Boston, MA vs Palm Bay, FL
Moving from Boston to Palm Bay? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($741,868 → $344,841 median home) and taxes.
Boston vs Palm Bay 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 $91,783 in Palm Bay, FL (−$8,217).
Livability — Boston, MA: 48 · Palm Bay, FL: 66 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 1,146 sqft in Boston vs 2,682 sqft in Palm Bay ($436 vs $186 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Boston, MA | Palm Bay, FL | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $38,532 | $23,040 | −$15,492 |
| Groceries | $5,040 | $4,813 | −$226 |
| Transportation | $3,210 | $4,800 | +$1,590 |
| Utilities | $3,180 | $1,656 | −$1,524 |
| Insurance | $1,800 | $4,200 | +$2,400 |
| Taxes | $17,694 | $4,459 | −$13,234 |
| Total | $69,455 | $42,968 | −$26,487 |
Side by side
| Metric | Boston, MA | Palm Bay, FL |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 110.4 | 101.3 |
| Unemployment rate | 5.02% | 4.86% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 2.9% | 7.5% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $6.28 | $5.77 |
| Median home price | $741,868 | $344,841 |
| Home price ÷ income | 6.9× | 4.8× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | 1.6% | -2.2% |
| Price per square foot | $436 | $186 |
| Median rent | $3,211 | $1,920 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 11.5% | 9.1% |
| Combined sales tax | 6.25% | 7.02% |
| Capital gains tax | 9.00% | None |
| Property tax rate | 1.14% | 0.72% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $8,200 | $7,500 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $21,000 | $10,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | 2.25% | None |
| Avg commute (min) | 31 | 26 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,800 | $4,200 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,500 | $2,900 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $800 | $1,400 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $100 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 29.4 | 15.4 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.30 | 3.35 |
| Natural gas / mo | $108 | $38 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $71 | $88 |
| Home internet / mo | $78 | $76 |
| Violent crime /100k | 330 | 380 |
| Avg summer high °F | 82 | 91 |
| Avg winter low °F | 22 | 52 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 43.6 | 51.5 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 49.2 | 0.0 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 58% | 68% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 4 | 3 |