Metro comparison

Green Bay vs Wildwood

Green Bay, WI and Wildwood-The Villages, FL side by side, cost of living, rent, wages, crime, schools, childcare and environment, all from the same federal datasets so every number is directly comparable.

54.2
Green Bay Life Score
B
Green Bay grade
71.6
Wildwood Life Score
A+
Wildwood grade

Head-to-head verdict

Across the seven dimensions, Green Bay scores higher on 2 (wages, rent) and Wildwood on 5 (cost of living, safety, schools, childcare, environment). The radar shows the full shape; the tables below break out every figure.

Green Bay vs Wildwood across all seven dimensions (each scored 0–100 as a national percentile, bigger area = stronger overall)

Green Bay vs Wildwood across all seven dimensions (each scored 0–100 as a national percentile, bigger area = stronger overall) 7-axis radar comparing 2 series across Cost, Wages, Rent, Safety, Schools, Childcare, Environ.. CostWagesRentSafetySchoolsChildcareEnviron. Green BayWildwood
Green Bay vs Wildwood across all seven dimensions (each scored 0–100 as a national percentile, bigger area = stronger overall)

Source: BEA, HUD, BLS, FBI, NCES, DOL, EPA As of December 2024

Dimension scorecard

Where each metro wins, and by how much

Every dimension is a national percentile (0–100). Each bar leans toward the stronger metro, a long lean is a decisive edge, a near-even split is a toss-up. The radar shows the overall shape; this shows the per-dimension margins.

◖ Green Bay Wildwood ◗
cost of living
53
98
wages
56
47
rent
71
48
safety
62
83
schools
47
88
childcare
42
46
environment
36
97

Green Bay and Wildwood differ across eleven dimensions of livability. Green Bay has a cost-of-living index of 93.1 vs Wildwood's 85.4 (national average = 100). Median salaries are $65,660 in Green Bay and $63,776 in Wildwood. A 2-bedroom averages $1,164/mo vs $1,328/mo.

How to read this matchup

Reading the Green Bay vs Wildwood Comparison

Green Bay (WI) and Wildwood (FL) are assembled here from the same federal data pipeline, BEA Regional Price Parities, HUD Fair Market Rents, BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, FBI Uniform Crime Reports, NCES public-school counts, and EPA environmental indicators, so every number on this page is directly comparable. The overall cost index reads 93.1 for Green Bay against 85.4 for Wildwood, a 7.7-point gap on a scale where 100 equals the U.S. average. HUD's 2-bedroom Fair Market Rent, the figure used to set housing-choice voucher payment standards, is $1,164/mo in Green Bay and $1,328/mo in Wildwood, a $164/mo difference that compounds to $1,968 over a year.

On wages, BLS OES reports a median salary of $65,660 across 166,980 jobs in Green Bay against $63,776 across 34,870 jobs in Wildwood. Adjusted through the BEA cost-of-living lens, $100,000 earned in Green Bay carries the same local purchasing power as $91,769 in Wildwood - the most honest way to read the salary headline, because nominal wages and rents move together in tight metros. State-level violent crime, the most reliable geographic tier FBI UCR publishes, is 279.6 per 100,000 residents in WI vs 210.3 in FL, with property-crime rates of 1156.8 and 1030.0 respectively.

Schools are reported at the state tier by NCES: WI lists 2,205 public schools at a 14.4:1 student-teacher ratio, while FL lists 4,029 schools at 17.8:1, a signal of class-size staffing, though individual district and school-level variation within each state is substantial. Department of Labor center-based infant care runs $11,256/yr in the Green Bay area versus $10,505/yr in Wildwood - a line item that shifts the real cost-of-living picture for households with children under five far more than headline RPP does. When these pieces are read together rather than in isolation, Green Bay and Wildwood are not simply "cheaper" or "more expensive" - they trade across dimensions, and which metro wins depends on whether your household optimizes for rent, wages, schools, childcare, safety, or environment. Treat the tables below as inputs to that trade-off, not as a single ranking.

Green Bay composite

54.2 /100

Grade B · weighted across 7 dims

Wildwood composite

71.6 /100

Grade A+ · weighted across 7 dims

Cost-of-living gap

7.7 pts

Green Bay vs Wildwood BEA RPP

2-bed rent delta

$164 /mo

Wildwood priced higher

Composite life score on the national 0–100 scale

Green Bay

Green Bay composite (Grade B)

Wildwood

Wildwood composite (Grade A+)

Composite is a weighted roll-up of seven dimensions: cost (20%), wages (20%), rent (15%), safety (15%), schools (10%), childcare (10%), environment (10%). Each input normalized to a 0–100 percentile across all metros.

💰 Cost of Living BEA →

Category Green Bay Wildwood
Overall RPP 93.1 85.4
Goods 93.8 96.2
Services 90.0 89.0
Rents 74.7 51.7

Salary Equivalent Calculator

What salary in Wildwood gives the same purchasing power as your salary in Green Bay?

$
Equivalent in Wildwood: $91,769

Based on BEA Regional Price Parities (Green Bay: 93.1, Wildwood: 85.4, national avg = 100).

