Massachusetts

Evaluating Massachusetts as a relocation target starts with the statewide BEA Regional Price Parity of 105.8 - where 100 is the national average, so every point above or below translates to percent-level cost of living difference. Housing costs in Massachusetts index at 128.1, goods at 98.8, and services at 152.1. HUD Fair Market Rents averaged across Massachusetts counties put a 2-bedroom at $2,261/month, the figure HUD uses to cap Section 8 voucher payments, so it reflects real submarket rents rather than listings bias.

On the income side, BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics report a statewide median salary of $81,220 with a mean of $85,161 across 3,559,020 tracked jobs. For safety context, FBI UCR data shows a violent crime rate of 309 per 100,000 residents and a property crime rate of 1101 per 100K. These state-level reads let you benchmark Massachusetts against both your origin state and national medians before zooming into specific metros.

Family and education costs often decide a move. Department of Labor data for Massachusetts shows center-based infant care running $20,571/year, preschool at $14,656/year, and toddler care at $18,516/year. Massachusetts contains 6 metropolitan statistical areas in our dataset - Amherst Town-Northampton, Barnstable Town, Boston-Cambridge-Newton and more - each with its own rent, wage and crime profile that can diverge sharply from the statewide average. The composite Life Score of 32.6/100 (F) folds all seven federal sources into one number for quick comparison.