Overall
- Wausau
- 92.7
- New Orleans-Metairie
- 92.6
Diff -0.1 RPP
Wausau vs New Orleans-Metairie
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. New Orleans-Metairie is 0.1% less expensive than Wausau.
0.1% less expensive
New Orleans-Metairie, LA is 0.1% less expensive than Wausau, WI on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 92.6 vs 92.7). A $100,000 salary in Wausau buys about the same as $99,942 in New Orleans-Metairie; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 92.7 (Wausau) vs 92.6 (New Orleans-Metairie)
- $100k in Wausau ≈ $99,942 purchasing power in New Orleans-Metairie
- Services drives the gap (-18.8 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair WI:LA 92.7→92.6
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE WI × LA
- 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
New Orleans-Metairie
92.6
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Wausau, WI and New Orleans-Metairie, LA 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.
Services creates the largest separation: New Orleans-Metairie is 18.8 points lower. But rents 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 Wausau to $99,942 in New Orleans-Metairie, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Wausau
- 93.8
- New Orleans-Metairie
- 93.7
Diff -0.1 RPP
Services
- Wausau
- 90.0
- New Orleans-Metairie
- 71.2
Diff -18.8 RPP
Rents
- Wausau
- 71.5
- New Orleans-Metairie
- 86.0
Diff +14.5 RPP
| Category | Wausau | New Orleans-Metairie | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 92.7 | 92.6 | -0.1 |
| Goods | 93.8 | 93.7 | -0.1 |
| Services | 90.0 | 71.2 | -18.8 |
| Rents | 71.5 | 86.0 | +14.5 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Wausau 92.7
New Orleans-Metairie 92.6
Goods
Wausau 93.8
New Orleans-Metairie 93.7
Services
Wausau 90.0
New Orleans-Metairie 71.2
Rents
Wausau 71.5
New Orleans-Metairie 86.0
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Wausau would need to be in New Orleans-Metairie for the same purchasing power:
| In Wausau | In New Orleans-Metairie | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,971 | $-29 |
| $75,000 | $74,956 | $-44 |
| $100,000 | $99,942 | $-58 |
| $150,000 | $149,913 | $-87 |
$ in Wausau = in New Orleans-Metairie
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (92.7 → 92.6), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is New Orleans-Metairie more expensive than Wausau?
New Orleans-Metairie is 0.1% less expensive than Wausau. The overall cost index is 92.6 vs 92.7 (national average = 100).
What salary in New Orleans-Metairie equals $100K in Wausau?
A $100,000 salary in Wausau has the same purchasing power as $99,942 in New Orleans-Metairie. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Wausau and New Orleans-Metairie?
Rents in Wausau are indexed at 71.5 while New Orleans-Metairie is at 86.0 (national average = 100). New Orleans-Metairie 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.