2025 Compare Cities Cost of Living:
Boston, MA vs Fairfax, VA

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Highlights
Is it cheaper to live in Fairfax or is it cheaper to live in Boston?
- Fairfax is 5.6% less expensive than Boston.

Which city has more affordable housing, Fairfax or Boston?
- Fairfax housing costs are 2.1% less expensive than Boston housing costs.

Is Health Care more affordable in Boston or is Health Care more affordable in Fairfax.
- Health related expenses are 14.5% more in Fairfax.
 Boston, MAFairfax, VAUnited States
 Overall  Unlock142.4100
 Food & Groceries111.4  Unlock100
 Health  Unlock102.7100
 Housing228.7  Unlock100
 Median Home Cost  Unlock$654,200$338,100
 Utilities117  Unlock100
 Transportation  Unlock127.6100
 Miscellaneous157.9  Unlock100
100 = National Average (Below 100 means cheaper than the US average. Above 100 means more expensive.)
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Reviews for Boston    122 Reviews

Over 2 years ago

health care in the country, plenty of jobs, gorgeous architecture, cool neighborhoods, lots of great restaurants, and always something to do. The beautiful coast, the  More

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I've lived in/near Boston my whole life almost. It has many pros such as a big city feel, extremely safe, reliable train transportation, great food. However any pro  More

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I moved to MA from the country of Georgia in eastern Europe. Then traveled quite a bit in the U.S. Boston definitely has its own flavor. Suburbs offer okay schools,  More

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Reviews for Fairfax    28 Reviews

I lived in the area for 17 years through high school until I eventually became a truck driver. Having now seen most states extensively, I wanted to fairly review what  More

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Living in Fairfax, or any of the Northern Virginia suburbs of DC, means dealing with highways that are a Gordian knot of converging lanes and overpasses, making long  More

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Over 10 years ago

The Cost of living here is high. Though the standard of living is also high, unless you're making over 50,000/year, it's difficult to both live and build any sort of  More

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