What is the cost of living in Worcester?

Worcester has a Regional Price Parity (RPP) of 102.5, where 100 represents the national average. Housing costs index at 113.0, which is above the national average. The average 2-bedroom rent is $1,749/month.

What is the median salary in Worcester?

The median salary in Worcester is $79,342 annually (mean: $82,251). Top occupations include Home Health and Personal Care Aides, Registered Nurses, Retail Salespersons.

How safe is Worcester?

The violent crime rate in the Worcester area is 309 per 100,000 population (state-level data). Property crime rate is 1101 per 100K.

What are the schools like in Worcester?

The state of MA has 1,831 schools (state-level data, no metro-level federal count exists) with an average student-teacher ratio of 11.9:1. About 62.4% are Title I schools. Charter schools make up 4.2% of all schools.

How much does childcare cost in Worcester?

Infant center-based childcare in the Worcester area averages $20,571 per year. Preschool averages $14,656/year. These are state-level averages.

Is Worcester a good place to relocate?

Worcester has a Life Score of 35.7/100 (F), based on 7 of 7 available dimensions among cost of living, wages, rent, crime, schools, childcare, and environment (missing dims omitted, weights renormalized). This places Worcester in the bottom decile of scored metros; compare individual dimensions to see where the biggest gaps are.

Where does Worcester sit among US metros on LiveAbility?

According to PlainRelocate's LiveAbility composite, Worcester ranks #130 of 387 scored US metros by LiveAbility Score (highest score = #1). That ordinal matches the /rankings/livability listing. See /methodology#corpus-placement for the exact sort basis.

Relocation profile · Federal data

Worcester, MA

BEA RPP 102.5 ranks #337 of 387 scored metros for higher prices (dearer third).

Compiled by PlainRelocate · June 15, 2026

102.5
Cost index (US=100): $1,749
2BR rent / mo: $79,342
Median salary: 55.1
LiveAbility Score

The verdict

As of June 2026, Worcester ranks #130 of 387 US metros on the LiveAbility Score (55.1/100), with its strongest marks in job market and schools.

#130
of 387 US metros · Above median: 7,136,171
metro-area population: 309
violent crimes per 100K (state-level): 1,831
schools in the state (NCES)

Weakest dimension: cost of living (13/100). Weigh every dimension against your own priorities, use the City Finder to re-rank by what matters to you.

According to PlainRelocate's LiveAbility composite (BEA, BLS, HUD, FBI, NCES, EPA, NOAA, and FEMA inputs), Worcester ranks #130 of 387 scored US metros by LiveAbility Score (highest score = #1). Cost-of-living index 102.5 (100 = national average), median 2-bedroom rent $1,749/mo, median salary $79,342; LiveAbility Score 55.1/100, strongest in job market and schools.

Signature: BEA RPP 102.5 ranks #337 of 387 scored metros for higher prices (dearer third).

Purchasing power tightens: BEA RPP 102.5 lands in the dearer third of scored metros (cuts at 91.5 / 97.0). Median 2BR rent $1,749/mo.

LiveAbility 55.1/100 puts Worcester in the top third (#130 of 387).

BLS OEWS total employment in the Worcester area is 337,180.

Worcester vs all US metros by LiveAbility Score

Where this metro's LiveAbility Score falls among every scored US metro (composite placement, not a desirability verdict)

55 Top 34% higher than 66% of 387 US metros

Metros banded by LiveAbility Score (0–100)

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more US metros. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source PlainRelocate LiveAbility Score · June 2026

Worcester housing and rent

HUD Fair Market Rents for the Worcester MSA; housing RPP 113.0 (100 = national average); 2BR $1,749/mo.

Studio

$1,206

/month

1 Bedroom

$1,410

/month

2 Bedroom

$1,749

/month

3 Bedroom

$2,247

/month

4 Bedroom

$2,637

/month

Worcester wages and employment

Worcester posts 337,180 total employment with median salary $79,342 against a dearer-than-average RPP.

Median Salary

$79,342

Mean Salary

$82,251

Total Employment

337,180

Top Occupations by Employment

Occupation	Median Salary
Home Health and Personal Care Aides	$40,870
Registered Nurses	$100,240
Retail Salespersons	$36,220
Fast Food and Counter Workers	$34,610
General and Operations Managers	$111,900

Schools & Education

State-level education data for the Worcester area from NCES.

Schools

1,831

Enrollment

918,103

Student:Teacher

11.9:1

Title I %

62.4%

Childcare Costs

State-average childcare costs for the Worcester area (DOL data).

Infant (Center)

$20,571

per year

Toddler (Center)

$18,516

per year

Preschool (Center)

$14,656

per year

Life Score Breakdown

Worcester's composite Life Score is 35.7/100 (F), computed across 7 of 7 dimensions.

Cost

13/100

Bottom decile

Wages

93/100

Elite

Rent

17/100

Bottom decile

Crime

51/100

Average

Schools

11/100

Bottom decile

Childcare

0/100

Bottom decile

Environment

30/100

Weak

LiveAbility Score

View full rankings →

Worcester ranks #130 out of 387 metros with a LiveAbility Score of 55.1/100 - a composite of 8 of 8 quality-of-life dimensions from federal data. Customize the weights to match your priorities →

Strongest dimension: Job market (93/100)

Job market

93
Schools

89
Low hazard

89
Air quality

84
Safety

51
Climate

25
Housing

17
Cost of living

13

What this shows Worcester's strongest dimensions are job market and schools; its weakest among scored dims is cost of living at 13/100. Default weights: cost 18%, jobs & housing 15% each, safety & schools 12%, air & hazard 10%, climate 8%.

Compare Worcester to

San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles Sandusky Santa Cruz-Watsonville Santa Fe Santa Maria-Santa Barbara Santa Rosa-Petaluma

Metros near Worcester on cost, LiveAbility, or wages

Nearest out-of-state neighbors to Worcester on BEA RPP, LiveAbility, or BLS median salary, a different lens than the size-ranked list.

Similar cost of living (BEA RPP)

Similar LiveAbility score

† No air quality reading on file for this metro, so its score is built from fewer than all 8 dimensions: the missing dimension is omitted and the remaining weights renormalized. It is not directly comparable with a full 8-dimension score.

Source: BEA Regional Price Parities, HUD Fair Market Rents, BLS OES, FBI UCR, NCES, DOL, EPA June 2026

Worcester cost figures follow BEA Regional Price Parities and HUD Fair Market Rents; Worcester wages and LiveAbility inputs follow BLS OEWS plus the federal sources listed in methodology. This information is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. Scores are federal-data percentiles, not a move recommendation. How this data is sourced.

Verify with BEA → · Verify with BLS → · Verify with HUD → · Verify with NOAA → · Verify with FEMA → · Verify with Census →

Thinking about Worcester?

Here is where Worcester stands: a $79,342 median salary, a 102.5 cost index and a LiveAbility rank of #130 of 387.

See exactly what Worcester's pay and cost figures mean for your own budget. Salary calculator
Line Worcester up against another city, dimension by dimension. Compare Worcester
Abilene is the nearest related metro in this corpus, and the two are easy to compare. Abilene profile
When cost and LiveAbility disagree, the guide shows how to weigh the trade-off. Cost vs quality guide

Federal-data percentiles for cost, salary and score; they are not a recommendation to move.