Cost of living comparison
compared to
Traverse City vs. Boston Cost of Living Summary
Traverse City is 35.8% cheaper than Boston.
- Restaurants
-
pay 17.5% less in Traverse City
- Groceries
-
pay 24.8% less in Traverse City
- Transportation
-
pay 30.1% less in Traverse City
- Housing
-
pay 44.1% less in Traverse City
- Childcare
-
pay 66.9% less in Traverse City
- Entertainment and Sports
-
pay 32.8% less in Traverse City
- Clothing
-
pay 27.7% less in Traverse City
Traverse City vs. Boston Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Traverse City instead of Boston, you would:
pay 17.5% less for restaurants
|
Boston
|
Traverse City
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$30.00
|
$21.60
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$12.00
|
$11.38
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$3.09
|
$2.51
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.27
|
$2.14
|
|
Boston vs. Traverse City - Cost of restaurants
pay 24.8% less for groceries
|
Boston
|
Traverse City
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$4.49
|
$2.94
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$7.82
|
$9.55
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$4.68
|
$2.82
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$6.09
|
$2.79
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$6.71
|
$7.46
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$3.36
|
$3.03
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.92
|
$0.60
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$2.48
|
$1.75
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$3.43
|
$3.08
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$2.01
|
$1.21
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.85
|
$1.45
|
|
Boston vs. Traverse City - Cost of groceries
pay 30.1% less for transportation
|
Boston
|
Traverse City
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$4.24
|
$3.76
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$90.00
|
$30.00
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$36,584.00
|
$35,866.37
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$16.60
|
?? | |
Boston vs. Traverse City - Cost of transportation
pay 44.1% less for housing
|
Boston
|
Traverse City
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$86.64
|
$67.50
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$3,347.20
|
$1,983.33
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$2,653.85
|
$1,418.00
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$186.11
|
$90.12
|
|
Boston vs. Traverse City - Cost of housing
pay 66.9% less for childcare
|
Boston
|
Traverse City
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$2,900.09
|
$1,030.00
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$36,004.38
|
$11,136.00
|
|
Boston vs. Traverse City - Cost of childcare
pay 32.8% less for entertainment and sports
|
Boston
|
Traverse City
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$8.00
|
$5.00
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.26
|
$4.67
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$12.54
|
$6.00
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$85.75
|
$63.33
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$16.00
|
$9.50
|
|
Boston vs. Traverse City - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 27.7% less for clothing
|
Boston
|
Traverse City
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$76.37
|
$59.33
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$52.38
|
$41.67
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$118.50
|
$101.67
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$167.81
|
$86.67
|
|
Boston vs. Traverse City - Cost of clothing
We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated October 2026). How we calculate this
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