Skip to content
CityLedger

Fort Wayne vs Springfield

Metro-area medians — Fort Wayne, IN Metro Area vs Springfield, MA Metro Area — not the cities proper.

Fort Wayne comes out ahead, winning 8 of the 9 clearly-decided measures.

Fort Wayne costs about 4% less to live in, and household incomes are similar. Adjusted for local prices, a typical paycheck stretches further in Fort Wayne.

For your salary & household

Enter your pay and household size to see what it's really worth here — the numbers update live and the link stays shareable.

Fort Wayne, IN
$59,064
take-home / yr · 21% to tax
$63,803
real value after local prices
Springfield, MA
$57,564
take-home / yr · 23% to tax
$59,924
real value after local prices

On $75,000 for just you, Fort Wayne leaves you about $3,879/yr better off after tax and local prices.

Take-home estimates a single filer taking the standard deduction (2025 federal brackets, FICA, and state income tax) and isn't tax advice. “Real value” rebases take-home to average U.S. prices using the BEA cost-of-living index; the per-person figure uses the OECD square-root equivalence scale.

Measure
Fort Wayne
Springfield
Livability (CityLedger)
50/100
44/100
Cost of living (price level, US = 100)
92.6
96.1
Cost-adjusted income (pay's real value)
$76,968
$74,330
Median household income
$71,251
$71,402
Median rent
$1,056/mo
$1,158/mo
Median home value
$245,800
$331,300
Unemployment
3.5%
4%
Bachelor's degree or higher
31.1%
29.3%
Average commute
22.9 min
24 min
Air quality (median AQI)
47
38
Avg temperature
51°F
49°F

Choose Fort Wayne for

  • + Livability (CityLedger)
  • + Cost of living (price level, US = 100)
  • + Cost-adjusted income (pay's real value)
  • + Median rent
  • + Median home value
  • + Unemployment
  • + Bachelor's degree or higher
  • + Average commute
Full Fort Wayne profile →

Choose Springfield for

  • + Air quality (median AQI)
Full Springfield profile →

Fort Wayne vs Springfield — frequently asked

Is Fort Wayne cheaper than Springfield?
Fort Wayne is cheaper: its overall cost of living runs about 4% below Springfield's (BEA Regional Price Parities).
Which has higher household income, Fort Wayne or Springfield?
Household incomes are similar — $71,251 in the Fort Wayne metro versus $71,402 in Springfield (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS).
Does a paycheck go further in Fort Wayne or Springfield?
A paycheck stretches further in Fort Wayne. Adjusted for local prices, the median income is worth $76,968 there versus $74,330 in Springfield.
Which has cheaper rent, Fort Wayne or Springfield?
Fort Wayne has cheaper rent — a median of $1,056/mo versus $1,158/mo (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS).