Moving to Wisconsin from Arkansas
What to Expect
Considering a move from Arkansas to Wisconsin? Here's how the two compare on cost, climate, safety, and more.
If you moved from Arkansas to Wisconsin, you would find that Wisconsin is 5.9% more expensive than Arkansas. A $75,000 salary in Arkansas would need to be roughly $79,400 in Wisconsin to maintain the same lifestyle. Expect a noticeable climate shift — Milwaukee averages 55°F vs 72°F in Little Rock, making it significantly cooler. Little Rock and Milwaukee are about 620 mi apart.
Is Wisconsin cheaper than Arkansas?
How key spending categories compare
Restaurants
pay 7.4% less
Groceries
pay 7.0% more
Transportation
pay 16.6% more
Housing
pay 2.6% more
Childcare
pay 46.1% more
Entertainment and Sports
pay 3.6% more
Data: MyLifeElsewhere's crowdsourced cost of living database, with prices submitted and updated by users worldwide. Exchange rates are refreshed regularly from public sources.
What salary do you need in Wisconsin?
What does your salary buy?
$75,000 → $79,400
To maintain the same standard of living in Wisconsin
Calculate with your salary →Cost of living by city
Cost of living varies a lot by city. Each figure is a city's overall cost of living as a percentage of New York City (the priciest, = 100%).
On average, cities in Wisconsin cost about 6% more than cities in Arkansas.
Compare cities head-to-head
Key Indicator Comparison
The numbers behind daily life in Wisconsin compared to Arkansas.
Is it safe?
incidents per 100,000 people per year
incidents per 100,000 people per year
Wisconsin performs significantly better than Arkansas across all safety metrics.
How's the healthcare?
share of people without health insurance
share of adults with obesity
share of adults with diabetes
share of adults who smoke
Wisconsin performs significantly better than Arkansas across all health & wellbeing metrics.
What about housing?
typical price of a home
typical monthly gross rent
share of homes that are owner-occupied
Arkansas generally does better on what about housing?, though Wisconsin leads in homeownership rate.
Will I have good infrastructure?
share of households with internet
minutes each way to work
Wisconsin performs significantly better than Arkansas across all infrastructure metrics.
What are the job prospects?
percentage of the labour force without work
a broad measure of economic output per person
typical annual income of a household
share of people below the poverty line
Wisconsin performs significantly better than Arkansas across all employment & economy metrics.
Is it good for families?
average years of life at birth
share of adults with a 4-year college degree
Wisconsin performs significantly better than Arkansas across all family life metrics.
Sources: US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) (2023), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (PLACES) (2022), FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (2023), Bureau of Labor Statistics (2025), Bureau of Economic Analysis (2024), OECD Regional Demography (2020). How we calculate this
Weather in Wisconsin vs Arkansas
Monthly averages — select a city to compare.
Avg. annual high / low
Avg. annual high / low
| Months | Little Rock | Milwaukee |
|---|---|---|
| Jan–Mar | 56°/38°F (13°/3°C) | 35°/21°F (1°/-6°C) |
| Apr–Jun | 80°/61°F (27°/16°C) | 65°/47°F (18°/8°C) |
| Jul–Sep | 89°/70°F (32°/21°C) | 76°/61°F (25°/16°C) |
| Oct–Dec | 62°/44°F (17°/7°C) | 46°/32°F (8°/0°C) |
View all months
| Month | Little Rock | Milwaukee |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 49°/33°F (9.7°/0.4°C) | 29°/16°F (-1.7°/-9.1°C) |
| Feb | 54°/36°F (12.4°/2.4°C) | 33°/19°F (0.3°/-7.1°C) |
| Mar | 64°/44°F (17.6°/6.8°C) | 42°/28°F (5.8°/-2.4°C) |
| Apr | 73°/53°F (22.7°/11.6°C) | 54°/37°F (12.1°/2.9°C) |
| May | 80°/62°F (26.8°/16.4°C) | 65°/47°F (18.3°/8.1°C) |
| Jun | 88°/69°F (31.2°/20.7°C) | 75°/57°F (24.1°/13.9°C) |
| Jul | 92°/73°F (33.4°/22.7°C) | 80°/64°F (26.7°/17.5°C) |
| Aug | 92°/72°F (33.3°/22.2°C) | 78°/63°F (25.8°/17.2°C) |
| Sep | 84°/65°F (29.1°/18.1°C) | 71°/55°F (21.8°/12.7°C) |
| Oct | 73°/54°F (23.0°/12.3°C) | 59°/43°F (15.2°/6.2°C) |
| Nov | 62°/44°F (16.5°/6.6°C) | 46°/32°F (7.8°/0.0°C) |
| Dec | 51°/35°F (10.7°/1.7°C) | 33°/20°F (0.4°/-6.6°C) |
Data:
National Weather Service
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it cheaper to live in Wisconsin than Arkansas?
On average Wisconsin is around 6% pricier than Arkansas, with notable variation by city.
How much money do I need to move to Wisconsin?
Budget about $19,850 for 3 months in Wisconsin (based on a $75,000 comparable annual salary), then add the one-off costs: movers, a truck rental, and a rental deposit.
Is Wisconsin safe?
Wisconsin performs significantly better than Arkansas across all safety metrics.
How is healthcare in Wisconsin compared to Arkansas?
Wisconsin performs significantly better than Arkansas across all health & wellbeing metrics.
What's the weather like in Wisconsin compared to Arkansas?
The average high temperature in Milwaukee is 55°F, compared to 72°F in Little Rock. Milwaukee receives around 34.8 in of rainfall per year, while Little Rock gets 50.0 in.
