Moving to New York from Massachusetts
What to Expect
A comprehensive look at what changes when you move from Massachusetts to New York — from daily expenses to quality of life.
If you moved from Massachusetts to New York, you would find that New York is 0.8% cheaper than Massachusetts. A $75,000 salary in Massachusetts would need to be roughly $70,689 in New York to maintain the same lifestyle.
How Far Will Your Money Go?
How your spending power changes when you relocate from Massachusetts to New York.
What does your salary buy?
$75,000 → $70,689
To maintain the same standard of living in New York
Calculate with your salary →The biggest cost differences at a glance
Restaurants
pay 6.5% less
Groceries
pay 4.0% more
Transportation
pay 15.3% more
Housing
pay 12.5% less
Childcare
pay 9.2% less
Entertainment and Sports
pay 2.2% more
Data: MyLifeElsewhere's crowdsourced cost of living database, with prices submitted and updated by users worldwide. Exchange rates are refreshed regularly from public sources.
Cost of living by city
Cost of living varies a lot by city. Each figure is a city's overall cost of living as a percentage of New York City (the priciest, = 100%).
On average, cities in New York cost about 11% less than cities in Massachusetts.
Compare cities head-to-head
Key Indicator Comparison
How Massachusetts and New York stack up on safety, healthcare, jobs, and infrastructure.
Is it safe?
incidents per 100,000 people per year
incidents per 100,000 people per year
Massachusetts performs better than New York across all safety metrics.
How's the healthcare?
share of people without health insurance
share of adults with obesity
share of adults with diabetes
share of adults who smoke
Massachusetts performs better than New York across all health & wellbeing metrics.
What about housing?
typical price of a home
typical monthly gross rent
share of homes that are owner-occupied
New York generally does better on what about housing?, though Massachusetts leads in homeownership rate.
Will I have good infrastructure?
share of households with internet
minutes each way to work
Massachusetts performs better than New York across all infrastructure metrics.
What are the job prospects?
percentage of the labour force without work
a broad measure of economic output per person
typical annual income of a household
share of people below the poverty line
Massachusetts generally does better on employment & economy, though New York leads in unemployment rate.
Is it good for families?
average years of life at birth
share of adults with a 4-year college degree
Massachusetts performs better than New York across all family life metrics.
Data: Bureau of Economic Analysis, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (PLACES), FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, OECD Regional Demography, US Census Bureau (American Community Survey)
What's the Climate Like?
Monthly averages — select a city to compare.
Avg. annual high / low
Avg. annual high / low
| Months | Boston | Albany |
|---|---|---|
| Jan–Mar | 40°/26°F (4°/-3°C) | 37°/19°F (2°/-7°C) |
| Apr–Jun | 66°/50°F (19°/10°C) | 68°/47°F (20°/8°C) |
| Jul–Sep | 78°/62°F (25°/17°C) | 78°/58°F (26°/14°C) |
| Oct–Dec | 51°/38°F (11°/3°C) | 48°/31°F (9°/-1°C) |
View all months
| Month | Boston | Albany |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 36°/22°F (2.1°/-5.4°C) | 31°/15°F (-0.8°/-9.7°C) |
| Feb | 39°/25°F (3.7°/-4.1°C) | 35°/17°F (1.4°/-8.2°C) |
| Mar | 45°/31°F (7.4°/-0.5°C) | 44°/26°F (6.9°/-3.5°C) |
| Apr | 56°/41°F (13.1°/4.8°C) | 58°/37°F (14.6°/2.9°C) |
| May | 66°/50°F (18.9°/9.9°C) | 69°/47°F (20.8°/8.4°C) |
| Jun | 76°/60°F (24.4°/15.3°C) | 78°/56°F (25.5°/13.6°C) |
| Jul | 81°/65°F (27.4°/18.6°C) | 82°/61°F (27.9°/16.3°C) |
| Aug | 80°/65°F (26.4°/18.1°C) | 80°/60°F (26.9°/15.5°C) |
| Sep | 72°/57°F (22.4°/14.1°C) | 72°/52°F (22.3°/10.9°C) |
| Oct | 61°/47°F (16.3°/8.1°C) | 60°/40°F (15.4°/4.2°C) |
| Nov | 51°/38°F (10.8°/3.3°C) | 48°/31°F (8.8°/-0.3°C) |
| Dec | 41°/28°F (5.1°/-2.1°C) | 36°/21°F (2.1°/-6.0°C) |
Data:
National Weather Service
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it cheaper to live in New York than Massachusetts?
Generally yes: New York runs about 6% cheaper than Massachusetts on average, though it depends heavily on the city.
How much money do I need to move to New York?
A safe rule of thumb is 3 months of local expenses plus relocation costs. On a $75,000 comparable salary, that's around $17,672 in New York for everyday spending, before movers, a truck rental, and a rental deposit.
Is New York safe?
Massachusetts performs better than New York across all safety metrics.
How is healthcare in New York compared to Massachusetts?
Massachusetts performs better than New York across all health & wellbeing metrics.
What's the weather like in New York compared to Massachusetts?
The average high temperature in Albany is 58°F, compared to 59°F in Boston. Albany receives around 39.4 in of rainfall per year, while Boston gets 43.8 in.
