Cost of living comparison
compared to
Boston vs. Columbia Cost of Living Summary
Boston is 27.6% more expensive than Columbia.
Boston vs. Columbia Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Boston instead of Columbia, you would:
pay 23.6% more for restaurants
|
Columbia
|
Boston
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$18.00
|
$30.00
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$12.00
|
$12.00
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$3.17
|
$3.09
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.64
|
$2.27
|
|
Columbia vs. Boston - Cost of restaurants
pay 12.6% more for groceries
|
Columbia
|
Boston
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$4.11
|
$4.49
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$6.61
|
$7.82
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$4.95
|
$4.68
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$5.24
|
$6.09
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$7.63
|
$6.71
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$3.17
|
$3.36
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.70
|
$0.92
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$2.58
|
$2.48
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$2.64
|
$3.43
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.25
|
$2.01
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.73
|
$1.85
|
|
Columbia vs. Boston - Cost of groceries
pay 28.3% more for transportation
|
Columbia
|
Boston
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$4.01
|
$4.24
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$40.00
|
$90.00
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$36,375.00
|
$36,584.00
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$12.79
|
$16.60
|
|
Columbia vs. Boston - Cost of transportation
pay 43.0% more for housing
|
Columbia
|
Boston
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$77.77
|
$86.64
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$2,100.00
|
$3,347.20
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,850.00
|
$2,653.85
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$161.22
|
$186.11
|
|
Columbia vs. Boston - Cost of housing
pay 22.3% more for childcare
|
Columbia
|
Boston
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$2,000.00
|
$2,900.09
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$34,903.57
|
$36,004.38
|
|
Columbia vs. Boston - Cost of childcare
pay 16.5% more for entertainment and sports
|
Columbia
|
Boston
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$7.50
|
$8.00
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.27
|
$5.26
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$13.94
|
$12.54
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$50.00
|
$85.75
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$15.00
|
$16.00
|
|
Columbia vs. Boston - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 21.3% more for clothing
|
Columbia
|
Boston
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$52.30
|
$76.37
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$63.14
|
$52.38
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$100.00
|
$118.50
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$111.15
|
$167.81
|
|
Columbia vs. Boston - 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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