According to the most recent data on the cost of living, Cambridge has an overall cost of living index of 172 which is 1.7x higher than the national index of 100.
Compared to only Massachusetts, Cambridge has a cost of living index that's 1.3x higher than Massachusetts's index of 132.
The standard of living in Cambridge ranks as #6,154 most affordable out of the 6,418 places we measured in Massachusetts. By definition, that implies Cambridge ranks as the #264 most expensive place in the Bay State.
Living Expense | Cambridge | Massachusetts | National Average | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Overall | 172 | 132 | 100 | |
Services | 126 | 119 | 100 | |
Groceries | 113 | 112 | 100 | |
Health | 119 | 123 | 100 | |
Housing | 293 | 164 | 100 | |
Transportation | 108 | 109 | 100 | |
Utilities | 122 | 116 | 100 |
Housing swings affordability the most between places in Massachusetts, so we broke down the statistics around housing costs into more detail. It's also important to consider median household incomes to make apples-to-apples comparisons across locations.
Home and income come data comes from the most recent US Census ACS 2014-2018.
Statistic | Cambridge | Massachusetts | United States |
---|---|---|---|
Median Home Value | $843,100 | $398,800 | $229,800 |
Median Rent | $2,293 | $1,336 | $1,096 |
Median Income | $107,490 | $84,385 | $64,994 |
Home Value To Income | 7.8x | 4.7x | 3.5x |
Rent To Monthly Income | 0.26x | 0.19x | 0.2x |
Item | Cambridge | Massachusetts |
---|---|---|
Shampoo | $1.0 | $1.06 |
Movie | $14.43 | $10.68 |
Bowling | $21.0 | $14.67 |
Item | Cambridge | Massachusetts |
---|---|---|
Ground Beef | $3.74 | $4.22 |
Fried Chicken | $1.64 | $1.39 |
Milk | $2.27 | $2.05 |
Item | Cambridge | Massachusetts |
---|---|---|
Haircut | $34.97 | $18.62 |
Beauty Salon | $64.17 | $39.05 |
Toothpaste | $2.3 | $2.34 |
Item | Cambridge | Massachusetts |
---|---|---|
Potatoes | $4.02 | $3.29 |
Pizza | $11.16 | $10.62 |
Beer | $9.29 | $9.38 |
Optometrist | $102.75 | $108.57 |
Doctor | $194.0 | $116.17 |
Dentist | $108.27 | $99.13 |
Item | Cambridge | Massachusetts |
---|---|---|
Gasoline | $2.19 | $2.22 |
Tire Balancing | $64.47 | $50.07 |
All Electricity | $233.87 | $167.67 |
Phone | $181.11 | $175.64 |
City | Population | Cost Of Living | Vs. Cambridge |
---|---|---|---|
Newton, MA | 88,322 | 192 | 1.1x |
Somerville, MA | 81,175 | 158 | 0.9x |
Malden, MA | 60,710 | 137 | 0.8x |
Brookline, MA | 59,223 | 191 | 1.1x |
Medford, MA | 58,290 | 147 | 0.9x |
Everett, MA | 46,275 | 137 | 0.8x |
Arlington, MA | 45,379 | 162 | 0.9x |
Chelsea, MA | 39,878 | 127 | 0.7x |
Lexington, MA | 33,304 | 190 | 1.1x |
Needham, MA | 31,177 | 180 | 1.0x |