What is the cost of living/housing like in Boston?

Question

I've been looking at Boston as a potential city to move to at some point in the future. I'm just interested in figuring out what the cost of living is. I keep reading on forums that the house prices are astronomical but I don't know what perspective people are coming from, ie what sort of work they do, or where they lived before, so I don't know how seriously to take that.

I currently live in London, which has the 5th highest cost of living in the world. Boston is 84th on this particular survey (http://www.finfacts.com/costofliving2006.htm) so I'm quite confident that it would be cheaper than I'm used to!

But I'm wondering if anyone could give me more information about house prices (ie average price of family home in Boston or a nice suburb) and whether the salaries paid in Boston somewhat reflect the prices.

I'd be interested in hearing from anyone with a personal experience of living in Boston, how manageable you find it living there?

Answer 1

Housing prices in Boston proper and most of the near-in communities are very high. Even in ghetto areas prices can easily exceed $250,000. In the better suburbs such as Newton, Wellesley, Framingham, Natick, Braintree, Quincy you can expect to pay well above that. In the primo bedroom community suburbs such as Sherborn, Dover, Acton, Boxborough you can easily exceed $750k for a decent place.

I grew up in Brighton, a mid-level district. We sold our home, a 15 room Victorian, in 1971 for $53,000. It's now worth well in excess of $1.5 million. Passable apartments in Allston-Brighton will run you at least $1,200 for a small one-bedroom and you can easily top $2,000 for a nice two-bedroom with a reserved parking space. Fancy Waterfront properties can run 5 times that much.

Everything is relative. If your income is high enough you can afford it easily. I now live in a small Midwest city and live like a king on an upper 5-figure income. I'd be a pauper in Boston in the better neighborhoods and suburbs. My income would have to be at least 2.5 times what it is now to enjoy the same lifestyle and have a similar disposable income. Sadly the only offers I've received are about 50% more than I'm now making, effectively killing the option of moving back home.

Answer 2

definite, once you're coming from London then it is going to possibly be extra fee-effective than what you're used to. I grew up interior the Washington D.C. section, that's additionally between the costliest cities interior the country, so for me it wasn't too a good number of a marvel moving right here. yet for somebody moving from the middle of the country, as an occasion, this is heavily extra to stay right here. a house could fee $500,000 actually in a severe-high quality suburb or a severe-high quality area of Boston - you are able to locate a small house or a smaller domicile for extra fee-effective than that, and of direction the community makes a distinction interior the fee besides (and additionally going further from downtown Boston). Salaries listed right here are extra effective than many places interior the country yet regrettably no longer as plenty while in comparison with the fee of residing because it fairly is in some places. yet returned, coming from London consistent with threat you have the comparable subject.