What salary do you need to live in Boston, MA?

Rent, home values and prices in Boston

A one-bedroom in Boston rents for a median of $1,701 a month, utilities the tenant pays included; a two-bedroom goes for $2,155 and a three-bedroom for $2,291. Over a full year, the two-bedroom median comes to $25,860.

The median value of owner-occupied homes in the metro is $646,300. Set against the $115,863 median household income, that is a ratio of 5.6×, which keeps the buying part of the score low for most incomes.

Price levels matter beyond rent. The Bureau of Economic Analysis measures Boston's overall prices at 108.3 on a scale where the nation is 100, which makes a $100,000 salary feel like about $92,365 would elsewhere.

How much you need to earn in Boston

The salary lines for a two-bedroom household land at $98,000 for Tight, $197,000 for Okay and $396,000 for Comfortable. The gap between the Okay and Comfortable lines alone is $199,000, which says how much extra income it takes to make housing feel roomy here rather than merely workable.

No salary reaches Royal in Boston: a fifth of the score reflects local prices rather than income, and with a parity of 108.3 the ceiling is 84 points, below the Royal cutoff of 85.

Each figure is the lowest income, to the next $1,000, at which the calculator itself would show that grade for a two-bedroom in Boston.

What different incomes look like in Boston

At $75,000 home size barely changes the picture: one, two and three bedrooms all grade Stretched, with scores from 17 to 21.

In Boston the table's top salary of $150,000 stops at Tight (37) for two bedrooms; Comfortable starts higher, at $396,000.

Where Boston falls nationally

On price level Boston is 19th of 387 (1 = most expensive); on two-bedroom rent it is 9th, and on median home value 17th. The two rankings agree, both falling among the priciest tenth.

For a sense of scale, the metros just above and below it on two-bedroom rent are Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA ($2,207) and Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA ($2,150).

Boston next to Massachusetts and similar metros

How Boston stacks up against its state: $2,155 for a two-bedroom against Massachusetts's $1,876, $646,300 for the median home against $562,100, and a price level of 108.3 against 105.8. The metro also reaches into New Hampshire; it is compared with Massachusetts, home of its first-named principal city.

Run Massachusetts's statewide medians through the same score and Comfortable begins at $325,000; Boston's line is +22% from that.

Looking for somewhere comparable without leaving Massachusetts? Barnstable Town, MA, Worcester, MA, and Amherst Town-Northampton, MA have the closest mix of rent and overall prices.

Does the typical Boston income clear the bar?

The median household in the metro earns $115,863 (ACS 2020-2024). Run through the calculator with two bedrooms, that scores 30, Tight. That falls $280,137 short of the $396,000 Comfortable line, a reminder that the typical household here spends a larger share on housing than the Comfortable band allows. For Massachusetts as a whole, the median household income of $103,960 scores 32 against statewide rents. Since a household can have two or more earners, compare it with a combined income rather than one paycheck.

These are pre-tax estimates from public statistics, not financial advice.