🏠 Rent (Fair Market Rent) HUD →

Bedrooms Green Bay Wildwood
Studio $867/mo $1,076/mo
1 Bedroom $931/mo $1,139/mo
2 Bedroom $1,164/mo $1,328/mo
3 Bedroom $1,545/mo $1,655/mo
4 Bedroom $1,618/mo $1,937/mo

💼 Wages & Employment BLS →

Metric Green Bay Wildwood
Avg Median Salary $65,660 $63,776
Total Employment 166,980 34,870

🛡️ Crime Rates (state-level) FBI →

Crime Type (per 100K) Green Bay (WI) Wildwood (FL)
Violent Crime 279.6 210.3
Property Crime 1156.8 1030.0

🎓 Schools (state-level) NCES →

Metric WI FL
Total Schools 2,205 4,029
Student-Teacher Ratio 14.4:1 17.8:1
Charter Schools 10.7% 17.9%

👶 Childcare Costs (Annual Avg) (state-level) DOL →

Age Group WI FL
Infant (Center) $11,256/yr $10,505/yr
Toddler (Center) $10,203/yr $8,611/yr
Preschool (Center) $10,203/yr $7,983/yr

🌿 Environment (state-level) EPA →

Metric WI FL
EPA Facilities 991 864
Water Systems 977 1,516
Superfund Sites 46 81
Water Violations 2,233 2,676
Government-verified data - Air quality (EPA AQS), water safety (EPA SDWIS), healthcare access (HRSA), and disaster risk (FEMA NRI) are sourced directly from U.S. federal agencies. No crowdsourced estimates.

💨 Air Quality (EPA AQS) EPA AQS →

Metric Green Bay Wildwood
Median AQI 38.0 41.0
Good Air Days 76.8% 76.6%
Unhealthy Air Days 1 days N/A

Wildwood air quality shown at state level. Green Bay has metro-level data.

💧 Water Safety (EPA SDWIS, state-level) EPA SDWIS →

Metric WI FL
Water Safety Score 36/100 9/100
Total Violations 285,161 184,355
Health-Based Violations 58,688 24,266
Systems with Violations 72.1% 93.2%

🏥 Healthcare Access (HRSA, state-level) HRSA →

Metric WI FL
Healthcare Access Score 0/100 0/100
Population in Shortage Area 100.0% 100.0%
HPSA Designations 454 612

HPSA = Health Professional Shortage Area, designated by HRSA. Higher access score = better healthcare availability.

⚠️ Natural Disaster Risk (FEMA NRI, state-level) FEMA NRI →

Metric WI FL
Disaster Safety Score 51/100 29/100
NRI Risk Score (avg county) 59.1 75.7
Expected Annual Loss Score 62.0 72.9

FEMA National Risk Index (NRI) scores are county-level percentiles (0–100). Higher disaster safety score = lower relative risk. State-level values are county averages.

Crime, schools, childcare, and environment data shown at state level. Metro-specific data for these dimensions is not available.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Green Bay more expensive than Wildwood?
Green Bay has a cost of living index of 93.1 compared to Wildwood's 85.4 (national average = 100). Green Bay is 7.7 points above Wildwood on the BEA Regional Price Parity scale.
What is the rent difference between Green Bay and Wildwood?
A 2-bedroom apartment averages $1,164/mo in Green Bay vs $1,328/mo in Wildwood, based on HUD Fair Market Rent data. Studios range from $867/mo to $1,076/mo.
How do salaries compare between Green Bay and Wildwood?
The average median salary across all occupations is $65,660 in Green Bay and $63,776 in Wildwood, according to BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. After adjusting for cost of living, $100,000 in Green Bay has the same purchasing power as $91,769 in Wildwood.
Is Green Bay or Wildwood safer?
At the state level, WI has a violent crime rate of 279.6 per 100,000 residents compared to FL's 210.3 per 100,000. Property crime rates are 1156.8 vs 1030.0 per 100,000 respectively, based on FBI Uniform Crime Report data.
How do schools compare between Green Bay and Wildwood?
WI has 2,205 public schools with an average student-teacher ratio of 14.4:1, while FL has 4,029 schools at 17.8:1. Charter schools make up 10.7% of WI schools vs 17.9% in FL. Data from the National Center for Education Statistics.
Where does the comparison data come from?
All data comes from official U.S. government sources: Bureau of Economic Analysis (cost of living), HUD (fair market rents), BLS (wages), FBI UCR (crime), NCES (schools), Department of Labor (childcare), EPA (environment, air quality, water safety), HRSA (healthcare access), and FEMA NRI (disaster risk). No crowdsourced estimates or proprietary ratings are used.

Research Guides

Data from BEA, HUD, FBI UCR, BLS OES, NCES, DOL, EPA AQS, EPA SDWIS, HRSA, and FEMA NRI. Not affiliated with the U.S. Government.

Disclaimer: This comparison is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or relocation advice. Consult a qualified professional before making decisions based on this data.

Data sourced from official public datasets, current as of 2026. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCompare Editorial