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Cost & Benefits

Compare / Augusta to Milwaukee

Augusta, GA vs Milwaukee, WI

Simple answer

You'd likely save $66 a month in Milwaukee.

This is the HUD 2-bedroom fair-market rent for October 2026 through September 2027. It is not your lease.

The largest cost gap in this pair is housing prices. The BEA housing price parity differs by 26.5 points (Augusta 70.6, Milwaukee 97.1).

Georgia taxes wages at a flat 5.19%. Wisconsin taxes wages at rates up to 7.65%. Combined sales tax differs by 1.8 percentage points, higher in Georgia. The effective property tax gap is 0.50 percentage points, higher in Wisconsin.

After a move from Georgia to Wisconsin, those two example households keep the same benefit status labels. A different income can still split Medicaid and marketplace credits.

A $75,000 salary in Augusta lines up with about $79,108 in Milwaukee on the 2024 all-items price parity. Census median gross rent and the commute figures are 2024. Fair Market Rents are fiscal year 2027.

Augusta

Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC

2-bedroom Fair Market Rent
$1,329
HUD area
Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC HUD Metro FMR Area
Census median gross rent
$1,243
All-items price parity
91.9
Goods price parity
96.3
Utilities price parity
89.5
Mean commute
25.2 min
Median household income
$72,176

Milwaukee

Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI

2-bedroom Fair Market Rent
$1,263
HUD area
Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI MSA
Census median gross rent
$1,177
All-items price parity
96.9
Goods price parity
93.8
Utilities price parity
91.6
Mean commute
23.2 min
Median household income
$77,919

Equivalent salary

The first number keeps the same place in the national price level. The second also runs 2026 federal income tax, employee Social Security and Medicare, and a simplified state income tax. Groceries use the BEA goods price parity, not a grocery receipt.

Same buying power

$79,108

Salary in Milwaukee that matches the 2024 all-items regional price parity.

After state and federal tax

$78,873

Gross salary in Milwaukee whose after-tax pay buys the same basket, using price parities.

Rent only

$71,275

Scales the salary by the ratio of HUD 2-bedroom Fair Market Rents. Rent is not the whole budget.

Taxes on the two sides of the move

TaxGeorgiaWisconsin
State income tax on wages5.19% flatup to 7.65%
Combined sales tax, Jan 1, 20267.5%5.7%
Effective property tax, ACS 2024 median / median0.74%1.25%

On a $400,000 home, the state median effective rate implies about $2,976 a year in Georgia and $4,995 in Wisconsin. That illustration is not a local bill. Childcare prices are not in the verified dataset for these metros.

Benefits if you land in Wisconsin

Same household, $40,000 a year, scored once in Georgia and once in Wisconsin. This is an illustration, not your application.

  • Food stamps (SNAP)

    AugustaLikely eligible

    MilwaukeeLikely eligible

  • Medicaid and CHIP

    AugustaLikely eligible

    MilwaukeeLikely eligible

  • WIC

    AugustaLikely eligible

    MilwaukeeLikely eligible

  • School meals

    AugustaLikely eligible

    MilwaukeeLikely eligible

  • LIHEAP

    AugustaMaybe

    MilwaukeeMaybe

  • Earned Income Tax Credit

    AugustaLikely eligible

    MilwaukeeLikely eligible

  • Child Tax Credit

    AugustaLikely eligible

    MilwaukeeLikely eligible

  • Marketplace premium tax credits

    AugustaLikely eligible

    MilwaukeeLikely eligible

  • Lifeline phone and internet

    AugustaLikely eligible

    MilwaukeeLikely eligible

  • SSI

    AugustaUnlikely

    MilwaukeeUnlikely

At $40,000 the status labels match. A single adult around $18,000 is where Medicaid expansion and the marketplace coverage gap usually split.

Medicaid guide for Wisconsin · SNAP guide

Related comparisons

From Augusta

The eight largest 2-bedroom Fair Market Rent gaps from Augusta.

Nearby metros

How the salary and tax math works · The reverse city order redirects to this address.