Uprootmap

Boston, MA

Hand-reviewed metro

Cost of living in Boston: $1,967 leftover

Cost of living in Boston, as leftover, is $1,967 a month for one adult, renting a 1-bedroom on local pay — take-home after tax minus rent of $2,549 and the rest of the modelled month. A price index would say non-housing costs run 16% above the US average. Massachusetts charges a 5.00% flat income tax. Boston is a hand-reviewed metro.

Compare vs ChicagoHow the math works

These figures start from one adult in a one-bedroom, on local pay of about $98,500. Change the job, the pay, or how many bedrooms you need, and leftover changes. This is a monthly budget, not a cost-of-living index.

The month, in dollars

Take-home is $6,643 after tax. These lines are the modelled bills, then what is left. The monthly costs page is the same household inside the city hub.

Monthly costs and leftover in Boston
Rent$2,549
Groceries$464
Transport$445
Healthcare$522
Utilities$290
Childcare$0
Everything else$406
Total costs$4,676
Leftover$1,967

Sales tax is about 6.3%. Property tax is modelled at 1.04% of a $610,900 median home. Non-housing lines scale a national baseline by this metro's cost index (1.16).

Asking rent by bedroom

Turnover asking rent in Boston, not the Census median of occupied stock. Rent versus buying.

  • Studio

    $2,185

  • 1 bedroom

    $2,549

  • 2 bedrooms

    $3,035

  • 3 bedrooms

    $3,976

  • 4 bedrooms

    $4,704

Leftover in other metros nearby

Same household. Each leftover is take-home after that metro's tax minus its rent.

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. Change the job, remote versus local pay, or bedrooms and the ranking is a different city. How the math works · Leftover vs a COL index · Why a cheaper COL% can still lose leftover.

Cost of living in Boston

What is the cost of living in Boston?

On the default one-adult, one-bedroom household, leftover in Boston, MA is about $1,967 a month after tax and rent. Asking rent is about $2,549 for a one-bedroom and $3,035 for a two-bedroom. That is a budget, not a cost-of-living index.

How does Boston compare with a cost-of-living index?

A price index would say non-housing costs run 16% above the US average. Leftover still depends on your tax bill and bedroom count, which an index does not. Boston is a hand-reviewed metro.

Where is take-home pay in Boston calculated?

The take-home page for Boston splits federal, payroll, state and local wage tax, then subtracts rent. The city paycheck page is the same leftover math with the map.

Popular compares from Boston

Moving from Boston

Other Massachusetts metros

Other metros in Massachusetts, with leftover, rent, and day-to-day pages.

All Massachusetts metros