Moving from Kansas City to Boston
Moving to Boston costs you $698 a month
−$8,376 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms.
Kansas City leftover
$2,596
a month after tax and rent
Boston leftover
$1,898
−$698 vs Kansas City
In 2022-2023, 49 households moved Kansas City → Boston (avg AGI $94,061). 42 went the other way. The whole move →
| Per month | Kansas City | Boston | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $7,583 | $9,069 | +$1,485 |
| Income and payroll tax | $1,905 | $2,425 | +$521 |
| Take-home pay | $5,679 | $6,644 | +$965 |
| Rent | $1,184 | $2,619 | +$1,435 |
| Getting around | $551 | $445 | −$106 |
| Groceries | $372 | $464 | +$92 |
| Healthcare | $419 | $522 | +$103 |
| Utilities | $233 | $290 | +$57 |
| Everything else | $326 | $406 | +$80 |
| Left over | $2,596 | $1,898 | −$698 |
To break even in Boston, you'd need to earn
$122,000
Household gross, versus $91,000 today. That's the salary that leaves you exactly as much at the end of the month as Kansas City does now.
The tax difference alone
−$961
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 25.1% in Kansas City, 26.7% in Boston.
More about Boston
Kansas City, MO in full
Genuinely low cost of living for a metro with real amenities.
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 → Kansas City →Questions
Is the cost of living lower in Boston than Kansas City?
A one-bedroom is about $1,184 in Kansas City versus $2,619 in Boston. On a one-adult, one-bedroom household, leftover is about $698 a month lower 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 Kansas City 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.
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.