Massachusetts Named 2nd ‘Most Expensive’ State in the Country

Massachusetts residents feel the struggle to keep up with the cost of everyday living. Even with COVID-19 in the rearview mirror, many people are still struggling to live the lifestyle they did before the pandemic. As costs keep increasing for food, rent, property taxes, baby items, and everything in between it's become more than difficult for Massachusetts folks to make ends meet.

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Massachusetts Has Been Named the Second-Most Expensive State in the Country

To add insult to injury it was recently revealed by GOBankingRates that Massachusetts is the second-most expensive state in the country. The site reports that the cost of housing in Massachusetts is a staggering 218% higher than in the rest of the nation, and all other expenditures are also significantly higher than the rest of the country.

Here's a breakdown of the findings for Massachusetts:

• Annual cost of living for the average family: $106,900.
• Housing costs are 19% higher than the national average.
• Grocery costs are 5% higher than the national average.
• Utility costs are 34% higher than the national average.

In addition to the information released by GoBankingRates, Boston.com recently released an article focusing on the fact that many older Massachusetts homeowners are getting squeezed out of their homes due to continuous rising property taxes. Here's an article quote from  Kathleen Costello, director of the Massachusetts Association of Assessing Officers and the former tax assessor for Mattapoisett, where she resides

We have a lot of residents, older residents, who have been here since the dawn of time that are getting squeezed out from their taxes.

In addition, Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll was quoted in the article as saying the following:

A lot of seniors who may have purchased a home decades ago, never expecting to see the value that it [has] today, are really struggling to pay the increase in their local property taxes.

Whether you live in Mattapoisett, Boston, Springfield, or anywhere in the Baystate, the cost of living is hampering Massachusetts residents and it's sad to see that the current climate is causing so many people to move on to another state or stay struggling. What needs to be done to turn this around?