Massachusetts: RPP components
BEA 2024 regional context; each category is compared with its own U.S. = 100 benchmark. These are not county price estimates or spending shares.
Black marker: U.S. benchmark = 100 in each row.
LivingCostFacts / state
Massachusetts cost of living
Massachusetts has an all-items price parity of 105.8 on the U.S. = 100 scale. Compare the statewide picture with county rents and metro price levels.
BEA 2024 · HUD FY2027 · ACS 2020–2024 · CPI through 2026-10
105.8
All-items price level
BEA 2024; U.S. = 100
$103,960
Median household income
ACS 2020–2024
$562,100
Median home value
Owner-occupied homes, ACS 2020–2024
$2,566
Typical 2BR benchmark
Population-weighted county FMR, FY2027
Read the local picture
Regional Price Parities (RPPs) compare prices across places in the same year. An index of 110 means prices are 10% above the U.S. level; 90 means 10% below. RPP measures relative price levels, while CPI measures price change over time.
Put the benchmark in context
Fair Market Rent (FMR) is HUD’s estimate of the 40th percentile gross rent for standard-quality rental homes occupied by recent movers. It includes rent and most tenant-paid utilities. A household’s actual rent can differ substantially by neighborhood, lease and property.
Monthly rent by bedroom
HUD FY2027 gross monthly FMR; includes most tenant-paid utilities. Dollars per month.
Income after benchmark rent is $73,169 a year: ACS median household income minus 12 months of the population-weighted 2BR FMR. This is a comparison between separate datasets and periods, before taxes and all other expenses; it is not disposable income.
The data in view
Price levels relative to the U.S.
BEA RPP, U.S. = 100 each year. This is not an inflation index.
View chart data
| Period or category | Value |
|---|---|
| 2008 | 106.0 |
| 2009 | 105.5 |
| 2010 | 104.8 |
| 2011 | 104.7 |
| 2012 | 104.5 |
| 2013 | 103.3 |
| 2014 | 104.5 |
| 2015 | 105.1 |
| 2016 | 108.2 |
| 2017 | 107.4 |
| 2018 | 107.4 |
| 2019 | 107.2 |
| 2020 | 109.1 |
| 2021 | 106.7 |
| 2022 | 109.4 |
| 2023 | 107.7 |
| 2024 | 105.8 |
Price levels by category
Each category has its own U.S. benchmark of 100. Components are indexes, not spending shares.
| Category | 2024 RPP |
|---|---|
| All items | 105.8 |
| Goods | 98.8 |
| Housing rents | 128.1 |
| Utilities | 152.1 |
| Other services | 102.9 |
Monthly Fair Market Rent by bedroom
HUD 40th percentile gross rent for standard-quality units; includes tenant-paid utilities except telephone, cable and internet. These are benchmarks, not asking-rent medians.
| Home size | FY2027 monthly gross rent |
|---|---|
| Studio | $1,994 |
| 1 bedroom | $2,087 |
| 2 bedrooms | $2,566 |
| 3 bedrooms | $3,111 |
| 4 bedrooms | $3,453 |
County cost comparison
Income: ACS 2020–2024. Rent: HUD FY2027. Rent / income = 12 × 2BR FMR ÷ median household income; it does not measure actual renter burden.
| County or equivalent | 2BR rent / month | Median household income | Rent / income |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barnstable County | $2,488 | $95,241 | 31.3% |
| Berkshire County | $1,726 | $76,013 | 27.3% |
| Bristol County | $1,928 | $85,625 | 27.0% |
| Dukes County | $2,010 | $125,786 | 19.2% |
| Essex County | $2,761 | $101,883 | 32.5% |
| Franklin County | $1,882 | $74,907 | 30.1% |
| Hampden County | $1,800 | $71,306 | 30.3% |
| Hampshire County | $2,034 | $87,001 | 28.1% |
| Middlesex County | $2,884 | $130,847 | 26.5% |
| Nantucket County | $3,583 | $139,688 | 30.8% |
| Norfolk County | $3,004 | $130,739 | 27.6% |
| Plymouth County | $2,713 | $114,201 | 28.5% |
| Suffolk County | $3,008 | $95,631 | 37.7% |
| Worcester County | $2,057 | $95,939 | 25.7% |
Metros with member counties in Massachusetts
BEA 2024, U.S. = 100. Rent is a population-weighted mean of member-county benchmarks where available.
| Metro area | All-items RPP | Housing RPP | 2BR rent / month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amherst Town-Northampton, MA | 100.2 | 97.5 | $2,034 |
| Barnstable Town, MA | 98.4 | 90.0 | $2,488 |
| Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH | 108.3 | 148.4 | $2,823 |
| Pittsfield, MA | 95.1 | 73.5 | $1,726 |
| Providence-Warwick, RI-MA | 101.8 | 103.9 | $1,917 |
| Springfield, MA | 96.1 | 75.8 | $1,800 |
| Worcester, MA | 102.5 | 113.0 | $2,057 |