MA metros

Cost of living across major MA metropolitan areas.

What living in MA costs

Across the 3 MA metros we track, the typical cost-of-living index is 103 against a national metro median of 95.7 — about 8% pricier than the typical US metro. That ranks MA 38 of the 48 states we cover, counting from the cheapest.

The state is not uniform: Springfield, MA is the cheapest metro at 98.1, while Boston, MA runs 110.4 — a spread of 13% between them.

A typical MA home costs $482,611, or about 5.6× median household income, and typical rent is $2,182/mo.

Taxes in MA

MA levies a state income tax on top of the federal one. Effective property tax runs about 1.4% of home value in a typical MA metro, and combined state and local sales tax is around 6.3%.

Property tax is the one that scales with housing, so it bites hardest in the pricier metros above. Per-metro figures are on each metro page.

Metro	COL index	Median home	Median rent
Boston, MA	110.4	$741,868	$3,211
Worcester, MA	103.0	$482,611	$2,182
Springfield, MA	98.1	$376,017	$1,941

Cities & towns in MA (80)

Local property tax, home values and school scores for each place.

Boston →Worcester →Springfield →Cambridge →Lowell →Brockton →Quincy →Lynn →New Bedford →Fall River →Newton →Lawrence →Somerville →Framingham →Haverhill →Malden →Waltham →Brookline →Medford →Revere →Taunton →Weymouth Town →Chicopee →Peabody →Methuen Town →Everett →Attleboro →Arlington →Salem →Leominster →Beverly →Fitchburg →Marlborough →Woburn →Westfield →Chelsea →Braintree Town →Holyoke →Watertown Town →Randolph Town →Lexington →Franklin Town →Needham →Norwood →North Attleborough Town →Wellesley →Gloucester →Melrose →West Springfield Town →Agawam Town →Saugus →Bridgewater Town →Milton →Danvers →Milford →Wakefield →Belmont →Burlington →Reading →Dedham →Wilmington →Stoneham →Winchester →Gardner →Marblehead →Winthrop Town →Newburyport →Somerset →Southbridge Town →Amesbury Town →Abington →Longmeadow →Hudson →Swampscott →Lynnfield →Palmer Town →Webster →Holbrook →Maynard →Hull →