Boston vs. Washington Cost of Living Summary

Boston is 24.5% more expensive than Washington.

Restaurants
pay 14.6% more in Boston
Groceries
pay 38.4% more in Boston
Transportation
pay 3.7% more in Boston
Housing
pay 43.4% more in Boston
Childcare
pay 22.9% more in Boston
Entertainment and Sports
pay 26.2% more in Boston
Clothing
pay 22.4% more in Boston

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

Boston vs. Washington Cost Breakdown

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

pay 14.6% more for restaurants

 
Washington
Boston
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $20.67
 
$22.00
 
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$11.36
 
$12.55
 
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $2.69
 
$3.14
 

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pay 38.4% more for groceries

 
Washington
Boston
Bread
1 loaf
$3.73
 
$4.39
 
Local cheese (8 oz) $6.70
 
$9.48
 
Milk (1 gallon) $4.02
 
$4.97
 

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pay 3.7% more for transportation

 
Washington
Boston
Gasoline (1 gallon) $4.34
 
$3.64
 
Monthly public transit pass $62.97
 
$90.00
 
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $34,230.18
 
$32,000.00
 

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pay 43.4% more for housing

 
Washington
Boston
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$66.07
 
$70.88
 
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $1,678.49
 
$3,280.96
 
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $1,500.86
 
$2,453.85
 

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pay 22.9% more for childcare

 
Washington
Boston
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $1,651.91
 
$2,428.57
 
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $25,288.69
 
$25,000.00
 

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pay 26.2% more for entertainment and sports

 
Washington
Boston
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $6.59
 
$8.00
 
Cappuccino in mid-range area $5.24
 
$5.79
 
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$10.62
 
$13.83
 

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pay 22.4% more for clothing

 
Washington
Boston
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$52.46
 
$64.32
 
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$40.64
 
$43.83
 
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$85.80
 
$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: January 2025
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