Boston vs Amherst Town leftover
Moving to Amherst Town costs you $257 a month
$1,693/mo leftover in Amherst Town vs $1,950 in Boston after tax and rent ($257 less). −$3,084 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms. Not a cost-of-living index.
Boston leftover
$1,950
a month after tax and rent
Amherst Town leftover
$1,693
−$257 vs Boston
Compare Boston to another metro
Same paycheck. Try a different city next to Boston.
Monthly gap
Boston → Amherst Town
$257
less / month in Boston
$1,693 in Amherst Town · $1,950 in Boston · 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, 537 households moved Boston → Amherst Town (avg AGI $86,747). 594 went the other way. The whole move →
−$257 / mo
| Per month | Boston | Amherst Town | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $9,042 | $6,633 | −$2,408 |
| Income and payroll tax | $2,416 | $1,581 | −$835 |
| Take-home pay | $6,626 | $5,052 | −$1,574 |
| Rent | $2,549 | $1,453 | −$1,096 |
| Getting around | $445 | $455 | +$10 |
| Groceries | $464 | $400 | −$64 |
| Healthcare | $522 | $450 | −$72 |
| Utilities | $290 | $250 | −$40 |
| Everything else | $406 | $350 | −$56 |
| Left over | $1,950 | $1,693 | −$257 |
To break even in Amherst Town, you'd need to earn
$84,500
Household gross, versus $108,500 today. That's the salary that leaves you exactly as much at the end of the month as Boston does now.
The tax difference alone
+$1,445
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 26.7% in Boston, 23.8% in Amherst Town.
More about Amherst Town
Boston, MA in full
Great pay in medicine and research, brutal winters, tight housing stock.
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.
The reverse move
Same two cities, but starting from Amherst Town on Amherst Town wages.
Amherst Town → Boston →Questions
Is the cost of living lower in Amherst Town than Boston?
A one-bedroom is about $2,549 in Boston versus $1,453 in Amherst Town. On a one-adult, one-bedroom household, leftover is about $257 a month lower in Amherst Town. Change the job or household on the comparison to see your number.
Does Amherst Town have state income tax?
Amherst Town is in Massachusetts, which taxes wage income.
What changes if you move from Boston to Amherst Town?
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 Boston and Amherst Town 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.