Over the past decade, Boston has been rapidly ascending the list of most expensive places to live in the US. As the metro region has grown, real estate and Boston rent prices have soared due to an ever-increasing demand for housing and a limited supply of apartments and property listings. Now, Boston is among the most expensive places to live not just in the US, but worldwide. In fact, according to Numbeo’s 2024 Cost of Living Index, Boston is the 5th most expensive city in the world to live being Geneva, Zurich, New York, and San Francisco.
So it appears that we now have a new type of rivalry with the Big Apple: sky-high housing costs. But how high is the Boston cost of living compared to NYC? In this article, we’ll compare the two in terms of median sale prices, average rent, and median household income.
Boston vs. NYC: Median Sale Prices
If you compare real estate prices in Boston vs. New York, you’ll find that Boston real estate prices are very close to those of New York City. When comparing housing costs to NYC, it’s important to note that New York is a much larger city than Boston, with five boroughs all contributing to housing data. If you look at real estate prices for just Manhattan, which is what most people associate with NYC, housing costs are much higher than in Boston.
The median sale price for all property types in Boston is $800,000, which is -2.4% lower than all of NYC ($820,000) and -28.9% lower than Manhattan ($1,125,000). The largest price variance for real estate belongs to condo units. The median sale price for Boston condos is $719,000, which is +50.7% higher than all of NYC ($477,000) but -32.8% lower than Manhattan median condo price ($1,125,000). For single family homes, Boston’s median sale price of $870,000 is +2.4% higher than all of NYC ($850,000) and -17.5% lower than Manhattan ($1,055,000).
Boston vs. NYC: Average Rent Price
A comparison of average rent prices in NYC vs Boston reveals a similar picture. The average rent price in Boston is $3,250. That is slightly lower than the average rent price for all of NYC, which is $3,500. Compared to Manhattan, the margin is even wider. Manhattan’s average rent price of $4,670 is +30.4% higher than that of Boston.
Boston vs. NYC: Income to Housing Expenses Ratios
Another important component to cost of living is median income levels. High rents and home prices can be manageable if household incomes are high enough to support them. Median household incomes in Boston are very close to those of Manhattan, and +26.6% higher than all of NYC. With housing costs being similar to that of NYC and much lower than Manhattan, you see less income going to housing costs on average in Boston. The average rent to income ratio for Boston is 15% lower than that of NYC while the home price to income ratio is lower by 20-30% in Boston. This means that if you take household income data and compare it to housing expenses, Boston provides a better quality of life on average compared to New York City.
| Area | Median Household Income | Average Rent Price | Rent-to-Income Ratio | Median Sale Price | Home Price To Income Ratio |
| Boston | $96,931 | $3,250 | 40.23% | $800,000 | 8.25 |
| NYC - Manhattan | $101,078 | $4,670 | 55.44% | $1,125,000 | 11.13 |
| NYC - All Boroughs | $76,577 | $3,500 | 54.85% | $820,000 | 10.71 |
Other Cost Of Living Comparisons - NYC vs. Boston
While housing is a big expense for everyone, it’s not the only expense to take into account. So how does Boston compare to NYC in terms of other cost of living expenses such as groceries, transportation and utility costs? Using data pulled together by Numbeo, we’ve compared these costs below to see how these two metros stack up in terms of affordability.
Grocery Costs - Boston vs. NYC
If you compare the cost of groceries between New York City and Boston, you’ll find a mixed bag of pricing across most common staples. For items such as milk, bread, rice, eggs, chicken, apples, and lettuce, NYC is more expensive than Boston. For others such as cheese, ground beef, tomatoes, potatoes, and onions, Boston is more expensive on average.
| Groceries | New York | Boston |
| Milk (regular), (1 gallon) | $5.60 | $4.91 |
| Loaf of White Bread (1 lb) | $4.44 | $3.92 |
| Rice (white), (1 lb) | $3.35 | $2.65 |
| Eggs (regular) (12) | $5.09 | $4.55 |
| Local Cheese (1 lb) | $7.60 | $8.60 |
| Chicken Fillets (1 lb) | $6.68 | $6.12 |
| Ground Beef (1 lb) | $8.72 | $9.36 |
| Apples (1 lb) | $3.13 | $2.51 |
| Tomato (1 lb) | $2.72 | $3.16 |
| Potato (1 lb) | $1.64 | $2.00 |
| Onion (1 lb) | $1.65 | $1.72 |
| Lettuce (1 head) | $3.25 | $2.76 |
Transportation Costs - NYC vs. Boston
When you compare transportation costs between New York City and Boston, NYC is more expensive across the board. The cost of riding the subway is $.50 more in NYC than riding the MBTA in Boston, while a monthly pass is $44 more in NYC than it is in Boston. Taxis are more expensive as well as the average price of a gallon of gasoline.
| Transportation | New York | Boston |
| One-way Ticket (Local Transport) | $2.90 | $2.40 |
| Monthly Pass (Regular Price) | $134.00 | $90.00 |
| Taxi Start (Normal Tariff) | $5.00 | $2.70 |
| Taxi 1 mile (Normal Tariff) | $3.50 | $2.80 |
| Gasoline (1 gallon) | $3.83 | $3.64 |
Cost of Utilities - NYC vs. Boston
When it comes to basic utilities like heating, cooling, water and electricity, Boston is actually a more expensive city compared to NYC. New York City is more expensive for mobile phone plans on average, while home internet plans tend to be slightly more expensive in Boston.
| Utilities (Monthly) | New York | Boston |
| Basic (Electricity, Heating, Cooling, Water, Garbage) | $172.43 | $201.59 |
| Mobile Phone Monthly Plan with Calls and 10GB+ Data | $66.40 | $57.39 |
| Internet (60 Mbps or More, Unlimited Data, Cable/ADSL) | $65.70 | $68.73 |
Conclusion
All this data combines to show that the average cost of living in Boston is less expensive than the Big Apple across most categories of comparison. It also shows that when cost of living expenses are adjusted for income, Boston provides a much more affordable environment than that of NYC. It will be interesting to see how this data evolves over the next few years, as cost of living increases in Boston have been outpacing those of NYC over the past 10 years. But for now, Boston seems to provide a better quality of life from a cost of living perspective than NYC.
Demetrios Salpoglou
Published October 22, 2024
Demetrios has pulled together the largest apartment leasing team in the Greater Boston Area and is responsible for procuring more apartment rentals than anyone in New England – with over 130k people finding their housing through his services. Demetrios is an avid real estate developer, peak performance trainer, educator, guest lecturer and motivational speaker.
