national average (100)
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim
113.6
Cost Index
Madison
97.3
Cost Index
How the Price Gap Changed
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim and Madison share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 15.2 to 16.3 RPP points. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 49.9 points between the first and latest shared releases (18.8 to 68.8 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim RPP | Madison RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 113.3 | 98.1 | 15.2 points Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim higher |
| 2012 | 112.1 | 97.4 | 14.7 points Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim higher |
| 2016 | 111.3 | 95.9 | 15.4 points Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim higher |
| 2020 | 113.9 | 95.9 | 18.0 points Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim higher |
| 2024 | 113.6 | 97.3 | 16.3 points Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Madison more expensive than Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim?
Madison is 14.3% less expensive than Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim. The overall cost index is 97.3 vs 113.6 (national average = 100).
What salary in Madison equals $100K in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim?
A $100,000 salary in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim has the same purchasing power as $85,666 in Madison. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim and Madison?
Rents in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim are indexed at 170.4 while Madison is at 99.7 (national average = 100). Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim 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.