Massachusetts is a hard state to live in

Ah Massachusetts. Great health care, great sports teams (usually) and great people (after our sports teams win championships). It’s a great place to live for a lot of reasons, but I’m writing this post as a warning to other people, who like me, moved here from out of state while swatting down warnings from former Massachusettititians (if only there were a better term). The truth is Massachusetts life is hard! And I feel like that’s the way we like it.

At my going away party in Kansas City in 2019 I remember a woman walking up to me and shaking a finger at me and crowing: “Look out for the M*ssholes!” I smiled and said “Well the people I work with seem nice. “Oh no,” she said “I’m sure they are. But I lived there for 30 years and I’ll tell you right now the people are…different.”

Was she right? Kind of. The best estimation I can make of the people in Massachusetts is that unlike other places I’ve lived the quiet people here are nice and the raging lunatics are loud. In Kansas City the loons would mutter to themselves walking down the street about the fact that you’re wearing a Raiders hat. In Boston I was once walking into a Panera wearing a hat for my son’s little league team that was modeled after the Baltimore Orioles and a man coming through the exit yelled at me “GO BACK TO BALTIMORE YA FRICKEN LOOOOOOOSA!!!”

The fact that this happened at a Panera shouldn’t matter but it kind of does. Who is THAT angry leaving a Panera?

But the thing was I wasn’t mad at him. I understood. Because by that point I had realized that living in Massachusetts vs anywhere else I have lived is like playing a video game on easy mode and then flipping it to BRUTAL mode just to see what that was like.

Is Massachusetts Life As Bad As This List Will Make It Look?

I decided to compile a list of the things that make living in Massachusetts so hard, and why M*ssholes might deserve a little forgiveness for their bad attitudes.

Looking at this list might be a little despiriting. It’s expensive, the people are rude, but there is an upside to all of that, and I will end the list with the most amazing stat about Massachusetts.

12. Massachusetts is one of the worst states to drive in
The Bay State ranked well outside the best places for driving:

Overall rank for Massachusetts: 45th

38th – Avg. Gas Prices

49th – Auto-Maintenance Costs

44th – Road Quality

That’s to say nothing of the excise taxes, annual inspections and how long you will be stuck in traffic which brings us to

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11. Boston has the 2nd worst traffic in the country and the 4th worst in the world
The Hub is the second most congested city in the United States and the fourth worldwide, according to INRIX, a company that analyzes traffic data around the world. Only drivers in London (156 hours), Chicago (155) and Paris (138) lost more hours in traffic.

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10. Boston drivers are considered amongst the rudest in the country
Boston drivers are considered amongst the rudest in the country

Expedia’s third annual Road Rage Report asked over 1,000 American drivers to express their opinions of fellow motorists and to list the driving behaviors they find most irritating.

When asked which U.S. cities have the least courteous drivers and worst road rage, 11 percent of survey respondents said Boston, enough to put it in the No. 5 slot nationwide.

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9. Massachusetts has the second highest cost of living the country
According to a survey by wisevoter: Massachusetts comes in second, with a cost of living index of 149.7, largely driven by its expensive housing market and high taxes. California is the third state with the highest cost of living, with a cost of living index of 137.6.

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8. Rent prices in Massachusetts are the highest in the country
According to the website rent.com at a whopping $3243 a month the median price to rent a home in Massachusetts is by far the highest in the country. Beating out California by over $200 and New York by almost $400.

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7. The Average family needs to make $166k a year just to afford a median priced home here
And if you live in Boston that goes up to around $200k a year. Again, for a MEDIAN home. Only a handful of other areas are more expensive. D.C., Hawaii and California.

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6. Massachusetts Housing Inventory is one of the worst in the country
What’s driving up home prices and rent prices? According to Berkshireeagle.com Massachusetts lags behind 40 other states when it comes to increasing its housing stock, a new report said this week, and the pace of new construction last year was just barely ahead of where it was in the depths of the pandemic in 2020.

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5. Massachusetts is the 3rd most expensive state for health care costs in America
According to becker’s hospital review at $12,754 a year per resident Massachusetts ranked the third highest for health care expenses. At least you’re getting good health care though right?

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4. Boston ranks the highest in the country for wait times to see a doctor
According to a survey in 2023 Massachusetts had the longest average wait time to see a doctor at 45 days. Worse than New York or California.

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3. Bostonians were ranked some of the rudest in the country
I’m a little indignant on this. Business Insider said we were only the 5th rudest city in the country BEHIND CHICAGO?! Those Ditka worshipping river dyers? We need to step up our game obviously.

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2. Massachusetts has the 4th most expensive electricity rates in the country
The good news is that this is actually better than last year when rates were 2nd worst in the country. This year at 28 cents a Kilowatt hour we are behind Hawaii, Rhode Island, and California.

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1. The Boston accent was ranked #1 for most annoying in the country
The Boston accent was ranked #1 for most annoying in the country

This is actually good news as far as I’m concerned. If the way people talk here annoys people then stay the hell away.

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And yet, despite all of this, Massachusetts was named the #1 state to live in!!!
According to Walltehub: While Massachusetts was 44th when it comes to affordability, it ranked first in education and health, while also getting high rankings for quality of life, safety and its economy.

This also explains why the cost of living and housing are high. People WANT to live here.

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