Milwaukee vs Raleigh - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Milwaukee	Raleigh
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2088	$2265
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5072	$5273
🏠 One person rent	$1201	$1374
🏘️ Family rent	$1937	$2201
🍽️ Food expenses	$594	$624
🚐 Transport expenses	$119	$89.7
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3838	$4362
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	14 km
🎓 Higher education	81	82
😀 Quality of life	89	89
🏙️ Population	577K	468K

The cost of living in Milwaukee is 8% less expensive than in Raleigh. Cities ranked 1786th and 1363rd ($2088 vs $2265) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1421st and 1143rd in the United States.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.8 months in Milwaukee compared to 1.9 months in Raleigh. Ranked 57th vs 54th best cities to live in the United States, and 224th vs 219th among the best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/milwaukee/raleigh.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Milwaukee vs Raleigh infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/milwaukee/raleigh" target="_blank">Milwaukee vs Raleigh - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Milwaukee vs Raleigh

Prices for goods and services in Milwaukee and Raleigh are partly crowdsourced by our visitors, just like yourself. Please consider telling us about your city.

	Milwaukee	Raleigh
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$16.8	$18.3
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$61.1	$69.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.1	$10.4
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.61	$5.64
☕ Cappuccino	$5.05	$6.08
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.93	$2.82
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1419	$1531
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$918	$1084
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2352	$2619
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1521	$1754
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$120	$138
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$186	$211
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$63.5	$63.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.16%	6.17%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2602	$3898
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1709	$2197
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.99	$1.42
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$74.9	$47.7
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$16	$16.4
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.9	$0.81
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.89	$0.94
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.91	$3.23
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.21	$2.67
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.55	$4.61
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.6	$14.6
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.2	$10.3
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.8	$17.3
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.38	$5.38
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.48	$1.25
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.64	$4.7
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.3	$5.76
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.19	$3.01
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.56	$3.55
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.57	$1.53
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.33	$2.65
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$16	$15.4
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.82	$2.96
🚬 Cigarette pack	$10.6	$9.18
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$9.28	$12.2
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.36	$4.45
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.52	$3.97
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.84	$2.95
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$38.4	$42.7
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$13.3	$15
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$165	$127
💇 Haircut, simple	$16.9	$28.8
👖 Brand Jeans	$49.1	$52.7
👟 Brand Sneakers	$86.5	$101
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1817	$1475
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$24100	$24243

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Milwaukee

Distance	City	Cost of living
5.6 km or 3.5 mi	West Allis	$1923
6.3 km or 3.9 mi	Wauwatosa	$1949
10 km or 6.4 mi	Greenfield	$1927
13 km or 8.3 mi	Brookfield	$1993
15 km or 9.4 mi	New Berlin	$1934
17 km or 11 mi	South Milwaukee	$2000
17 km or 11 mi	Menomonee Falls	$1979
17 km or 11 mi	Franklin	$1963
19 km or 12 mi	Oak Creek	$1993
19 km or 12 mi	Mequon	$1990
22 km or 14 mi	Muskego	$1930
23 km or 14 mi	Waukesha	$1746
27 km or 17 mi	Caledonia	$1996
37 km or 23 mi	Mount Pleasant	$2058
38 km or 24 mi	Racine	$2065
46 km or 28 mi	West Bend	$1946
53 km or 33 mi	Kenosha	$2039
57 km or 36 mi	Pleasant Prairie	$2097
64 km or 40 mi	Watertown	$1950
67 km or 42 mi	Zion	$2344
74 km or 46 mi	Fort Atkinson	$1771
76 km or 47 mi	Round Lake Beach	$2382
76 km or 47 mi	Gurnee	$2389
77 km or 48 mi	Waukegan	$2443
78 km or 49 mi	Grayslake	$2364
80 km or 50 mi	Sheboygan	$1825
81 km or 51 mi	North Chicago	$2407
84 km or 52 mi	McHenry	$2434
85 km or 53 mi	Libertyville	$2418
87 km or 54 mi	Mundelein	$2162
90 km or 56 mi	Fond du Lac	$1813
91 km or 57 mi	Woodstock	$2249
91 km or 57 mi	Vernon Hills	$2428
96 km or 60 mi	Janesville	$1796
97 km or 60 mi	Crystal Lake	$2555
97 km or 60 mi	Highland Park	$2418
98 km or 61 mi	Buffalo Grove	$2410
101 km or 63 mi	Lake in the Hills	$2559
102 km or 63 mi	Wheeling	$2453
103 km or 64 mi	Northbrook	$2400

Cities near Raleigh

Distance	City	Cost of living
12 km or 7.6 mi	Garner	$2229
15 km or 9.1 mi	Cary	$2483
17 km or 10 mi	Morrisville	$1850
21 km or 13 mi	Wake Forest	$2169
21 km or 13 mi	Apex	$2280
25 km or 16 mi	Holly Springs	$2300
28 km or 18 mi	Fuquay-Varina	$2241
30 km or 19 mi	Durham	$2063
38 km or 23 mi	Chapel Hill	$2133
60 km or 37 mi	Henderson	$2116
61 km or 38 mi	Sanford	$1842
65 km or 41 mi	Wilson	$2016
77 km or 48 mi	Rocky Mount	$1803
77 km or 48 mi	Goldsboro	$1766
78 km or 49 mi	Burlington	$2089
87 km or 54 mi	Fayetteville	$2212
106 km or 66 mi	Asheboro	$2059
109 km or 68 mi	Danville	$1775
110 km or 68 mi	Greensboro	$2027
114 km or 71 mi	Roanoke Rapids	$2055
114 km or 71 mi	Kinston	$2073
117 km or 73 mi	Greenville	$2045
123 km or 76 mi	High Point	$1909
129 km or 80 mi	Thomasville	$2007
133 km or 83 mi	Kernersville	$2200
137 km or 85 mi	Lumberton	$1863
141 km or 87 mi	Rockingham	$2070
149 km or 92 mi	Winston-Salem	$2105
163 km or 101 mi	Jacksonville	$2007
165 km or 103 mi	New Bern	$1849
166 km or 103 mi	Salisbury	$2075
182 km or 113 mi	Kannapolis	$2031
182 km or 113 mi	Lynchburg	$1851
183 km or 114 mi	Concord	$1904
189 km or 117 mi	Havelock	$2003
190 km or 118 mi	Wilmington	$2295
191 km or 119 mi	Petersburg	$2375
196 km or 122 mi	Monroe	$2129
196 km or 122 mi	Mint Hill	$2204
198 km or 123 mi	Roanoke	$1729