Moving to Wisconsin from Oregon
What to Expect
A comprehensive look at what changes when you move from Oregon to Wisconsin — from daily expenses to quality of life.
If you moved from Oregon to Wisconsin, you would find that Wisconsin is 10.6% cheaper than Oregon. A $75,000 salary in Oregon would need to be roughly $67,000 in Wisconsin to maintain the same lifestyle. Portland and Milwaukee are about 1,700 mi apart.
Is Wisconsin cheaper than Oregon?
The biggest cost differences at a glance
Restaurants
pay 5.6% less
Groceries
pay 8.6% less
Transportation
pay 13.3% less
Housing
pay 19.5% less
Childcare
pay 40.4% more
Entertainment and Sports
pay 8.5% less
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 → $67,000
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% less than cities in Oregon.
Compare cities head-to-head
Key Indicator Comparison
How Oregon and Wisconsin stack up on safety, healthcare, jobs, and infrastructure.
Is it safe?
incidents per 100,000 people per year
incidents per 100,000 people per year
Wisconsin performs significantly better than Oregon 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
Oregon generally does better on health & wellbeing, though Wisconsin leads in uninsured rate.
What about housing?
typical price of a home
typical monthly gross rent
share of homes that are owner-occupied
Wisconsin performs significantly better than Oregon across all what about housing? metrics.
Will I have good infrastructure?
share of households with internet
minutes each way to work
Oregon generally does better on infrastructure, though Wisconsin leads in average commute.
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
Oregon generally does better on employment & economy, though Wisconsin leads in unemployment rate.
Is it good for families?
average years of life at birth
share of adults with a 4-year college degree
Oregon performs better than Wisconsin 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 Oregon
Monthly averages — select a city to compare.
Avg. annual high / low
Avg. annual high / low
| Months | Portland | Milwaukee |
|---|---|---|
| Jan–Mar | 36°/18°F (2°/-8°C) | 35°/21°F (1°/-6°C) |
| Apr–Jun | 63°/44°F (17°/7°C) | 65°/47°F (18°/8°C) |
| Jul–Sep | 76°/56°F (24°/13°C) | 76°/61°F (25°/16°C) |
| Oct–Dec | 48°/30°F (9°/-1°C) | 46°/32°F (8°/0°C) |
View all months
| Month | Portland | Milwaukee |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 31°/13°F (-0.4°/-10.3°C) | 29°/16°F (-1.7°/-9.1°C) |
| Feb | 35°/16°F (1.4°/-8.7°C) | 33°/19°F (0.3°/-7.1°C) |
| Mar | 42°/25°F (5.6°/-3.9°C) | 42°/28°F (5.8°/-2.4°C) |
| Apr | 53°/35°F (11.8°/1.5°C) | 54°/37°F (12.1°/2.9°C) |
| May | 64°/44°F (17.5°/6.8°C) | 65°/47°F (18.3°/8.1°C) |
| Jun | 73°/54°F (22.9°/12.0°C) | 75°/57°F (24.1°/13.9°C) |
| Jul | 79°/59°F (26.0°/15.2°C) | 80°/64°F (26.7°/17.5°C) |
| Aug | 78°/58°F (25.4°/14.6°C) | 78°/63°F (25.8°/17.2°C) |
| Sep | 70°/50°F (21.1°/10.2°C) | 71°/55°F (21.8°/12.7°C) |
| Oct | 59°/39°F (14.8°/3.8°C) | 59°/43°F (15.2°/6.2°C) |
| Nov | 48°/31°F (8.9°/-0.6°C) | 46°/32°F (7.8°/0.0°C) |
| Dec | 37°/20°F (2.9°/-6.4°C) | 33°/20°F (0.4°/-6.6°C) |
Data:
National Weather Service
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it cheaper to live in Wisconsin than Oregon?
Generally yes: Wisconsin runs about 11% cheaper than Oregon on average, though it depends heavily on the city.
How much money do I need to move to Wisconsin?
A safe rule of thumb is 3 months of local expenses plus relocation costs. On a $75,000 comparable salary, that's around $16,750 in Wisconsin for everyday spending, before movers, a truck rental, and a rental deposit.
Is Wisconsin safe?
Wisconsin performs significantly better than Oregon across all safety metrics.
How is healthcare in Wisconsin compared to Oregon?
Oregon generally does better on health & wellbeing, though Wisconsin leads in uninsured rate.
What's the weather like in Wisconsin compared to Oregon?
The average high temperature in Milwaukee is 55°F, compared to 56°F in Portland. Milwaukee receives around 34.8 in of rainfall per year, while Portland gets 47.2 in.
