Cost of living comparison
compared to
Cambridge vs. Boston Cost of Living Summary
Cambridge is 2.6% cheaper than Boston.
- Restaurants
-
pay 7.8% less in Cambridge
- Groceries
-
pay 32.9% less in Cambridge
- Transportation
-
pay 44.8% more in Cambridge
- Housing
-
pay 18.6% less in Cambridge
- Childcare
-
pay 12.3% less in Cambridge
- Entertainment and Sports
-
pay 3.4% more in Cambridge
- Clothing
-
pay 5.0% more in Cambridge
The cost of transportation, clothing, and entertainment and sports in Cambridge are more expensive than in Boston. Expenses including groceries, housing, childcare, and restaurants are lower in Cambridge.
Cambridge vs. Boston Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Cambridge instead of Boston, you would:
pay 7.8% less for restaurants
|
Boston
|
Cambridge
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$25.00
|
$26.71
£20.02
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$12.00
|
$10.68
£8.01
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.87
|
$2.67
£2.00
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.40
|
$1.91
£1.43
|
|
Boston vs. Cambridge - Cost of restaurants
pay 32.9% less for groceries
|
Boston
|
Cambridge
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$4.16
|
$1.92
£1.44
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$8.92
|
$6.16
£4.62
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$4.80
|
$6.47
£4.85
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$4.93
|
$4.38
£3.28
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$6.15
|
$4.45
£3.33
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.70
|
$1.39
£1.04
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$1.00
|
$0.79
£0.59
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$2.83
|
$1.62
£1.21
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$3.61
|
$1.51
£1.14
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$2.09
|
$0.91
£0.68
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.81
|
$0.99
£0.74
|
|
Boston vs. Cambridge - Cost of groceries
pay 44.8% more for transportation
|
Boston
|
Cambridge
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$3.46
|
$7.23
£5.42
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$90.00
|
$80.13
£60.06
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$34,000.00
|
$37,772.71
£28,315.37
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$16.52
|
$28.04
£21.02
|
|
Boston vs. Cambridge - Cost of transportation
pay 18.6% less for housing
|
Boston
|
Cambridge
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$77.28
|
$41.26
£30.93
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$3,451.79
|
$1,874.74
£1,405.35
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$2,596.36
|
$1,585.83
£1,188.78
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$153.30
|
$240.38
£180.19
|
|
Boston vs. Cambridge - Cost of housing
pay 12.3% less for childcare
|
Boston
|
Cambridge
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$2,793.33
|
$2,228.30
£1,670.39
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$27,500.00
|
$26,263.51
£19,687.78
|
|
Boston vs. Cambridge - Cost of childcare
pay 3.4% more for entertainment and sports
|
Boston
|
Cambridge
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$8.00
|
$8.01
£6.01
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.36
|
$4.76
£3.57
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$13.00
|
$20.03
£15.02
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$88.48
|
$59.43
£44.55
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$15.00
|
$16.03
£12.01
|
|
Boston vs. Cambridge - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 5.0% more for clothing
|
Boston
|
Cambridge
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$69.87
|
$95.71
£71.74
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$43.75
|
$51.19
£38.37
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$107.71
|
$91.57
£68.65
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$152.08
|
$123.53
£92.60
|
|
Boston vs. Cambridge - Cost of clothing
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: December 2025
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