COMPARE COST OF LIVING

Montgomery County, PA→Essex County, MA

Equivalent salary in Essex County, MA

$52,175

+4.35% higher

Current salary: $50,000

Household: 1 adult · 0 children

This estimate matches your purchasing power (equivalent salary) when moving from Montgomery County, PA to Essex County, MA.

Cost of Living Breakdown by Category

Summary/TLDR:

If you were to move to Essex County, MA from Montgomery County, PA would be, though moderately, more expensive overall. You would spend an estimated additional $2,467 per year (a 4.35% increase). To keep the same lifestyle, you’d likely want your income to be at least 4.35% higher in this new location. Moving can lead to some savings in Food, and Transport According to the Economic Policy Institute’s 2025 Family Budget data, Montgomery County, PA's Food costs are 3.23% higher ($4,885 vs. $4,727), driving a large part of the cost difference. Movers could potentially save $158 in annual expenses. Housing, Healthcare, Other Costs and Taxes costs for Essex County, MA , however, rise slightly.

Since Food is one of the biggest drivers of living costs, this gap alone can noticeably change how the move feels month to month. Families and people who eat out often will notice this difference in their weekly grocery and restaurant spending.

Below we break down the key differences driving this gap.

What changed the most?

following categories which are the highest average cost to your new location and the lowest average cost from your current location.

Biggest Cost Change

Highest new COST when moving to Essex County, MA

Average Cost:

$9,582 per year

TAXES costs are highest in Essex County, MA.

Biggest Save Change

Highest money SAVE when moving to Essex County, MA

Average Cost:

$4,727 per year

FOOD costs are lowest in Essex County, MA.

Breakdown of price percentages per category.

Numbers are average costs per section.

Category	Difference
Housing	5.05% higher
Montgomery County, PA Essex County, MA Average Cost $17735.00 $18631.00 INFO: Housing costs are based on the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The data represented shows the rental cost at the 40th percentile at a given area for privately owned, rental unit. Studio apartments were paired with 1 adult families, 1 Bedroom apartments with 2 Adult families, and 2 bedroom apartments for families with 1 or 2 children.
Food	-3.23% lower
Montgomery County, PA Essex County, MA Average Cost $4885.00 $4727.00 INFO: Food cost are based on the U.S. Department of Agriculture's food plan. Numbers are normalized to each area using weights from Feeding America and the Meal Gap data. This number assumes most food is bought at a local grocery store and then prepared at home.
Transport	-1.10% lower
Montgomery County, PA Essex County, MA Average Cost $12749.00 $12609.00 INFO: Transportation costs are a combination of auto ownership, auto use, and public transit. Data is collected from the Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT).
Healthcare	13.55% higher
Montgomery County, PA Essex County, MA Average Cost $4162.00 $4726.00 INFO: Health care expenses come from an average of insurance premiums and out-of-pocket costs. The data assumes families purchase the lowest cost available insurance plan under the Affordable Care Act. Data comes from Kaiser Family foundation and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Other Costs	3.27% higher
Montgomery County, PA Essex County, MA Average Cost $7610.00 $7859.00 INFO: This cost is calculated through the average spending of categories deemed necessary by the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditure Survey. These include apparel, personal care, household supplies, reading materials, and school supplies.
Taxes	11.02% higher
Montgomery County, PA Essex County, MA Average Cost $9582.00 $10638.00 INFO: Taxes are calculated from the National Bureau of Economic Research. The number weighs in personal income tax, state income tax, federal Social Security, and Medicare taxes.

In your new location your total average costs would be $59190.00 compared to your previous average costs of $56723.00.

The higher price could be attributed to different factors. For example, larger differences, the delta could be attributed to the fact that a city is a metropolitan location.

In this case Essex County, MA and Montgomery County, PA are both metropolitan locations.

Breakdown your annual expenses to see how far your current budget when moving to a several locations. Use our map to visually

Use the Cost of Living Map