Cost of Living
per year
per month
How La Crosse's prices compare to the US city average across major spending categories.
How far does your salary go in La Crosse?
Your $100,000 in La Crosse has the same purchasing power as $117,536 in the average US city. You'd need $17,536 less here to maintain that standard of living.
Demographics and workforce data from the US Census ACS 5-Year.
bachelor's or higher
Climate, safety, and walkability indicators.
See a side-by-side breakdown of cost of living, housing, and salaries.
Popular comparisons
Sorted by affordability — most affordable first.
Within 10 points of La Crosse's cost index of 85, sorted by closest match.
People moving to La Crosse usually have at least one specific reason. Most of them line up with what the data shows: living costs come in under the us baseline, low unemployment, plenty of openings, plus 3 more things worth knowing. Here's what's actually on the table.
La Crosse sits at 85 on the composite cost-of-living index — about 15% under the national average. Not the cheapest place in the country, but enough of a discount to notice on rent and groceries every month. Median rent in town runs about $941/mo against a typical household income of $51,836, which is the kind of ratio that leaves room to save.
At about 3.5% unemployment, La Crosse's labor market is running on the tight side. Easier to land a role, easier to negotiate, easier to leave one job for a better one — the practical things that matter when you're actually looking.
La Crosse's Bike Score is 74/100 — the kind of number you only get when a city has built real bike infrastructure (protected lanes, connected routes, drivers who expect cyclists). For commuting or just for getting around, the bike is a serious option here, not a hobby.
La Crosse's air quality index averages about 39 — comfortably in the EPA's "good" range. No daily ritual of checking the AQI before going for a run, no smoky-day plans, no surprise asthma flare-ups for the kids. The kind of background condition you notice mostly by its absence.
The average one-way commute in La Crosse is about 17 minutes — short by US standards (the national average is closer to 27). Over a year of working days, that's hundreds of hours that don't get spent in traffic, which is the kind of thing you notice in the weekend rather than the weekday.
Reasons are pulled from La Crosse's actual data — Census ACS, BLS, BEA, NOAA, EPA AQS, FBI, and Walk Score. We don't list positives that aren't supported by the numbers, which is why different cities show different sections.
La Crosse does winter the real way. Averages around 15°F keep snow on the ground for weeks at a time, and lakes and rivers tend to freeze hard enough to walk on.
Cold enough to plan around. Winter in La Crosse averages roughly 15°F, with stretches where daytime highs don't break freezing for weeks. Decent insulation, a real coat, and a car that starts in cold weather are non-negotiable.
Hot, but not desert-hot. Summer in La Crosse runs about 80°F on average, with afternoons in the 90s and humidity that varies by region. AC is standard rather than optional.
Zone 6, give or take a half-zone. La Crosse's typical winter low puts it in that band on the USDA Hardiness map, which is what nurseries label plants against. Use Zone 6 as your starting filter; the USDA's interactive map is more precise for borderline cases.
La Crosse is at about 633 feet (193 m) above sea level. High enough to be solidly above any coastal concern, low enough that altitude isn't a factor.
Average for an American city. La Crosse's reported crime rate of about 3,464 per 100,000 residents sits roughly in line with the US baseline of ~3,500. Like anywhere else, the citywide number masks real differences between neighborhoods — worth looking at specific areas before deciding.
No — your dollar actually goes further here. La Crosse's composite cost-of-living index is 85, roughly 15% under the US average. Housing is usually the biggest driver of the discount.
Not really — La Crosse is built around the car. Its Walk Score of 11 out of 100 means almost every errand is a drive. Transit Score is 24 out of 100. Living without a car is technically possible but real work; most residents wouldn't try it.
Roughly $59,556 a year would match the lifestyle of someone earning $70,000 in an average US city. That's a starting point, not a target — negotiate higher when you can. Median rent in La Crosse runs about $941/mo — keeping housing under 30% of gross income points to a similar floor on what you'd want to earn.