Urban Honolulu, HI vs Boston, MA
Moving from Urban Honolulu to Boston? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($851,163 → $741,868 median home) and taxes.
Urban Honolulu 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 Urban Honolulu, HI, you'd need about $99,075 in Boston, MA (−$925).
Livability — Urban Honolulu, HI: 48 · Boston, MA: 48 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 881 sqft in Urban Honolulu vs 1,146 sqft in Boston ($567 vs $436 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Urban Honolulu, HI | Boston, MA | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $35,760 | $38,532 | +$2,772 |
| Groceries | $5,517 | $5,040 | −$478 |
| Transportation | $3,900 | $3,210 | −$690 |
| Utilities | $5,040 | $3,180 | −$1,860 |
| Insurance | $1,100 | $1,800 | +$700 |
| Taxes | $14,943 | $17,694 | +$2,751 |
| Total | $66,260 | $69,455 | +$3,195 |
Side by side
| Metric | Urban Honolulu, HI | Boston, MA |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 111.4 | 110.4 |
| Unemployment rate | 4.79% | 5.02% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 2.0% | 2.9% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 31 | 43 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $6.34 | $6.28 |
| Median home price | $851,163 | $741,868 |
| Home price ÷ income | 8.5× | 6.9× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | 0.6% | 1.6% |
| Price per square foot | $567 | $436 |
| Median rent | $2,980 | $3,211 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 14.1% | 11.5% |
| Combined sales tax | 4.50% | 6.25% |
| Capital gains tax | 11.00% | 9.00% |
| Property tax rate | 0.28% | 1.14% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $5,800 | $8,200 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $15,000 | $21,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | 2.25% |
| Avg commute (min) | 27 | 31 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,100 | $1,800 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,400 | $1,500 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $800 | $800 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $550 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 46.6 | 29.4 |
| Gas $/gal | 4.70 | 3.30 |
| Violent crime /100k | 260 | 330 |
| Avg summer high °F | 85 | 82 |
| Avg winter low °F | 66 | 22 |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 5 | 4 |