What Is the Cost of Living in Green Bay, WI?
Green Bay, WI, is Wisconsin’s oldest city, yet it has a relatively small population of just over 100,000 residents, also making it the smallest home city to an NFL team (the Packers, of course).
While visitors and locals alike are drawn to Lambeau Field, Green Bay is known for its robust manufacturing sector, as being a destination for lovers of Midwestern food culture and for attractions like the National Railroad Museum, the Green Bay Botanical Garden and Bay Beach Amusement Park.
Among its best attributes, though, is that residents enjoy an affordable cost of living from housing to entertainment, that allows them to have a quality of life.
Mary Kardosee is the village president of the Village of Ashwaubenon, a suburb of Green Bay with around 17,000 residents. Kardosee, who has lived in the area for over 40 years, opened her own salon in 1968, where she was a hairdresser for 40 years. She has since sold her business, though she still works there part-time.
Kardosee was on the Village of Ashwaubenon’s Board of Trustees for almost 21 years before becoming its president in 2017.
Cost of Living at Home
Green Bay Average Home Value – $272,370
National Average Home Value – $360,590
Green Bay Rent Average – $930
National Rent Average – $1,430
Green Bay Utilities – $175
National Average of Utilities – $400
What do you love about living here?
Everyone I’ve talked to that lived in Ashwaubenon and moved out call me and tell me they want to come back because you’re extremely close to everything and you can get anywhere you need to be in five minutes, whether that’s the grocery store, the gas station, a movie theater, the mall, somewhere to eat.
A lot of people love the atmosphere in our village because we have a lot of big city amenities. We have the Green Bay Packers – there are only 32 cities in the country that have an NFL team and Lambeau Field is surrounded on three sides by Ashwaubenon. We have a lot of new apartment buildings being built right now and yet we still have a hometown atmosphere. We have close to 18,000 residents and a lot of them have been here their whole lives.
Average Annual Cost of Transportation
Green Bay – $12,000
National – $13,174
What’s your favorite low-cost outdoor and indoor activity?
You can go to Titletown, the park area that was built by the Packers. It has a full-length football field, a 40-yard dash, foosball, curling, all at no charge, so you can just go and play all day. Every Wednesday from June through August, there are free summer concerts at Klipstine Park with food truck rallies once a month. You can buy food and most of the concerts are pet-friendly.
There are 24 parks in the village that you can go to for free every day. You can go to Ashwaubomey Lake. The Cornerstone Community Ice Center, it’s $10 to skate. The Northwoods League Baseball Team is a collegiate team with a baseball diamond right next to Village Hall and the tickets to see them play are between $12 and $16. We have a lot of things to do in Ashwaubenon.
Cost of Groceries
Green Bay – $250 a week
National – $500 a week
How would you spend your perfect Saturday?
We have a couple of local restaurants that you could go to for a late morning brunch and an entree would cost you between $11 and $16 depending on what you get. I love having my granddaughter for the day and she loves to swim, so I’d either take her to Ashwaubomey Lake or I’d take her to the pool, which is connected to our high school. Then after a shower, we would go to a play or a dance competition at our performing arts center, which is also attached to the high school.
For supper, we’d go to one of our local eateries and then go to the movie theater and have popcorn and soda. If you want a place that has big city amenities with a small-town atmosphere, we’re a terrific place to be.
This article is sponsored by the Greater Green Bay Chamber.
