Cost Of Living in Lancaster, WI

The cost of living index is based on a national average of 100. For example, if the cost of living is 90, then it is 10% lower than average. If the cost of living is 110, then it is 10% higher than average. The breakdown for each index is as follows: goods & services (33%), groceries (13%), health care (5%), housing (30%), transportation (9%) and utilities (10%). If the cost of living data was unavailable for this city, estimates based upon nearby cities were used.
Index	Lancaster	Wisconsin	National
Cost of living	90	96	100
Goods & Services	97	97	100
Groceries	98	99	100
Health care	91	112	100
Housing	74	88	100
Transportation	104	98	100
Utilities	94	102	100

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Cost Of Living Quick Facts

The cost of living in Lancaster is 6% lower than the Wisconsin average
The cost of living in Lancaster is 10% lower than the national average
Lancaster housing is 26% lower than the national average
Wisconsin general sales tax is 2% lower than the national average
Wisconsin state income tax is 36% higher than the national average

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Price difference in compared to

Cost of living index
Goods & Services index
Groceries index
Health care index
Housing index
Transportation index
Utilities index

Median Income & Debt-To-Income Ratio

Median Income	Per Year	Per Month	Max Budget (28% DTI)	Max Budget (36% DTI)
Owners	$75,635	$6,303	$1,765	$2,269
Renters	$24,545	$2,045	$573	$736

A good way to judge both the affordability of the housing and the cost of living in Lancaster is by simply calculating the maximum that should be spent on housing, otherwise known as the debt-to-income ratio (DTI). The plan is to avoid spending more than 28 percent of the gross income on costs that pertain to housing and no more than 36 percent on all expenses and debts. Lancaster has a median income of about $75,635 for people who own homes. Based on that number, a maximum of $1,765 should be spent on expenses related to housing. Renters have a slightly different median income, which is $24,545. Based on this average, renters should spend no more than $573 on all rental costs if they want to maintain a non-impoverished standard of living.

Wisconsin Sales Tax

State	General Sales Tax	With Max Surtax
Wisconsin	5%	6.75%

Wisconsin Income Tax

State	Income Tax (Low)	Income Tax (High)
Wisconsin	3.54%	7.65%

Goods & Services

Item	Lancaster	National avg.	Difference
Haircut	$23.86	$24.26	1.7%
Beauty Salon	$34.11	$45.56	25.1%
Toothpaste	$3.59	$3.70	3.0%
Shampoo	$1.36	$1.28	6.5%
Movie	$8.68	$12.13	28.4%
Bowling	$15.39	$18.00	14.5%

Groceries

Item	Lancaster	National avg.	Difference
Ground Beef	$5.38	$5.84	7.9%
Fried Chicken	$1.40	$1.57	10.8%
Milk	$4.77	$4.67	2.1%
Potatoes	$4.76	$4.93	3.6%
Pizza	$12.46	$12.09	3.1%
Beer	$9.93	$10.41	4.6%

Health Care

Item	Lancaster	National avg.	Difference
Optometrist	$127.39	$125.68	1.4%
Doctor	$130.00	$135.78	4.3%
Dentist	$85.78	$113.29	24.3%
Ibuprofen	$10.82	$10.65	1.6%
Lipitor	$498.96	$468.60	6.5%

Housing

Item	Lancaster	National avg.	Difference
Home Price	$136,500.00	$184,700.00	26.1%
Avg. Mortgage Payment	$1,665.29	$2,346.69	29.0%
Apartment Rent	$713.00	$949.00	24.9%

Transportation

Item	Lancaster	National avg.	Difference
Gasoline	$3.44	$3.46	0.5%
Tire Balancing	$68.44	$59.92	14.2%

Utilities

Item	Lancaster	National avg.	Difference
All Electricity	$176.50	$193.99	9.0%
Phone	$187.56	$192.25	2.4%

Although the cost of living data is updated regularly, this cost of living information is to be used as estimates only as prices can change on an ongoing basis.

Nearby cities with low cost of living

City	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
North Buena Vista, IA	115	81	18.6%
Cassville, WI	832	82	18.4%
Mount Hope, WI	251	82	17.6%
Patch Grove, WI	179	85	15.1%
Bloomington, WI	735	85	15.0%
Lancaster, WI	3,725	90	9.7%

Cities with similar population

City	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Mogadore, OH	3,724	91	9.0%
Stoney 142, 143, 144, AB	3,724	n/a
Warminster Heights, PA	3,726	114	14.0%
Saxon, SC	3,727	80	20.0%
La Cienega, NM	3,728	107	7.2%
Lancaster, WI	3,725	90	9.7%

Date & Last Updated: This data reflects 2023 and was released from C2ER in January, 2024; this is the most current data available.

Cost of Living in Lancaster, WI