Cost of Living in Boston, MA

Population & Growth of Boston, MA

Boston is home to roughly 673,458 people as of 2026, making it the most populous city in Massachusetts. It's also one of the faster-growing metros in the state, with an annual growth rate of 1.3%. That growth is a big part of why housing costs here have climbed the way they have.

Boston is densely populated and a majority of residents rent their housing, so storage space may be limited. Renting a storage unit in Boston is an affordable way to free up space at home, with a 5x10 unit costing about $106 per month on average. If you're planning a move within the city, Extra Space Storage has facilities near Boston neighborhoods like Hyde Square, Port Norfolk, and Franklin Field South—as well as surrounding areas like Chelsea, Cambridge, and Quincy—to help with your transition. Find a storage unit near you today!

Cost of Living in Boston, MA by Household Size

A single adult in Boston needs about $53,771 after taxes per year to cover essentials, but a family of four with two working adults should budget closer to $139,837 after taxes annually for the same categories at household scale—roughly 160.1% more than what a single person needs, driven mainly by needs for larger housing, more groceries, transportation costs, and childcare.

What Salary Do You Need to Live in Boston, MA

Based on U.S. median household income adjusted for the local cost of living in 2026, you'd need to earn around $121,835 in Boston per year to match the standard of living a typical American household has nationally—about 49.3% more than the U.S. median. For essentials only, MIT's Living Wage Calculator puts the floor at $53,771 after taxes for a single adult covering housing, groceries, transportation, and healthcare.

• Is $70,000 a good salary in Boston? For a single person in Boston, $70,000 is a decent salary, sitting roughly 30.2% above the bare minimum needed for essentials. However, it does not leave a lot of room for modest savings and discretionary spending. It would likely not be adequate to support a family.

• Is $100,000 enough? For a single adult, $100,000 gets you closer to the salary needed to reach the typical standard of living. Housing is usually the biggest budgeting challenge, with costs running 122.9% higher than the national average.

For context, the minimum wage in Boston is $15.00 per hour and is the same as the #state# minimum. Both are above the federal minimum wage of $7.25. The median household income in Boston is $97,791 annually, providing additional context for how local earnings compare to the cost-of-living benchmark above.

Taxes in Boston, MA

Boston residents are subject to Massachusetts' flat 5% state income tax rate, plus 4% surtax on taxable income over $1,107,750. There is no additional local income tax, which helps the affordability picture. A $100,000 salary in Boston may stretch further than the same salary in a higher-tax state like New York, even with Boston's higher day-to-day costs. Massachusetts also has a sales tax rate of 6.25%, so make sure to budget appropriately when making large purchases.

How Does Boston Compare to the Rest of Massachusetts

As of 2026, Boston’s cost of living is about 1.3% lower than the Massachusetts state average—a much smaller gap than the 49% difference from the national average, showing that Boston is pretty on par with other Massachusetts cities but more expensive than the country as a whole.

Cost of Living in Boston, MA Changes Over Time

Though still well above the national average, Boston's cost of living has grown more slowly over the past five years, up 21.9% vs. 24.2% nationwide. Typical rent in Boston increased by 29.7% between 2021 and 2026, and typical home value increased by 5.6%, primarily driven by high demand combined with overall housing shortages. General inflation nationwide has also played a role in increased costs for everyday essentials like groceries, utilities, and healthcare.

Compare Boston Cost of Living to Other Nearby Cities

How does Boston compare to other cities nearby? Hartford's cost of living is 32.3% lower than Boston’s, with the biggest gap in housing and utilities. See the full city-by-city comparisons below.

• Cost of Living in Providence, RI—25.4% lower than Boston

• Cost of Living in Fitchburg, MA—21.6% lower than Boston

• Cost of Living in Manchester, NH—26.4% lower than Boston

• Cost of Living in Hartford, CT—32.3% lower than Boston

• Cost of Living Index—C2ER: Our cost of living calculator is powered by data from the Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER), a trusted nonprofit organization that collects and compares prices across hundreds of U.S. cities. The C2ER Cost of Living Index measures everyday expenses like housing, groceries, transportation, utilities, healthcare, and other common goods and services, so you can see how costs stack up in different places. Each city's score is benchmarked against a national average of 100, which makes comparisons easy. For example, a score of 110 would indicate costs about 10% higher than the national average. We update our calculator twice a year to reflect the latest C2ER data. While these numbers represent citywide averages, it's important to keep in mind that your actual expenses may vary depending on your lifestyle and the neighborhood you choose. The category comparisons and dynamic figures throughout this page pull directly and automatically from this C2ER dataset via our CMS integration, so they stay current without manual updates each refresh cycle.

• Salary Benchmarks—Census/ACS and MIT Living Wage Calculator This page uses two distinct salary benchmarks, kept separate because they answer different questions. The "salary needed to live" figure is a cost-of-living-adjusted equivalence: U.S. median household income (Census/ACS) multiplied by the city's overall C2ER index, divided by 100—representing what a typical American household would need to earn locally to match the purchasing power they'd have nationally. The essentials-only figure referenced alongside it, and reused in the household-size breakdown, comes from MIT's Living Wage Calculator, using the after-tax, single-adult, no-children estimate as the baseline. The family-of-four figure in the household-size section uses MIT's "2 adults, both working, 2 children" scenario for consistency across cities. These figures are checked and refreshed manually as part of each city page's content update.

• Taxes—State and Local Tax Authority Sites: State income tax status, combined sales tax rate, and local income tax rate (where applicable) are researched and verified manually against each state's Department of Revenue or equivalent tax authority site as part of each city page's update.

• Cost of Living Over Time—Historical C2ER Data: Year-over-year cost-of-living trend figures are calculated in-house by comparing the city's current C2ER Cost of Living Index score against its own past C2ER reports, checked and calculated manually as part of each city page's content update.

• Population and Income Context—Census/ACS: Population figures, growth rates, and median household income come from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey, checked manually at each refresh.

• Neighborhood-Level Pricing—AreaVibes: Where a page identifies a specific cheaper neighborhood or suburb, median rent and home price comparisons are sourced from AreaVibes listing data, checked manually at each refresh. 

• Update Cadence: C2ER data refreshes automatically twice a year via our CMS integration. All other figures on this page—salary benchmarks, tax rates, CPI trends, Census data, and neighborhood pricing—are manually reviewed and updated as part of each city page's content refresh cycle.