Boston vs Springfield leftover
You'd keep $134 more a month in Springfield
$2,084/mo leftover in Springfield vs $1,950 in Boston after tax and rent ($134 more). +$1,608 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
Springfield leftover
$2,084
+$134 vs Boston
Compare Boston to another metro
Same paycheck. Try a different city next to Boston.
Monthly gap
Boston → Springfield
$134
more / month in Springfield
$2,084 in Springfield · $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, 818 households moved Boston → Springfield (avg AGI $69,176). 708 went the other way. The whole move →
+$134 / mo
| Per month | Boston | Springfield | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $9,042 | $7,537 | −$1,504 |
| Income and payroll tax | $2,416 | $1,895 | −$521 |
| Take-home pay | $6,626 | $5,643 | −$983 |
| Rent | $2,549 | $1,528 | −$1,021 |
| Getting around | $445 | $580 | +$135 |
| Groceries | $464 | $400 | −$64 |
| Healthcare | $522 | $450 | −$72 |
| Utilities | $290 | $250 | −$40 |
| Everything else | $406 | $350 | −$56 |
| Left over | $1,950 | $2,084 | +$134 |
To break even in Springfield, you'd need to earn
$88,000
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
+$903
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 26.7% in Boston, 25.1% in Springfield.
More about Springfield
Boston, MA in full
Great pay in medicine and research, brutal winters, tight housing stock.
Springfield, MA in full
A flat 5% state income tax, a median 2-bedroom asking rent of $1,819 and 186 sunny days; commutes average 23 minutes.
The reverse move
Same two cities, but starting from Springfield on Springfield wages.
Springfield → Boston →Questions
Is the cost of living lower in Springfield than Boston?
A one-bedroom is about $2,549 in Boston versus $1,528 in Springfield. On a one-adult, one-bedroom household, leftover is about $134 a month higher in Springfield. Change the job or household on the comparison to see your number.
Does Springfield have state income tax?
Springfield is in Massachusetts, which taxes wage income.
What changes if you move from Boston to Springfield?
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 Springfield 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.