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Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Let's be honest: Massachusetts isn't cheap. Pretty standard for this type of city. But within that premium market, there are cities where your dollar stretches meaningfully further. Frisco proves it with a cost index of 118 — though some people might weigh that differently — , the lowest in Massachu…
225,007 residents · Texas
Here's Frisco by the numbers — and there's a lot to like. Cost index: 118. Rent: $1,751/month — which, honestly, is lower than you'd expect here — . Income: $146,158/year. Home price: $653,858. Population: 225,007. The strongest category is Utilities at 108; the most expensive is Housing at 145. Translate that rent to annual numbers, and residents are saving renters $1,728 per year vs. the national median. That's not a marginal difference — it reshapes your monthly budget.
150,245 residents · Illinois
The #2 spot goes to Naperville, and the breakdown explains why. Renters here pay $2,157/month — costing renters $3,144 more per year compared to the national average. Meanwhile, Utilities is the standout at index 112, keeping costs manageable. The weak spot? Housing at 154. At a 17% rent-to-income ratio, there's genuine breathing room in the average household budget.
108,515 residents · Texas
Why Sugar Land ranks #3: the numbers tell a clear story. And as a general rule, at 112 on the cost index, residents spend roughly 0% more than the typical American. Rent sits at $1,990/month while the median household pulls in $137,511/year. The Utilities category is particularly strong at 103, though Housing (130) lags behind. Home prices average $440,419 — $26,951 below the national median (we double-checked this one).
111,620 residents · Texas
A closer look at Allen: the cost index of 109 — which, honestly, is lower than you'd expect here — breaks down to a Utilities index of 100 (strongest category) and a Housing index of 122 (weakest). Median rent is $1,634/month — 14% below the national median — while household income sits at $129,130, meaning locals spend about 15% of income on rent. That's a healthy margin by any standard.
116,320 residents · Texas
Why League ranks #5: the numbers tell a clear story. At 105 on the cost index, residents save roughly 7% less than the typical American. Rent sits at $1,764/month while the median household pulls in $119,870/year. The Utilities category is particularly strong at 97, though Housing (113) lags behind. Home prices average $368,400 — $98,970 below the national median (and that gap widens if you factor in state taxes).
#1 Ranked: Frisco — cost index 118, rent $1,751/mo, income $146,158
176 of 282 cities come in below the national cost-of-living average of 112
Data sourced from Census Bureau, Zillow, BLS, and Tax Foundation — current as of 2026
Let's be honest: Massachusetts isn't cheap. Pretty standard for this type of city. But within that premium market, there are cities where your dollar stretches meaningfully further. Frisco proves it with a cost index of 118 — though some people might weigh that differently — , the lowest in Massachusetts, and we've ranked all 282 contenders to help you find the best deal in an expensive landscape.
The #1 spot goes to Frisco, and the breakdown explains why. Renters here pay $1,751/month — saving renters $1,728 per year compared to the national average. Meanwhile, Utilities is the standout at index 108, keeping costs manageable. The weak spot? Housing at 145. At a 14% rent-to-income ratio, there's genuine breathing room in the average household budget. There's an argument to be made — and I think the data supports it — that the cities getting all the attention right now are exactly the wrong places to move. The spotlight drives migration, migration drives demand, demand drives costs, and eventually the value proposition disappears. Meanwhile, cities like this one keep quietly being affordable, and the people who find them early are the ones who benefit most (that's pre-tax, of course).
Still, the overall picture holds: Massachusetts — Boston's biotech boom and old-money pricing. The 4 cities we track here average a cost index of 136 and median income of $91,243. Costs run above the national baseline — but pockets of real value exist if you know where to look. The typical rent runs $2,819/month, which is $924 more than the national median.
If you're ready to act on this, three things to do next: 1) Click into the city pages for the top 3 and check rent trends — direction matters more than the snapshot. 2) Run your income through the salary calculator for a personalized cost comparison. 3) Compare your top two picks head-to-head on our comparison page. The data is here; the decision is yours. One to watch.
Frisco ranks #1 in Massachusetts for this analysis with a cost index of 118 and median income of $146,158.
Our cost of living index uses real Zillow rent data as the foundation, indexed to 100 (national median). Sub-categories (housing, food, transport, utilities, healthcare) are derived from the overall index with regional adjustments. Data is updated monthly.
Frisco (ranked #1) has a cost index of 118 and rent of $1,751/mo, while Mesquite (ranked #282) has a cost index of 94 and rent of $1,397/mo — a 24-point difference in cost of living.
City data is refreshed monthly from Census Bureau population estimates, Zillow rent and home price indices, BLS salary data, and Tax Foundation tax rates. Last updated: 2026.
The median 1-bedroom rent in Frisco is $1,751/month as of 2026, based on Zillow's Observed Rent Index. This is $144 below the national median of $1,895/month.
The median home price in Frisco is $653,858, which is 4.5× the local median income. It's on the edge of affordability for median-income households. The national median home price is $467,370.
Massachusetts has a 0% state income tax rate — one of the states with no income tax. Combined state and local sales tax averages 8.19%, and the effective property tax rate is 1.6%.
This ranking was generated using data current as of early 2026. Population and income data comes from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey (5-year estimates). Rent and home price data is from Zillow's monthly releases. Tax rates are from the Tax Foundation's 2025 edition. Rankings are refreshed monthly.