Great white shark caught on fishing pool off Nauset Beach, Orleans
Maggie Ciarcia records the moment her cousin, Matt Pieciak, realizes that there is a shark at the end of his fishing pole at Nauset Beach on Aug. 8.
Maggie Ciarcia via Storyful
Massachusetts is beautiful with scenic shores, lush forests and one of the best cities in the world.
But, it’s also not cheap to live here. Far from it.
Forbes just released a rankings list of the cost of living of each of the 50 United States, measuring yearly transportation, real estate, mortgage, rent, housing, food, healthcare and tax costs against salary numbers.
This list just revealed the answer to the question of how pricey the Commonwealth is compared to the rest of the country.
Is Massachusetts the most expensive place to live in?
Almost. Forbes says Massachusetts residents are spending $53,860 a year on essential expenses on average.
That makes it only the second most expensive state in the U.S. second only to Hawaii, where the average cost of living is $55,491.
But, that does mean that Massachusetts is, according to this study, more expensive to live in than California, which came in third.
There is a silver lining. Forbes says Massachusetts also has the highest average annual salary at $80,329.
Forbes also ranked Massachusetts as the state with the fifth highest average amount of disposable income at $26,470. Conversely, Hawaii is the state with the lowest amount of disposable income at $9,551.
What are the 10 states with the highest cost of living?
- Hawaii (Cost of living: $55,491)
- Massachusetts (Cost of living: $53,860)
- California (Cost of living: $53,171)
- New York (Cost of living: $49,623)
- New Jersey (Cost of living: $49,511)
- Alaska (Cost of living: $48,670)
- Maryland (Cost of living: $48,235)
- Washington (Cost of living: $47,231)
- Connecticut (Cost of living: $46,912)
- Oregon (Cost of living: $46,193)
Rin Velasco is a trending reporter. She can be reached at rvelasco@gannett.com
