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

Worcester housing costs at a glance

Census figures put the median gross rent in the Worcester, MA metro at $1,068 for a one-bedroom, $1,483 for a two-bedroom and $1,745 for a three-bedroom. Moving from one to two bedrooms adds $415 a month, and the third bedroom another $262.

On the ownership side, the typical owner-occupied home is valued at $423,700. That works out to 4.4× the local median household income of $95,939, a mid-range ratio.

BEA's Regional Price Parity for the metro is 102.5, where 100 is the US average. In plain terms, the full basket of goods, services and housing costs 2.5% more than average, so $100,000 here buys roughly what $97,539 would at average US prices.

How much you need to earn in Worcester

For two bedrooms, $234,000 is where Worcester turns Comfortable. Below that, $116,000 marks the start of Okay and $58,000 the start of Tight; under $58,000 the score reads Stretched. Rent at the Comfortable line is 8% of gross pay.

The Royal grade is within reach at $719,000 a year, where both rent and the median home price look small next to income.

These lines come straight from the calculator's formula: the income is raised until the two-bedroom score crosses each cutoff, then rounded up to the next $1,000.

Scores at $50K, $75K, $100K and $150K in Worcester

At $75,000 home size barely changes the picture: one, two and three bedrooms all grade Tight, with scores from 30 to 38.

None of the four salaries reaches Comfortable for two bedrooms; even $150,000 scores 52, Okay, which fits the $234,000 line above.

Worcester compared with every US metro

On price level Worcester is 51st of 387 (1 = most expensive); on two-bedroom rent it is 73rd, and on median home value 65th. The two rankings agree, both falling in the top quarter.

Next to Worcester on the national rent ranking: Fairbanks-College, AK ($1,483) and Durham-Chapel Hill, NC ($1,476).

Worcester in a Massachusetts context

Statewide, Massachusetts's median two-bedroom rent is $1,876 and its median home value $562,100. Worcester's rent is −21% against that, and its home value −25%; the price parity is 102.5 versus 105.8 for the state.

The Massachusetts figure for the Comfortable line, using state medians, is $325,000 against $234,000 for Worcester.

Within Massachusetts, the metros closest to Worcester on rent and overall prices are Amherst Town-Northampton, MA, Providence-Warwick, RI-MA, and Barnstable Town, MA. Their Comfortable lines for two bedrooms sit at $213,000, $224,000, and $281,000.

Where the typical Worcester household lands

What about a typical local household? Census puts median household income here at $95,939, which grades Tight (40) for a two-bedroom at the median rent. Reaching Comfortable would take $138,061 more than the median household earns. Statewide, the Massachusetts median household ($103,960) grades Tight on the state's own medians. A household figure may pool several earners, unlike a single salary.

Treat every number here as a pre-tax, public-data estimate rather than financial advice.