The Cost of Living in Boston in 2025 – From a Normal Dude
I recently moved to Boston out of necessity. (long story) When I first moved here I was shocked at how expensive the city is! I mean, it’s awful weather, and it’s almost New York prices! Boston is a very expensive city – no different than San Diego or LA, without the awesome weather – so why the hell do people move here??
After living here for 3 months now, I’ve learned Boston does offer things that no other American city offers. For one, it’s pretty safe. I feel much safer on the streets of Boston than I do in pretty much any other American city of more than 500,000 people. According to the Mayor and many other sources, Boston is the safest major city in the US.
Boston is often referred to as the closest thing you can get to Europe in America, which I’ve found to be pretty true. People bike here. There are a lot of small businesses. Much less poverty, danger, and homelessness than other American cities. There is clearly a larger social safety net here in Boston than there is in other cities.
Boston Cost of Living
Boston is safe and clean. Here are the costs associated with living here.
Housing
I live in a 1,200 square foot, 2 bedroom apartment in North Cambridge and pay $3,100 per month. Our apartment is on the first floor of a triple decker, on a quiet street in a very family-friendly area.
This is a good price for the area. According to this site, Boston is the 7th most expensive large metro area to rent in, with an average monthly rent of $2,724.
In general, housing costs are very high in Boston. Another thing to consider is that most of the houses are old – which comes with a lot of downsides.
- not well insulated
- no central a/c
- small windows
- no in-unit washer/dryer
So you’re paying a lot of money for fewer amenities than you’d get in a newer city.
Utilities
Besides Hawaii, Massachusetts has the most expensive natural gas in the US. And that sucks, because you’re going to need it in the cold winters.
Natural gas is very expensive in Boston. To heat our 1,200 sq. ft. apartment in February our bill was $250 for the month. Expect to pay over $200 per month in the months of January and February for a similarly sized apartment.
Since natural gas also fuels your electricity, your electricity bill will be high as well. Eversource, the natural gas company in Boston, is infamous for price-gouging its customers because they have a monopoly on energy in the area.
You’re poorly insulated walls won’t help your energy bill either.
Auto
Most parts of Boston will require you to register your car in Mass to get a street parking permit. In Cambridge this permit is $30 for the year. It’s important to note that you can’t get a parking permit without your car being registered in Massachusetts first. (this is the first place I’ve lived in where this is true)
Registering a car in Massachusetts is a very complicated process – I’ve lived in five states and Mass is by far the most complex and hardest to deal with. You have to obtain a special form from your insurance company before heading to the RMV to register your vehicle. (they call the DMV the RMV here – I don’t know why)
Here are the costs I paid associated with my vehicle when I moved here.
2 Year MA Registration – $60
MA Title – $75 fee (transferred from AZ)
MA Inspection – $35
Also, the RMV in Boston (Watertown) is the worst DMV I have ever been to. You can’t make appointments online. You usually have to go to the DMV and wait in line for 1 hour or more just to make an appointment to come back another day. There are only two DMV’s for all of Boston.
Vehicle Excise Tax
I moved to Boston in January of 2025. Registered my car and all that stuff. In June of 2025 I got a bill for a Massachusetts Vehicle Excise Tax – which is a tax you pay to the town you live in for the privilege of owning a vehicle. Every town in Mass has one of these.
The tax you owe is $25 per $1,000 of a percentage of the manufacturer’s list price in the year the vehicle was made – depending on how old the car is. (official details here)
As an example, the most commonly bought car in 2025 in Massachusetts is a Toyota RAV4, which has an MSRP of $28,475 for the base model. (MSRP = Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price) If you live in Boston, you will pay taxes on 90% of this value which is $25,627.50. Then, you will pay $25 for every $1,000 – so you’re vehicle excise tax bill for this year would be $640.69 ! Get ready to shell out some serious cash to your local government if you have a new car! As you can see in the chart the value goes down to 60% in the second year, 40% in the third year, 25% in the fourth year, and 10% forever and ever as long as you own a vehicle.
State Tax
Mass has a flat 5% state tax no matter how much you make. (plus 4% if you make more than $1 million per year)
In Mass, you need to make about 140k to take home 100k, which is ranked 21st out of the 50 states. (not bad – considering how expensive Mass is in other aspects)
In states with no income tax, you’d only need to make $130,999!
Cambridge has no ‘city tax’, and in fact, Mass law prohibits municipalities from levying local income taxes.
Food
Very expensive – after Hawaii, Mass is rated to have the most expensive food in the US. This is one of my least favorite parts of living in Mass.
