Cost of living comparison
compared to
Boston vs. Salem Cost of Living Summary
Boston is 43.6% more expensive than Salem.
Boston vs. Salem Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Boston instead of Salem, you would:
pay 17.8% more for restaurants
|
Salem
|
Boston
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$18.00
|
$25.00
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$11.00
|
$12.00
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.66
|
$2.87
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.08
|
$2.40
|
|
Salem vs. Boston - Cost of restaurants
pay 31.8% more for groceries
|
Salem
|
Boston
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$3.90
|
$4.16
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$7.87
|
$8.92
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$4.13
|
$4.80
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$5.00
|
$4.93
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$6.08
|
$6.15
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.00
|
$2.70
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.77
|
$1.00
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$1.75
|
$2.83
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$1.78
|
$3.61
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.30
|
$2.09
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.50
|
$1.81
|
|
Salem vs. Boston - Cost of groceries
pay 18.3% more for transportation
|
Salem
|
Boston
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$3.82
|
$3.46
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$45.00
|
$90.00
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$32,740.34
|
$34,000.00
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$20.90
|
$16.52
|
|
Salem vs. Boston - Cost of transportation
pay 47.4% more for housing
|
Salem
|
Boston
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$82.50
|
$77.28
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,592.86
|
$3,451.79
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,441.67
|
$2,596.36
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$154.85
|
$153.30
|
|
Salem vs. Boston - Cost of housing
pay 2.1 times more for childcare
|
Salem
|
Boston
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$1,075.00
|
$2,793.33
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$16,500.00
|
$27,500.00
|
|
Salem vs. Boston - Cost of childcare
pay 37.7% more for entertainment and sports
|
Salem
|
Boston
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$5.00
|
$8.00
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$4.67
|
$5.36
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$12.00
|
$13.00
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$46.00
|
$88.48
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$13.25
|
$15.00
|
|
Salem vs. Boston - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 39.0% more for clothing
|
Salem
|
Boston
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$47.80
|
$69.87
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$47.25
|
$43.75
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$84.75
|
$107.71
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$80.00
|
$152.08
|
|
Salem 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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