Cost of living comparison
compared to
Boston vs. Madison Cost of Living Summary
Boston is 25.3% more expensive than Madison.
Boston vs. Madison Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Boston instead of Madison, you would:
pay 19.1% more for restaurants
|
Madison
|
Boston
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$15.50
|
$25.00
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$11.50
|
$12.00
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.75
|
$2.87
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.25
|
$2.40
|
|
Madison vs. Boston - Cost of restaurants
pay 30.3% more for groceries
|
Madison
|
Boston
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$3.90
|
$4.16
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$7.49
|
$8.92
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$3.49
|
$4.80
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$4.13
|
$4.93
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$5.56
|
$6.15
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.02
|
$2.70
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.69
|
$1.00
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$2.85
|
$2.83
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$2.23
|
$3.61
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.24
|
$2.09
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.40
|
$1.81
|
|
Madison vs. Boston - Cost of groceries
pay 11.7% more for transportation
|
Madison
|
Boston
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$3.12
|
$3.46
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$62.00
|
$90.00
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$29,500.00
|
$34,000.00
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$21.90
|
$16.52
|
|
Madison vs. Boston - Cost of transportation
pay 43.9% more for housing
|
Madison
|
Boston
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$72.85
|
$77.28
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,713.42
|
$3,451.79
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,488.75
|
$2,596.36
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$163.91
|
$153.30
|
|
Madison vs. Boston - Cost of housing
pay 41.6% more for childcare
|
Madison
|
Boston
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$1,628.82
|
$2,793.33
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$24,601.00
|
$27,500.00
|
|
Madison vs. Boston - Cost of childcare
pay 25.9% more for entertainment and sports
|
Madison
|
Boston
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$6.50
|
$8.00
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.54
|
$5.36
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$10.00
|
$13.00
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$57.50
|
$88.48
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$15.00
|
$15.00
|
|
Madison vs. Boston - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 4.4% more for clothing
|
Madison
|
Boston
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$70.00
|
$69.87
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$48.33
|
$43.75
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$103.00
|
$107.71
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$124.00
|
$152.08
|
|
Madison vs. Boston - 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: October 2026
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