[arel]

Someone told me a few days ago that not only are salaries higher in Boston than in Vermont, but that the cost of living in Boston is actually lower.

Is this true?

I find it hard to believe that the cost of living in a big city is lower than that of a rural area, but Vermont is known to be an expensive place to live.

I know that my question is general, but I'm still interested in people's comments.

[vter]

I lived in Boston for 6 ish years from 1997-2003 so it's been a while but I found that the cost of living between Boston and Vermont to be about the same. My rent was the same (though I had my own place in VT vs having a roommate), insurance, food etc was about the same. My salary in VT when I first moved back was about 10K lower than what I was making in Boston. I spent more money in Boston because I ate out and shopped a lot (lots of opportunity for that there) for fun. I don't spend nearly as much $$$ up here as my fun is spent outdoors hiking, kayaking etc. It was really a wash for me.

[Vermonr]

I'm renting in Burlington and some friends of mine are going to be renting in Boston- their rent will be significantly more expensive than a relative place in Burlington. But from the pictures it looks like they found a place better maintained than any I've seen up here for that price. Salaries are usually higher in Boston.

Cost of living depends. I don't think that basic necessities are more expensive, like groceries and other items, but my guess is that transportation might be more expensive in Boston. As vter said luxury items and amusement is more expensive in Boston, whereas Burlington has more free, outdoorsy things to do.

Property is incredibly expensive in Vermont given how rural it is. Compared to other places in the Northeast though I don't think purchased goods are more costly (save for maybe some items that are difficult to ship up here, like exotic fruit).

[jamesia]

Can a 1 bedroom apartment be found in Boston for less than $800? I would be surprised.

I think Vermont housing is a little cheaper. Salaries are definitely lower.

[kaw1972]

Cost of living really does depend on what is important to you. I've lived cheaply in VT, NH, and Boston/Cam/Som AND I've also lived a more spendy lifestyle in both.

If you are a young, single, childless person, which is the vibe I'm getting from this thread, and you're not into the whole "back to the land" simple country lifestyle, you probably can live for less in the Boston area than most parts of VT, particularly if you find roommates or some kind of shared housing. Based on personal experience in both I think it's easier to find some kind of work in Boston metro than in VT, and for most jobs, the wages will be higher in Boston. I moved away and came back a few times, and had no problem picking up temp gigs and finding roomates before settling in to a proper search. Employers in Boston were more receptive to travel, and job hopping than in VT, IME.

I've only held one semi- professional job in VT---I worked at SIT in Brattleboro. It was a great place to work, but when I loved back to Boston, my salary for a comparable position nearly doubled. I'm always kind of stunned to hear how poorly jobs in the S. VT/NH area pay, BUT I know that salaries are kind of stagnant right now in Boston too. I'm not sure how Burlington compares, but suspect your chances are still probably better in Boston, generally speaking.

You might need to spend more initially, but as late as 2003, I had a share where I paid less than $500 a month. I had paid $900 a few years before that, just down the street, with a different roommate because the internet boom made housing costs spike and the demand for any kind of housing was insane. (It has mellowed out again, but not to where it once was.) In the mid 1990s, I lived in a fairly decent 3 bdr apartment with 2 friends and paid $262 for my share. (the tech boom ended those kinds of deals forever.....LOL) IME, the longer I lived in the Boston area, the easier it was to find the deals. (This might also be true in Burlington. It's not "weird" to be 40 and single and have roommates in Boston/Cambridge/Somerville, though. I don't know if that holds true for Burlington, but I know it wouldn't in Southern VT where I grew up. I lived in VT for a year when I was 27, and everyone around was married with kids.) In the late 1990s during my stint back in VT, my rent was actually higher, but as a pp noted, this was based on having my own apartment vs sharing.

I doubt you will ever find anything like those deals now, but I still have friends who live cheaply in the Boston area. One couple did live just outside of Davis Square in Somerville and actually did pay only $800 a month for a 1 bedroom until very recently. I also remember driving out to Watertown last year and seeing signs on lawns and posters for affordable rentals. The deals are not as likely to be on Craigslist, or via realtors. You're looking for owner occupied multi-families, and maybe even situations where the owner rents out to housemates. For example, my former next door neighbor owned her place outright and rented rooms in her house in the $500 range last year. This was in a nice, but not fancy, neighborhood, again in Somerville. You're probably not going to find Harvard Square, the Back Bay, to fall under "low cost of living" in Boston.

If you don't mind riding a bus vs the subway, or riding a bus or walking to a subway, you're going to have lower rent, in general, so factor that in as well when comparing VT to Boston. Where you live and work in the Boston area matters a lot more than it might seem.

IME, groceries and transportation were both less expensive and MUCH more nicer in Boston area. No one in the small NH town where I am currently living believes this, but it is true, even when I compare the same chain here to the same chain in Boston. I'm assuming more competition and faster turnover mean better quality and lower prices, so again suspect Burlington is different than say, Springfield, VT, in this regard.

Also? Boston and the surrounding burbs have FANTASTIC thrift stores. I miss the HUGE Goodwill and Goodwill Outlet in Roxbury and Global Thrift out in Watertown. I found unbelievable deals on books, clothes, etc. in both to resell and for myself and my child. As an example, my son has all kinds of Oilily and other normally expensive clothing that still had tags and was under $2 a piece. I found all kinds of high end denim for under $10, and signed first editions of books for 99 cents. I've NEVER had that sort of luck in VT or NH. Occasionally I'll find something interesting, but nothing like the finds in Boston.


I've owned cars in both and owning a car was much less expensive and much less of a hassle in VT. I've also been car free in both. In Boston, no one noticed. In my small NH bordering VT town? I'm an oddity, and I am more than slightly afraid to cross the street lest a jacked up pick up mow me down. I suspect Burlington is more like Boston in that regard. :-)

Many places I worked in Boston subsidized T passes, which was nice. Does Burlington have Zipcar now? I'm not as familar with public transportation and alternative transportation in Burlington, but would love to know for my own reasons. If you like to travel, I suspect Logan is going to have a lot more variety and better deals than Burlington's airport. There are also the cheap and somewhat infamous "Chinatown buses", which run from Boston to NYC and to Philly, DC, etc.

There was always a lot of free stuff to do in Boston, but I suspect that's probably true in Burlington as well. And no doubt you could spend a lot of $$$ going out in either city.

If you want to own a place, hands down VT is going to be less expensive,barring some really unusual luck in Boston, or if you simply must own a castle in Woodstock, etc. I think of how much the fixer-upper condo I last lived in in the Boston area cost, and let's just say if I search that range in most of VT, I could own a really nice place, with land, and have trouble hitting that mark. I could even own a nice house in Burlington, if I had that same amount to spend.

[kaw1972]

I confused your post with the other VTer who is renting in Burlington.

The rest of my lengthy babble holds true though.

[arctichomesteader]

Vermont's economy is comparable to the rust belt states, but the cost of living probably isn't that far below Boston's, primarily because of a real estate market that has little connection to the local economy.