Cost of living comparison

 Boise (ID), United States
compared to
 Boston (MA), United States
Boston vs. Boise Cost of Living Summary
Boston vs. Boise Cost Breakdown

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

pay 12.6% more for restaurants

 
Boise
Boston
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $19.50
 
$22.00
 
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$10.00
 
$12.55
 
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $3.06
 
$3.14
 

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pay 49.2% more for groceries

 
Boise
Boston
Bread
1 loaf
$3.11
 
$4.39
 
Local cheese (8 oz) $6.24
 
$9.48
 
Milk (1 gallon) $3.34
 
$4.97
 

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pay 29.1% more for transportation

 
Boise
Boston
Gasoline (1 gallon) $3.81
 
$3.64
 
Monthly public transit pass $42.00
 
$90.00
 
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $34,500.00
 
$32,000.00
 

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pay 56.9% more for housing

 
Boise
Boston
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$75.47
 
$70.88
 
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $1,555.36
 
$3,280.96
 
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $1,342.22
 
$2,453.85
 

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pay 49.2% more for childcare

 
Boise
Boston
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $1,272.22
 
$2,428.57
 
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $23,265.00
 
$25,000.00
 

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pay 51.3% more for entertainment and sports

 
Boise
Boston
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $6.00
 
$8.00
 
Cappuccino in mid-range area $5.62
 
$5.79
 
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$8.00
 
$13.83
 

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pay 18.2% more for clothing

 
Boise
Boston
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$57.19
 
$64.32
 
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$38.80
 
$43.83
 
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$99.40
 
$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: July 2025
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