Overall
Diff -0.3 RPP
Madison vs Rochester
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Rochester is 0.3% less expensive than Madison.
0.3% less expensive
Rochester, NY is 0.3% less expensive than Madison, WI on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 97.0 vs 97.3). A $100,000 salary in Madison buys about the same as $99,741 in Rochester; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 97.3 (Madison) vs 97.0 (Rochester)
- $100k in Madison ≈ $99,741 purchasing power in Rochester
- Services drives the gap (+43.4 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair WI:NY 97.3→97.0
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE WI × NY
- 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
Rochester
97.0
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Madison, WI and Rochester, NY are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.3 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Rochester is 43.4 points higher. But services and 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 service-heavy household, test childcare, health, and other locally supplied costs before relying on rent alone. The BEA ratio converts $100,000 in Madison to $99,741 in Rochester, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
Diff +5.9 RPP
Services
Diff +43.4 RPP
Rents
Diff -12.3 RPP
| Category | Madison | Rochester | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 97.3 | 97.0 | -0.3 |
| Goods | 93.8 | 99.7 | +5.9 |
| Services | 89.8 | 133.2 | +43.4 |
| Rents | 99.7 | 87.5 | -12.3 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Madison 97.3
Rochester 97.0
Goods
Madison 93.8
Rochester 99.7
Services
Madison 89.8
Rochester 133.2
Rents
Madison 99.7
Rochester 87.5
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Madison would need to be in Rochester for the same purchasing power:
| In Madison | In Rochester | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,870 | $-130 |
| $75,000 | $74,806 | $-194 |
| $100,000 | $99,741 | $-259 |
| $150,000 | $149,611 | $-389 |
$ in Madison = in Rochester
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (97.3 → 97.0), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Rochester more expensive than Madison?
Rochester is 0.3% less expensive than Madison. The overall cost index is 97.0 vs 97.3 (national average = 100).
What salary in Rochester equals $100K in Madison?
A $100,000 salary in Madison has the same purchasing power as $99,741 in Rochester. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Madison and Rochester?
Rents in Madison are indexed at 99.7 while Rochester is at 87.5 (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.