Amherst Town vs Boston leftover
You'd keep $255 more a month in Boston
$1,943/mo leftover in Boston vs $1,688 in Amherst Town after tax and rent ($255 more). +$3,060 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms. Not a cost-of-living index.
Amherst Town leftover
$1,688
a month after tax and rent
Boston leftover
$1,943
+$255 vs Amherst Town
Compare Amherst Town to another metro
Same paycheck. Try a different city next to Amherst Town.
Monthly gap
Amherst Town → Boston
$255
more / month in Boston
$1,943 in Boston · $1,688 in Amherst Town · One adult, renting a 1-bedroom
Home
Only when you tap. We match the nearest metro and don't keep the coordinates.
Destination
In 2022-2023, 594 households moved Amherst Town → Boston (avg AGI $68,616). 537 went the other way. The whole move →
+$255 / mo
| Per month | Amherst Town | Boston | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $6,625 | $9,031 | +$2,406 |
| Income and payroll tax | $1,578 | $2,412 | +$834 |
| Take-home pay | $5,047 | $6,619 | +$1,572 |
| Rent | $1,453 | $2,549 | +$1,096 |
| Getting around | $455 | $445 | −$10 |
| Groceries | $400 | $464 | +$64 |
| Healthcare | $450 | $522 | +$72 |
| Utilities | $250 | $290 | +$40 |
| Everything else | $350 | $406 | +$56 |
| Left over | $1,688 | $1,943 | +$255 |
To break even in Boston, you'd need to earn
$103,500
Household gross, versus $79,500 today. That's the salary that leaves you exactly as much at the end of the month as Amherst Town does now.
The tax difference alone
−$1,443
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 23.8% in Amherst Town, 26.7% in Boston.
More about Boston
Amherst Town, MA in full
A flat 5% state income tax, a median 2-bedroom estimated asking rent of $1,730 and 185 sunny days; commutes average 24 minutes.
Boston, MA in full
Great pay in medicine and research, brutal winters, tight housing stock.
The reverse move
Same two cities, but starting from Boston on Boston wages.
Boston → Amherst Town →Questions
Is the cost of living lower in Boston than Amherst Town?
A one-bedroom is about $1,453 in Amherst Town versus $2,549 in Boston. On a one-adult, one-bedroom household, leftover is about $255 a month higher in Boston. Change the job or household on the comparison to see your number.
Does Boston have state income tax?
Boston is in Massachusetts, which taxes wage income.
What changes if you move from Amherst Town to Boston?
Take-home pay is recalculated under Massachusetts tax, rent is priced at the same bedroom count, and leftover is the gap. The from-to page also lists IRS households that already made the move, when that data exists.
Leftover is take-home after federal, state and city wage tax, minus asking rent at the bedroom count you set, minus a modelled month of groceries, utilities, healthcare, transport and childcare. It is not a cost-of-living index and not a moving quote. The dollar gap between Amherst Town and Boston moves when you change the job, remote versus local pay, or bedrooms. How the math works · Leftover vs a COL index · Why a cheaper COL% can still lose leftover.
Rent is Zillow's asking rent for each metro; taxes and living costs are modelled. An estimate, not a quote or tax advice. How this is calculated.