Massachusetts is not uniformly expensive. This is what actually costs more, where in the state it costs more, and what a household has to earn to cover it.
Right of 100 means things cost more than the national average; higher up means people earn more. States in the top-right earn their way past their own cost of living — states in the bottom-right do not.
Top ten states by nominal income, with the same states' price-adjusted income beside them.
US = 100. These are the only five categories the BEA publishes.
Rank out of 50 states, 1 = most expensive.
Each category indexed to the national average of the same year, so a rising line means Massachusetts is pulling away from the rest of the country.
BEA Regional Price Parities for every metro area covering part of Massachusetts. US = 100.
MIT Living Wage Calculator for Massachusetts — a bare-adequacy budget, not a comfortable one. The dashed line is the state median household income.
Every figure on this page is listed with its source in the Cost of Living section of the method.