Here is a link to the average food prices in Boston. I’ve included a comparison below between Boston and Austin, TX. I definitely don’t eat steak as much in Boston as I used to in other places. In Boston, I’ve relegated myself to mostly ground beef and chicken.
Gas (for your car)
Cheap – this is the best part of living in Mass. The average price per gallon in April of 2025 is $2.95 per gallon. Having lived out West for the past 5 years in California, this is awesome. The average price per gallon in California right now is $4.80!
This part surprised me. I figured gas would be expensive here but it’s definitely not.
Lifestyle
Oftentimes more important than cost of a city is … “What’s it like to live there?” Here are some things I feel everyone should know before coming.
Traffic
Traffic in Boston is notoriously awful. If you are commuting into and out of the city every day … forget it. Pay more and live near your work. Boston is a very densely populated area so there’s a lot of car traffic that comes with this.
Obviously it depends on your metrics, but Boston is consistently rated as one of the worst cities for traffic in the US. This has certainly been my experience living here.
Safety
Boston is very safe. This is easily the best part of living here. You can walk on the streets and not have to worry about get robbed pretty much anywhere. Most tourists comment on how safe they felt when visiting compared to other American cities. Even the bad places in Boston do not compare to the bad places in other major American cities.
Parks
Boston has a TON of parks. In my town of Cambridge, there are so many parks within walking/biking distance its crazy. Sports fields, playgrounds, picnic tables … its all here. Boston is awesome if you’re looking for parks and places to get away from the concrete jungle.
By far the best city I’ve been to in the US for parks and green space in the city.
Culture
This place is a very educated city. For some that’s good, for some that’s bad. It’s also very liberal. Meaning you see a lot of LGBTQ people on the streets. A lot of people with purple hair. A lot of Ukraine/Gay Pride/Palestine flags hanging outside of houses. A lot of stickers on the backs of TESLA’s with Elon’s name crossed out. Etc. You get the point.
For me, this place is way too liberal. For others, this will be perfect. Just depends on what you’re looking for.
Biking
Kind of like Europe, biking here is very normal. In the morning, I see tons of parents biking their kids to school. I see 12 year olds biking to school on their own. I see adults biking to work. The bike infrastructure is very decent for American standards here.
If you’re looking for a bikeable city – this is your place.
Airport
Logan Airport might be the most accessible airport to a major city in the US. Look how close it is to the center of Boston! (about 3 miles) Logan is very easily accessible via public transport – which is awesome.
Logan is a hub for Delta and Jetblue, so you’ll probably be flying these airlines when you travel.
Other Things to Note
Broker Fees – when renting an apartment in Boston, it’s very common to have to pay a broker fee that’s equivalent to 1 month’s rent. This does not go towards your rent or security deposit. It’s just a one-time payment to the “broker” showing you the apartment.
Beaches – About 88% of Mass. beaches are privately owned – meaning you do not have a right to walk/swim/sunbathe on them. This is very different than most states with coastline like California, Oregon, Washington, Florida, North Carolina, etc etc.
Because of colonial laws in Mass., private property extends to the “mean low tide line”, unlike most states where public access is allowed up to the “mean high tide line”.
What this means is that most of the good beaches in Mass. are either off limits to people who don’t live in that town, or extremely expensive. Here are two examples.
Singing Beach, Manchester by the Sea, 45 mins from Boston:
- non-local residents pay $10 just to walk on the beach, per person
- parking in the area on the weekend will run you at least $30 per car
Good Harbor Beach, Gloucester, 45 mins from Boston:
- non-locals pay $35 to park and need to make a reservation online
I was honestly shocked by these policies, having spent most of my beach time at the free beaches in California, Oregon, and Florida. I always assumed beaches were free.
Mass. is easily a top 3 most liberal/progressive state in America – yet the beaches aren’t free/accessible to the public – how is this possible?
Summary – Boston Cost of Living
If you don’t care about weather and cost of living, Boston and its surrounding towns are easily the most livable places in the US. While rent and utilities are expensive, these can be offset by the fact that you don’t really need a car. Your kids can bike/walk to school, parks, libraries all on their own – and you can rest assured knowing its a pretty safe place. There is basically nowhere else in the US that you can say this about.
The MA state tax is more than a state with no income tax, but it’s not that bad in the grand scheme of things. A flat 5% on what you make isn’t too bad, as long as you make less than $1 million per year – which there is no way you’d be reading this post if you do … right?
Personally, I’d recommend the surrounding areas of Boston such as Cambridge, Brookline, or Somerville. These still have city feel, they’re safe, have tons of parks, good schools, etc.
What did I miss?
Sam