Overall
Diff -0.2 RPP
Wausau vs Appleton
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Appleton is 0.3% less expensive than Wausau.
0.3% less expensive
Appleton, WI is 0.3% less expensive than Wausau, WI on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 92.4 vs 92.7). A $100,000 salary in Wausau buys about the same as $99,750 in Appleton; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 92.7 (Wausau) vs 92.4 (Appleton)
- $100k in Wausau ≈ $99,750 purchasing power in Appleton
- Rents drives the gap (-0.7 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair WI:WI 92.7→92.4
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.
Wausau
92.7
Cost Index
Appleton
92.4
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Wausau, WI and Appleton, WI are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.2 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Rents creates the largest separation: Appleton is 0.7 points lower. 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 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 Wausau corresponds to $99,750 in Appleton.
Category Breakdown
Goods
Diff 0.0 RPP
Services
Diff +0.6 RPP
Rents
Diff -0.7 RPP
| Category | Wausau | Appleton | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 92.7 | 92.4 | -0.2 |
| Goods | 93.8 | 93.8 | 0.0 |
| Services | 90.0 | 90.6 | +0.6 |
| Rents | 71.5 | 70.8 | -0.7 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Wausau 92.7
Appleton 92.4
Goods
Wausau 93.8
Appleton 93.8
Services
Wausau 90.0
Appleton 90.6
Rents
Wausau 71.5
Appleton 70.8
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Wausau and Appleton share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 2.3 to 0.2 RPP points. Wausau remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 12.9 points between the first and latest shared releases (12.2 to 0.7 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Wausau RPP | Appleton RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 94.8 | 97.1 | 2.3 points Appleton higher |
| 2012 | 94.1 | 94.6 | 0.5 points Appleton higher |
| 2016 | 92.0 | 92.9 | 0.9 points Appleton higher |
| 2020 | 90.2 | 92.3 | 2.1 points Appleton higher |
| 2024 | 92.7 | 92.4 | 0.2 points Wausau 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 Wausau would need to be in Appleton for the same purchasing power:
| In Wausau | In Appleton | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,875 | $-125 |
| $75,000 | $74,812 | $-188 |
| $100,000 | $99,750 | $-250 |
| $150,000 | $149,624 | $-376 |
$ in Wausau = in Appleton
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (92.7 → 92.4), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Appleton more expensive than Wausau?
Appleton is 0.3% less expensive than Wausau. The overall cost index is 92.4 vs 92.7 (national average = 100).
What salary in Appleton equals $100K in Wausau?
A $100,000 salary in Wausau has the same purchasing power as $99,750 in Appleton. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Wausau and Appleton?
Rents in Wausau are indexed at 71.5 while Appleton is at 70.8 (national average = 100). Wausau 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.