Birmingham vs Boston - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Birmingham	Boston
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2204	$3680
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5203	$8143
🏠 One person rent	$1254	$2555
🏘️ Family rent	$1947	$4103
🍽️ Food expenses	$557	$749
🚐 Transport expenses	$225	$146
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3956	$6248
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	5 km
🎓 Higher education	96	100
😀 Quality of life	95	91
🏙️ Population	1.14M	676K

The cost of living in Birmingham is 40% less expensive than in Boston. Cities ranked 1471st and 27th ($2204 vs $3680) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 57th and 21st in the United Kingdom and the United States, respectively. Check the United Kingdom vs the United States comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.8 months in Birmingham compared to 1.7 months in Boston. Birmingham ranked 2nd best city to live in the United Kingdom vs Boston ranked 20th in the United States, while ranked 25th and 105th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Share this picture

Use the link below to embed the infographic from our site and automatically keep the data layer up to date.

If you prefer to download the image, please credit us as a source.

<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/birmingham/boston.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Birmingham vs Boston infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/birmingham/boston" target="_blank">Birmingham vs Boston - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Birmingham vs Boston

Prices for goods and services in Birmingham and Boston are partly crowdsourced by our visitors, just like yourself. Please consider telling us about your city.

	Birmingham	Boston
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$18.5	$24.8
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$74.4	$102
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.68	$12
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$7.08	$8.02
☕ Cappuccino	$5	$5.38
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.57	$2.8
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1251	$2870
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$940	$2200
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2007	$5120
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1484	$3473
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$207	$144
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$314	$224
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$45	$77.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.11%	6.34%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5467	$12808
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4236	$6220
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$4	$2.39
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$94.8	$90.7
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$24.4	$17.9
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.99	$0.93
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.81	$1.14
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.69	$3.58
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.14	$5.32
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.59	$5.77
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.9	$14.7
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.16	$13.2
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.9	$18.8
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.58	$5.92
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.81	$1.89
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.47	$5.58
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.39	$5.74
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.53	$4.32
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.76	$3.19
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.05	$1.84
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.23	$2.94
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$12.5	$16.6
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.43	$2.98
🚬 Cigarette pack	$21	$13
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$10.5	$6.53
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.83	$6.96
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$4.81	$4
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.96	$1.99
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$34.9	$89.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14.9	$15.9
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$110	$192
💇 Haircut, simple	$15.1	$27.8
👖 Brand Jeans	$98.2	$73.4
👟 Brand Sneakers	$107	$116
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1631	$2859
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$24178	$26444

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Birmingham

Distance	City	Cost of living
4.7 km or 2.9 mi	Smethwick	$1959
6.8 km or 4.2 mi	West Bromwich	$1914
11 km or 6.6 mi	Halesowen	$1894
12 km or 7.2 mi	Solihull	$2080
12 km or 7.6 mi	Walsall	$1798
14 km or 8.7 mi	Dudley	$1788
14 km or 8.7 mi	Aldridge	$1875
15 km or 9.6 mi	Willenhall	$1862
17 km or 10 mi	Stourbridge	$1825
19 km or 12 mi	Wolverhampton	$1838
19 km or 12 mi	Bromsgrove	$1891
20 km or 12 mi	Redditch	$1745
22 km or 14 mi	Tamworth	$1910
25 km or 15 mi	Cannock	$1885
26 km or 16 mi	Kidderminster	$1888
27 km or 17 mi	Coventry	$1971
30 km or 19 mi	Nuneaton	$1756
31 km or 19 mi	Warwick	$2015
32 km or 20 mi	Leamington Spa	$2158
35 km or 22 mi	Stratford-upon-Avon	$1894
37 km or 23 mi	Hinckley	$1876
39 km or 24 mi	Worcester	$1729
39 km or 24 mi	Stafford	$1870
40 km or 25 mi	Burton upon Trent	$1763
43 km or 27 mi	Telford	$1627
45 km or 28 mi	Rugby	$1833
55 km or 34 mi	Leicester	$1777
57 km or 35 mi	Derby	$1748
57 km or 35 mi	Loughborough	$1887
60 km or 37 mi	Banbury	$1820
61 km or 38 mi	Stoke-on-Trent	$1710
63 km or 39 mi	Shrewsbury	$1763
63 km or 39 mi	Newcastle-under-Lyme	$1535
66 km or 41 mi	Cheltenham	$1928
66 km or 41 mi	Market Harborough	$1917
70 km or 44 mi	Leek	$1827
72 km or 45 mi	Gloucester	$1889
73 km or 45 mi	Hereford	$1897
73 km or 46 mi	Nottingham	$1990
73 km or 46 mi	Northampton	$1886

Cities near Boston

Distance	City	Cost of living
4 km or 2.5 mi	Cambridge	$3862
4.4 km or 2.7 mi	Chelsea	$3168
4.5 km or 2.8 mi	Somerville	$3685
5.6 km or 3.5 mi	Everett	$3012
5.7 km or 3.5 mi	Brookline	$3170
6.9 km or 4.3 mi	Revere	$3028
7.4 km or 4.6 mi	Malden	$3009
7.6 km or 4.7 mi	Medford	$2712
10 km or 6.2 mi	Belmont	$3028
10 km or 6.2 mi	Arlington	$2977
10 km or 6.2 mi	Watertown	$3000
11 km or 6.9 mi	Melrose	$2914
12 km or 7.5 mi	Milton	$3038
12 km or 7.5 mi	Winchester	$2866
12 km or 7.7 mi	Newton	$2910
13 km or 7.8 mi	Saugus	$2866
13 km or 8.1 mi	Quincy	$3232
14 km or 8.6 mi	Stoneham	$2845
14 km or 8.9 mi	Waltham	$2886
15 km or 9.4 mi	Lynn	$2783
15 km or 9.5 mi	Woburn	$2759
16 km or 9.6 mi	Dedham	$2959
16 km or 10 mi	Needham	$2901
16 km or 10 mi	Lexington	$2794
16 km or 10 mi	Wakefield	$2851
18 km or 11 mi	Braintree	$3007
18 km or 11 mi	Weymouth	$3005
19 km or 12 mi	Reading	$2796
19 km or 12 mi	Hingham	$2963
20 km or 12 mi	Burlington	$2420
20 km or 13 mi	Wellesley	$2828
21 km or 13 mi	Norwood	$2906
22 km or 14 mi	Peabody	$2867
22 km or 14 mi	Randolph	$2923
22 km or 14 mi	Salem	$3022
23 km or 14 mi	Wilmington	$2636
23 km or 14 mi	Marblehead	$2855
23 km or 14 mi	Canton	$2900
25 km or 16 mi	Natick	$2890
26 km or 16 mi	Stoughton	$2890