Overall
- Madison
- 97.3
- Gainesville
- 96.8
Diff -0.5 RPP
Madison vs Gainesville
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Gainesville is 0.5% less expensive than Madison.
0.5% less expensive
Gainesville, GA is 0.5% less expensive than Madison, WI on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 96.8 vs 97.3). A $100,000 salary in Madison buys about the same as $99,464 in Gainesville; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 97.3 (Madison) vs 96.8 (Gainesville)
- $100k in Madison ≈ $99,464 purchasing power in Gainesville
- Rents drives the gap (-6.3 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair WI:GA 97.3→96.8
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE WI × GA
- 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.
Madison
97.3
Cost Index
Gainesville
96.8
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Madison, WI and Gainesville, GA are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.5 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Rents creates the largest separation: Gainesville is 6.3 points lower. But goods 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 Madison corresponds to $99,464 in Gainesville.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Madison
- 93.8
- Gainesville
- 96.3
Diff +2.5 RPP
Services
- Madison
- 89.8
- Gainesville
- 89.6
Diff -0.2 RPP
Rents
- Madison
- 99.7
- Gainesville
- 93.5
Diff -6.3 RPP
| Category | Madison | Gainesville | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 97.3 | 96.8 | -0.5 |
| Goods | 93.8 | 96.3 | +2.5 |
| Services | 89.8 | 89.6 | -0.2 |
| Rents | 99.7 | 93.5 | -6.3 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Madison 97.3
Gainesville 96.8
Goods
Madison 93.8
Gainesville 96.3
Services
Madison 89.8
Gainesville 89.6
Rents
Madison 99.7
Gainesville 93.5
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Madison would need to be in Gainesville for the same purchasing power:
| In Madison | In Gainesville | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,732 | $-268 |
| $75,000 | $74,598 | $-402 |
| $100,000 | $99,464 | $-536 |
| $150,000 | $149,197 | $-803 |
$ in Madison = in Gainesville
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (97.3 → 96.8), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Gainesville more expensive than Madison?
Gainesville is 0.5% less expensive than Madison. The overall cost index is 96.8 vs 97.3 (national average = 100).
What salary in Gainesville equals $100K in Madison?
A $100,000 salary in Madison has the same purchasing power as $99,464 in Gainesville. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Madison and Gainesville?
Rents in Madison are indexed at 99.7 while Gainesville is at 93.5 (national average = 100). Madison 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.