Madison, WI vs Charlotte, NC
Moving from Madison to Charlotte? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($452,769 → $390,321 median home) and taxes.
Madison vs Charlotte at a glance
Bars scaled to the range across all 200 metros; labels show actual values.
To keep the same standard of living as $100,000 in Madison, WI, you'd need about $101,448 in Charlotte, NC (+$1,448).
Livability — Madison, WI: 62 · Charlotte, NC: 66 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 1,878 sqft in Madison vs 2,561 sqft in Charlotte ($266 vs $195 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Madison, WI | Charlotte, NC | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $20,196 | $20,880 | +$684 |
| Groceries | $4,691 | $4,834 | +$143 |
| Transportation | $3,085 | $3,130 | +$45 |
| Utilities | $2,076 | $1,752 | −$324 |
| Insurance | $1,300 | $2,000 | +$700 |
| Taxes | $15,162 | $8,740 | −$6,421 |
| Total | $46,510 | $41,336 | −$5,174 |
Side by side
| Metric | Madison, WI | Charlotte, NC |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 95.9 | 97.3 |
| Unemployment rate | 2.42% | 4.71% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 6.1% | 10.0% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.46 | $5.54 |
| Median home price | $452,769 | $390,321 |
| Home price ÷ income | 5.5× | 5.1× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | 2.7% | -0.4% |
| Price per square foot | $266 | $195 |
| Median rent | $1,683 | $1,740 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 10.9% | 9.9% |
| Combined sales tax | 5.43% | 6.98% |
| Capital gains tax | 7.65% | 4.25% |
| Property tax rate | 1.75% | 0.72% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,800 | $6,600 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $13,000 | $10,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | 1.10% |
| Avg commute (min) | 22 | 27 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,300 | $2,000 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,400 | $1,400 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $600 | $800 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $100 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 19.2 | 16.3 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.20 | 3.20 |
| Natural gas / mo | $72 | $62 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $42 | $78 |
| Home internet / mo | $85 | $80 |
| Violent crime /100k | 320 | 400 |
| Avg summer high °F | 82 | 89 |
| Avg winter low °F | 8 | 30 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 34.6 | 43.6 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 48.7 | 3.5 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 54% | 62% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 3 | 3 |