Milwaukee, WI vs Detroit, MI
Moving from Milwaukee to Detroit? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($390,238 → $269,080 median home) and taxes.
Milwaukee vs Detroit 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 Milwaukee, WI, you'd need about $102,629 in Detroit, MI (+$2,629).
Livability — Milwaukee, WI: 62 · Detroit, MI: 62 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 2,178 sqft in Milwaukee vs 3,066 sqft in Detroit ($230 vs $163 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Milwaukee, WI | Detroit, MI | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $18,456 | $18,000 | −$456 |
| Groceries | $4,691 | $4,896 | +$205 |
| Transportation | $3,085 | $4,575 | +$1,490 |
| Utilities | $2,076 | $2,316 | +$240 |
| Insurance | $1,300 | $1,300 | +$0 |
| Taxes | $13,873 | $9,547 | −$4,325 |
| Total | $43,481 | $40,634 | −$2,846 |
Side by side
| Metric | Milwaukee, WI | Detroit, MI |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 95.7 | 98.2 |
| Unemployment rate | 3.84% | 6.60% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | -0.4% | 1.7% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.44 | $5.59 |
| Median home price | $390,238 | $269,080 |
| Home price ÷ income | 5.4× | 3.7× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | 5.3% | 2.8% |
| Price per square foot | $230 | $163 |
| Median rent | $1,538 | $1,500 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 10.9% | 10.0% |
| Combined sales tax | 5.43% | 6.00% |
| Capital gains tax | 7.65% | 4.25% |
| Property tax rate | 1.62% | 1.43% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,800 | $6,500 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $13,000 | $11,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | 0.61% |
| Avg commute (min) | 23 | 27 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,300 | $1,300 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,400 | $2,700 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $600 | $600 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $100 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 19.2 | 21.4 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.20 | 3.35 |
| Natural gas / mo | $72 | $78 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $42 | $74 |
| Home internet / mo | $85 | $78 |
| Violent crime /100k | 320 | 460 |
| Avg summer high °F | 82 | 83 |
| Avg winter low °F | 8 | 16 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 34.6 | 34.3 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 48.7 | 45.0 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 54% | 53% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 3 | 3 |