Fort Collins, CO vs Boston, MA
Moving from Fort Collins to Boston? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($556,500 → $741,868 median home) and taxes.
Fort Collins vs Boston 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 Fort Collins, CO, you'd need about $113,447 in Boston, MA (+$13,447).
Livability — Fort Collins, CO: 59 · Boston, MA: 48 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 1,707 sqft in Fort Collins vs 1,146 sqft in Boston ($293 vs $436 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Fort Collins, CO | Boston, MA | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $23,136 | $38,532 | +$15,396 |
| Groceries | $4,814 | $5,040 | +$226 |
| Transportation | $4,050 | $3,210 | −$840 |
| Utilities | $1,788 | $3,180 | +$1,392 |
| Insurance | $2,800 | $1,800 | −$1,000 |
| Taxes | $9,647 | $17,694 | +$8,047 |
| Total | $46,234 | $69,455 | +$23,221 |
Side by side
| Metric | Fort Collins, CO | Boston, MA |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 97.3 | 110.4 |
| Unemployment rate | 4.57% | 5.02% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 8.6% | 2.9% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.54 | $6.28 |
| Median home price | $556,500 | $741,868 |
| Home price ÷ income | 6.4× | 6.9× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -1.5% | 1.6% |
| Price per square foot | $293 | $436 |
| Median rent | $1,928 | $3,211 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 9.7% | 11.5% |
| Combined sales tax | 7.77% | 6.25% |
| Capital gains tax | 4.40% | 9.00% |
| Property tax rate | 0.52% | 1.14% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,800 | $8,200 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $16,000 | $21,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | 1.79% | 2.25% |
| Avg commute (min) | 23 | 31 |
| Home insurance / yr | $2,800 | $1,800 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $2,000 | $1,500 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $550 | $800 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $100 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 16.5 | 29.4 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.30 | 3.30 |
| Natural gas / mo | $65 | $108 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $120 | $71 |
| Home internet / mo | $87 | $78 |
| Violent crime /100k | 490 | 330 |
| Avg summer high °F | 88 | 82 |
| Avg winter low °F | 18 | 22 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 15.4 | 43.6 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 49.0 | 49.2 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 69% | 58% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 3 | 4 |