LivingCostFacts / county

Dane County, WI: cost of living

Compare HUD rent benchmarks with household income in Dane County, Wisconsin. These figures describe area-wide conditions rather than a personal budget.

Madison, WI metro RPP: 97.3 (BEA 2024; U.S. = 100). Regional context, not a county-specific price estimate.

BEA 2024 · HUD FY2027 · ACS 2020–2024 · CPI through 2026-10

$1,565
2BR monthly rent

HUD FY2027

20.9%
Rent / household income

Annual 2BR FMR ÷ ACS median income

$89,975
Median household income

ACS 2020–2024

$394,800
Median home value

Owner-occupied homes, ACS 2020–2024

Read the local picture

Fair Market Rent (FMR) is HUD’s estimate of the 40th percentile gross rent for standard-quality rental homes occupied by recent movers. It includes rent and most tenant-paid utilities. A household’s actual rent can differ substantially by neighborhood, lease and property.

2BR rent: county vs state vs US

HUD FY2027 monthly gross FMR. State and U.S. values are population-weighted county means. Dollars per month.

  1. Dane County$1,565
  2. Wisconsin$1,251
  3. United States$1,761
0$1,761

Put the benchmark in context

The rent-to-income comparison uses 12 months of the 2BR FMR divided by median household income. It compares different vintages and all household types; it is not the share of renter households that are cost burdened.

Annual income vs annual 2BR rent

ACS 2020–2024 median household income and 12 × HUD FY2027 2BR FMR. Dollars per year; separate vintages and household groups.

  1. Median household income$89,975
  2. Annual 2BR rent$18,780
0$89,975

Income remaining after this rent benchmark is $71,195 per year, before taxes, food, transport, health care and other expenses.

This county or equivalent belongs to the Madison, WI metro area. Its 2024 metro-wide all-items RPP is 97.3. A metro RPP is not a county-specific price estimate.

The data in view

Monthly rent by bedroom

HUD FY2027 gross monthly FMR; includes most tenant-paid utilities. Dollars per month.

  1. Studio$1,196
  2. 1 bedroom$1,375
  3. 2 bedrooms$1,565
  4. 3 bedrooms$2,047
  5. 4 bedrooms$2,264
0$2,264

Madison, WI: RPP components

BEA 2024 regional context; each category is compared with its own U.S. = 100 benchmark. These are not county price estimates or spending shares.

  1. All items97.3
  2. Goods93.8
  3. Housing rents99.7
  4. Utilities89.8
  5. Other services99.4
0100.0

Black marker: U.S. benchmark = 100 in each row.

Monthly Fair Market Rent by bedroom

HUD 40th percentile gross rent for standard-quality units; includes tenant-paid utilities except telephone, cable and internet. These are benchmarks, not asking-rent medians.

Home sizeFY2027 monthly gross rent
Studio$1,196
1 bedroom$1,375
2 bedrooms$1,565
3 bedrooms$2,047
4 bedrooms$2,264

Homeownership and population

Property taxes are for owner-occupied homes, not a renter charge. A + marks a Census top-coded estimate.

MeasureValue
Median annual real estate taxes paid$6,420
Population used for weighting (HUD pop2024)572,674

Compare rent and income

State and U.S. rents are population-weighted means of available county benchmarks; income is the published ACS median.

Area2BR rent / monthMedian household income
Dane County$1,565$89,975
Wisconsin$1,251$77,485
United States$1,761$80,734