Cost of living comparison
compared to
Boston vs. Saint Louis Cost of Living Summary
Boston is 41.2% more expensive than Saint Louis.
Boston vs. Saint Louis Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Boston instead of Saint Louis, you would:
pay 17.4% more for restaurants
|
Saint Louis
|
Boston
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$22.50
|
$25.00
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$10.00
|
$12.00
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.50
|
$2.87
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$1.94
|
$2.40
|
|
Saint Louis vs. Boston - Cost of restaurants
pay 23.9% more for groceries
|
Saint Louis
|
Boston
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$2.91
|
$4.16
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$6.74
|
$8.92
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$3.84
|
$4.80
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$3.11
|
$4.93
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$5.05
|
$6.15
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$3.18
|
$2.70
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.93
|
$1.00
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$2.75
|
$2.83
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$2.19
|
$3.61
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.71
|
$2.09
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.85
|
$1.81
|
|
Saint Louis vs. Boston - Cost of groceries
pay 7.5% more for transportation
|
Saint Louis
|
Boston
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$2.94
|
$3.46
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$78.00
|
$90.00
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$36,336.95
|
$34,000.00
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$15.93
|
$16.52
|
|
Saint Louis vs. Boston - Cost of transportation
pay 80.8% more for housing
|
Saint Louis
|
Boston
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$71.50
|
$77.28
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,372.50
|
$3,451.79
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$975.00
|
$2,596.36
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$157.70
|
$153.30
|
|
Saint Louis vs. Boston - Cost of housing
pay 64.9% more for childcare
|
Saint Louis
|
Boston
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$1,303.33
|
$2,793.33
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$23,800.00
|
$27,500.00
|
|
Saint Louis vs. Boston - Cost of childcare
pay 74.4% more for entertainment and sports
|
Saint Louis
|
Boston
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$5.20
|
$8.00
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$4.92
|
$5.36
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$7.90
|
$13.00
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$26.88
|
$88.48
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$13.00
|
$15.00
|
|
Saint Louis vs. Boston - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 19.2% more for clothing
|
Saint Louis
|
Boston
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$55.00
|
$69.87
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$38.00
|
$43.75
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$92.12
|
$107.71
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$129.17
|
$152.08
|
|
Saint Louis 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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