Overall
- Wausau
- 92.7
- Eau Claire
- 92.8
Diff +0.1 RPP
Wausau vs Eau Claire
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Eau Claire is 0.2% more expensive than Wausau.
0.2% more expensive
Eau Claire, WI is 0.2% more expensive than Wausau, WI on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 92.8 vs 92.7). A $100,000 salary in Wausau buys about the same as $100,157 in Eau Claire; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 92.7 (Wausau) vs 92.8 (Eau Claire)
- $100k in Wausau ≈ $100,157 purchasing power in Eau Claire
- Rents drives the gap (+1.4 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair WI:WI 92.7→92.8
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
Eau Claire
92.8
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Wausau, WI and Eau Claire, WI 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: Eau Claire is 1.4 points higher. 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 Wausau corresponds to $100,157 in Eau Claire.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Wausau
- 93.8
- Eau Claire
- 93.8
Diff 0.0 RPP
Services
- Wausau
- 90.0
- Eau Claire
- 90.9
Diff +1.0 RPP
Rents
- Wausau
- 71.5
- Eau Claire
- 72.8
Diff +1.4 RPP
| Category | Wausau | Eau Claire | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 92.7 | 92.8 | +0.1 |
| Goods | 93.8 | 93.8 | 0.0 |
| Services | 90.0 | 90.9 | +1.0 |
| Rents | 71.5 | 72.8 | +1.4 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Wausau 92.7
Eau Claire 92.8
Goods
Wausau 93.8
Eau Claire 93.8
Services
Wausau 90.0
Eau Claire 90.9
Rents
Wausau 71.5
Eau Claire 72.8
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Wausau and Eau Claire share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 1.9 to 0.1 RPP points. Eau Claire remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 9.0 points between the first and latest shared releases (10.4 to 1.4 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Wausau RPP | Eau Claire RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 94.8 | 96.6 | 1.9 points Eau Claire higher |
| 2012 | 94.1 | 94.8 | 0.7 points Eau Claire higher |
| 2016 | 92.0 | 91.6 | 0.4 points Wausau higher |
| 2020 | 90.2 | 92.2 | 2.0 points Eau Claire higher |
| 2024 | 92.7 | 92.8 | 0.1 points Eau Claire 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 Eau Claire for the same purchasing power:
| In Wausau | In Eau Claire | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,078 | +$78 |
| $75,000 | $75,117 | +$117 |
| $100,000 | $100,157 | +$157 |
| $150,000 | $150,235 | +$235 |
$ in Wausau = in Eau Claire
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (92.7 → 92.8), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Eau Claire more expensive than Wausau?
Eau Claire is 0.2% more expensive than Wausau. The overall cost index is 92.8 vs 92.7 (national average = 100).
What salary in Eau Claire equals $100K in Wausau?
A $100,000 salary in Wausau has the same purchasing power as $100,157 in Eau Claire. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Wausau and Eau Claire?
Rents in Wausau are indexed at 71.5 while Eau Claire is at 72.8 (national average = 100). Eau Claire 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.