Boston, MA → Providence, RI
You'd keep $188 more a month in Providence
+$2,256 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms.
In 2022-2023, 9,092 households moved Boston → Providence (avg AGI $85,518). 6,739 went the other way. The whole move →
| Per month | Boston | Providence | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $9,042 | $7,639 | −$1,403 |
| Income and payroll tax | $2,416 | $1,821 | −$595 |
| Take-home pay | $6,626 | $5,818 | −$808 |
| Rent | $2,619 | $1,751 | −$868 |
| Getting around | $445 | $491 | +$46 |
| Groceries | $464 | $416 | −$48 |
| Healthcare | $522 | $468 | −$54 |
| Utilities | $290 | $260 | −$30 |
| Everything else | $406 | $364 | −$42 |
| Left over | $1,880 | $2,068 | +$188 |
To break even in Providence, you'd need to earn
$88,500
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
+$2,151
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 26.7% in Boston, 23.8% in Providence.
More about Providence
Boston, MA in full
Great pay in medicine and research, brutal winters, tight housing stock.
Providence, RI in full
Boston-adjacent culture at a meaningful discount, with New England property taxes.
The reverse move
Same two cities, but starting from Providence on Providence wages.
Providence → Boston →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.