Cost of living comparison

compared to
Boston vs. Austin Cost of Living Summary

Boston is 28.5% more expensive than Austin.

Restaurants
pay 20.9% more in Boston
Groceries
pay 44.1% more in Boston
Transportation
pay 27.9% more in Boston
Housing
pay 29.5% more in Boston
Childcare
pay 40.7% more in Boston
Entertainment and Sports
pay 33.7% more in Boston
Clothing
pay 2.7% more in Boston

The cost of groceries, childcare, entertainment and sports, housing, transportation, and restaurants in Boston are more expensive than in Austin.

Boston vs. Austin Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Boston instead of Austin, you would:

pay 20.9% more for restaurants

 
Austin
Boston
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $18.00
 
$22.00
 
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$10.00
 
$12.55
 
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $2.62
 
$3.14
 

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pay 44.1% more for groceries

 
Austin
Boston
Bread
1 loaf
$3.60
 
$4.39
 
Local cheese (8 oz) $6.37
 
$9.48
 
Milk (1 gallon) $3.94
 
$4.97
 

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pay 27.9% more for transportation

 
Austin
Boston
Gasoline (1 gallon) $3.04
 
$3.64
 
Monthly public transit pass $45.00
 
$90.00
 
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $35,000.00
 
$32,000.00
 

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pay 29.5% more for housing

 
Austin
Boston
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$70.43
 
$70.88
 
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $2,280.66
 
$3,280.96
 
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $1,508.91
 
$2,453.85
 

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pay 40.7% more for childcare

 
Austin
Boston
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $1,465.00
 
$2,428.57
 
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $21,625.00
 
$25,000.00
 

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pay 33.7% more for entertainment and sports

 
Austin
Boston
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $6.00
 
$8.00
 
Cappuccino in mid-range area $5.31
 
$5.79
 
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$9.00
 
$13.83
 

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pay 2.7% more for clothing

 
Austin
Boston
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$63.62
 
$64.32
 
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$52.38
 
$43.83
 
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$89.78
 
$98.17
 

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: March 2025
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