How much do households in Wisconsin spend on rent?
Data updated September 16, 2024
About $992 per month, or 27.4% of their income, in 2022. This is measured by comparing median rent and median monthly income for renting households.
Showing data for
In 2022, median rent was
27.4%
of median income
In 2022,
$992
was the median rent per month
Comparing rent to renter income provides one measure of rental affordability. Dividing rent by income provides what is called a rent-to-income ratio. A higher ratio of rent-to-income indicates rent is less affordable while a lower ratio indicates it’s more affordable.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development considers households with a rent-to-income ratio of more than 30%, that is, households that spend more than 30% of their income on housing, to be cost-burdened. Cost-burdened households may have less money for other necessities such as food, healthcare, or savings. When median monthly rent is more than 30% of average monthly income, it means a typical household would meet the definition of housing cost-burdened.
Wisconsin's rent-to-income ratio was lower than in the US overall in 2022.
Ratio of median rent to median renter household income
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The national rent-to-income ratio reached a high of 33.8% in 2011 following the Great Recession. In Wisconsin, the rent-to-income ratio reached 31.1% that year. Most recently, in 2022, Wisconsin’s rent-to-income ratio was 27.4%, 4.3 percentage points lower than the national rate.
Across metro areas, the average rent-to-income ratio was 30.8% in 2018–2022.
Ratio of median rent to median renter household income, 2018–2022
In 2018–2022, the average rent-to-income ratio across metro areas was 30.8%. The metro areas with the highest and lowest ratios were the Mayagüez, Puerto Rico at 56.9% (highest) and Sheboygan, Wisconsin, at 21.7% (lowest). In Wisconsin, the highest and lowest were Milwaukee at 29.1% and Sheboygan at 21.7%.
During that period, the Madison, WI area had the highest median rent at $1.23K per month and highest median monthly income at $4.32K out of twelve Wisconsin metro areas. The Madison, WI area's rent-to-income ratio was the second highest in the state.
Renter income and rent, Wisconsin metro areas (2018–2022)
| 1. | Appleton, WI area | $4,215 |
| 2. | Eau Claire, WI area | $3,783 |
| 3. | Fond du Lac, WI area | $3,511 |
| 4. | Green Bay, WI area | $3,783 |
| 5. | Janesville, WI area | $3,818 |
| 6. | La Crosse, WI area | $3,636 |
| 7. | Madison, WI area | $4,321 |
| 8. | Milwaukee, WI area | $3,617 |
| 9. | Oshkosh, WI area | $3,606 |
| 10. | Racine, WI area | $3,505 |
