Over the past decade, Boston has been rapidly ascending the list of most expensive places to live in the US. As the metro region has grown, real estate and Boston rent prices have soared due to an ever-increasing demand for housing and a limited supply of apartments and property listings. Now, Boston is among the most expensive places to live not just in the US, but worldwide. In fact, according to Numbeo’s 2024 Cost of Living Index, Boston is the 5th most expensive city in the world to live being Geneva, Zurich, New York, and San Francisco.
So it appears that we now have a new type of rivalry with the Big Apple: sky-high housing costs. But how high is the Boston cost of living compared to NYC? In this article, we’ll compare the two in terms of median sale prices, average rent, and median household income.
Boston vs. NYC: Median Sale Prices
If you compare real estate prices in Boston vs. New York, you’ll find that Boston real estate prices are very close to those of New York City. When comparing housing costs to NYC, it’s important to note that New York is a much larger city than Boston, with five boroughs all contributing to housing data. If you look at real estate prices for just Manhattan, which is what most people associate with NYC, housing costs are much higher than in Boston.
The median sale price for all property types in Boston is $800,000, which is -2.4% lower than all of NYC ($820,000) and -28.9% lower than Manhattan ($1,125,000). The largest price variance for real estate belongs to condo units. The median sale price for Boston condos is $719,000, which is +50.7% higher than all of NYC ($477,000) but -32.8% lower than Manhattan median condo price ($1,125,000). For single family homes, Boston’s median sale price of $870,000 is +2.4% higher than all of NYC ($850,000) and -17.5% lower than Manhattan ($1,055,000).
Boston vs. NYC: Average Rent Price
A comparison of average rent prices in NYC vs Boston reveals a similar picture. …