Boston, MA vs McAllen, TX
Moving from Boston to McAllen? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($741,868 → $193,978 median home) and taxes.
Boston vs McAllen at a glance
Bars scaled to the range across all 200 metros; labels show actual values.
To keep the same standard of living as $100,000 in Boston, MA, you'd need about $77,971 in McAllen, TX (−$22,029).
Livability — Boston, MA: 48 · McAllen, TX: 78 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 1,146 sqft in Boston vs 5,411 sqft in McAllen ($436 vs $92 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Boston, MA | McAllen, TX | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $38,532 | $13,536 | −$24,996 |
| Groceries | $5,040 | $4,647 | −$393 |
| Transportation | $3,210 | $3,675 | +$465 |
| Utilities | $3,180 | $1,836 | −$1,344 |
| Insurance | $1,800 | $3,600 | +$1,800 |
| Taxes | $17,694 | $4,917 | −$12,776 |
| Total | $69,455 | $32,211 | −$37,245 |
Side by side
| Metric | Boston, MA | McAllen, TX |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 110.4 | 86.1 |
| Unemployment rate | 5.02% | 7.61% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 2.9% | 4.0% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $6.28 | $4.90 |
| Median home price | $741,868 | $193,978 |
| Home price ÷ income | 6.9× | 3.9× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | 1.6% | 0.6% |
| Price per square foot | $436 | $92 |
| Median rent | $3,211 | $1,128 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 11.5% | 8.6% |
| Combined sales tax | 6.25% | 8.20% |
| Capital gains tax | 9.00% | None |
| Property tax rate | 1.14% | 1.82% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $8,200 | $6,800 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $21,000 | $9,500 |
| Vehicle property tax | 2.25% | None |
| Avg commute (min) | 31 | 23 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,800 | $3,600 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,500 | $2,100 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $800 | $900 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $100 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 29.4 | 17.0 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.30 | 3.00 |
| Natural gas / mo | $108 | $52 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $71 | $134 |
| Home internet / mo | $78 | $83 |
| Violent crime /100k | 330 | 430 |
| Avg summer high °F | 82 | 96 |
| Avg winter low °F | 22 | 38 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 43.6 | 32.4 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 49.2 | 0.0 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 58% | 67% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 4 | 2 |