To preserve the same standard of living you have today in Washington on $75,000, you would need $79,934 in Boston. That is a +6.6% composite shift; the line-item breakdown below shows where the gap actually concentrates. Source: C2ER ACCRA, BLS CPI weights.
The equivalent-salary calculation scales your Washington salary by the ratio of the two composite indexes (162 ÷ 152 = 1.066). It answers "how much do I need to earn in Boston to maintain the same consumer-spending power I have today in Washington?"
| Washington salary | Equivalent in Boston | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $53,289 | +$3,289 |
| $75,000 | $79,934 | +$4,934 |
| $150,000 | $159,868 | +$9,868 |
The C2ER ACCRA composite index aggregates five spending categories. Looking at them individually shows where the Washington-to-Boston gap actually comes from — the headline number is an average that compresses larger category-level differences. National average for each sub-index is 100.
| Category | Washington | Boston | Delta |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing Rent + median home price | 199 | 215 | +8.0% |
| Groceries Supermarket basket | 110 | 110 | +0.0% |
| Transportation Fuel, transit, parking | 118 | 116 | -1.7% |
| Healthcare Doctor visits, prescriptions | 100 | 122 | +22.0% |
| Utilities Electric, gas, internet | 115 | 138 | +20.0% |
| Composite | 152 | 162 | +6.6% |
Washington, DC versus Boston, MA: the composite cost-of-living index difference is about +7%, putting the move in the "lateral" zone where lifestyle, climate, career, and tax factors usually outweigh pure cost considerations. At this scale of gap, the noise inside the index (sampling variation, year-over-year price drift, individual basket differences) is roughly the same size as the signal between the two cities.
What is worth checking: are there meaningful state-tax differences between District of Columbia and Massachusetts? Is the housing sub-index gap larger or smaller than the composite gap, indicating that the categories you actually spend on diverge from the average mix? The sidebar and the tables below break out these dimensions so you can stress-test whether the lateral classification holds for your specific situation.
Income tax is a separate axis from the cost-of-living index, and District of Columbia and Massachusetts can disagree on it sharply. 8.50% versus 5.00% on the top-marginal or flat state rate translates to $6,375 versus $3,750 on a $75,000 salary, a $2,625 delta that stacks with the consumer-price story.
Plug your real numbers into the take-home pay calculator to see the after-tax difference at your filing status and salary. Federal withholding is constant; the state side is what changes when you cross state lines. See the take-home pay calculator or the state-by-state take-home pay article for the precise after-tax number.
Yes. The composite cost-of-living index for Boston, MA is 162, compared with 152 for Washington, DC. That puts Boston roughly 7% above Washington on the C2ER ACCRA composite, with housing accounting for the majority of the gap. Groceries, transportation, and utilities follow the same direction at smaller magnitudes.
Roughly $79,934 per year in Boston matches what $75,000 buys in Washington, based on the C2ER ACCRA composite ratio of 1.07. The result is pre-tax — add the state-tax delta from the sidebar for the full after-tax comparison.
Look at housing first. Washington sits at 199 on the housing sub-index; Boston sits at 215. The other four categories (groceries 110 vs 110, transport 118 vs 116, utilities 115 vs 138) all move smaller absolute distances and rarely dominate the composite.
No — the composite cost-of-living index focuses on consumer prices and does not include state income tax. The state-tax sidebar on this page handles that adjustment separately. District of Columbia's flat or top-marginal state rate is layered against Massachusetts's, and the gap can be several thousand dollars per year at a typical salary level. Stack the consumer-price equivalence with the state-tax delta for the full after-tax picture.