Rhode Island rules and Massachusetts drools.

Or maybe it's the other way around, I forget.

Previously lived in Washington state, then moved East to be closer to family in Boston.
We stayed with the family in Boston 8 months, while we looked for a house as close as possible. We ended up in Barrington, as it was the closest place to Boston, with the best school district - that we could afford at the time. So back in 2015/2016 - RI was significantly more affordable, and relatively underpriced compared to MA. Housing prices in RI have easily doubled in that time( a 350k house then is a 700k house now) .
I far prefer RI to MA, I know folks complain about Government - but MA is flat out unfriendly and does not want new residents. RI Gov't makes it much eaiser to live here, and do things in RI. Just doing any government related stuff done(official paper work, taxes, permits, licensing, etc) is vastly easier in RI than MA. I know folks like to say RI is all corrupt, and mafia run.. but compared to other places I have lived (VA, PA, WA, MA, RI ), RI is about average, perhaps better than average.

I'd like to add, that I like East Bay (Barrington, Warren, Bristol, Portsmouth) ... it seems less busy, and folks are generally friendly and very quite nice around here, as compared with Warwick/Cranston - people seem more crowded, more rushed, and overall less happy.

I grew up in MA but have lived in RI for 10+ years now. My experience is that really, they are pretty much the same thing. MA is generally more expensive (tax and real estate wise) but there is always exceptions. Schools in MA are generally better but again; there's plenty of exceptions.

Depending on where you are the "regions" throughout MA all feel different and have much different access to amenities; Boston proper, Boston suburb sprawl, Northshore MA, Southcoast MA, Southeast MA, Central MA, Western MA so depending on "where" exactly you're looking - it can vary pretty wildly.

RI has that same regionality differences as MA BUT being such a tiny state those regional differences become super compressed. So the difference in culture, household income, school system, local amenities that you might have between Northshore MA and say Southeast MA (separated by like a 2.5-3 hour drive) exist in RI but are pretty much separated by a 45 min - 1 hour drive.

Really it just depends on the price point you have, the type of town you want to live in, and the distance to travel to work in Providence you are comfortable with. If you want to be, for example, within an hour drive to Providence - that covers nearly the entire state of RI so your living options run the entire spectrum whereas that will really only hit the southcoast/southeast MA regions and encroach on the southern boston suburbs towns.

Massachusetts has better schools generally. The houses are more expensive. Logan has more direct flights but also more traffic. Boston Pops. The Gardner. Harvard and MIT: two power houses. More accessible to Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. Boston accent. Higher percentage of people with irish ancestry. They have favorite foods but nothing uniquely only theirs. Sports teams are legendary.

Comparing real estate taxes is tricky. If the rate is lower but the price is higher for example. But Massachusetts nickname is “Taxachusetts.”

Average income in Rhode Island’s wealthiest town (W Greenich) in $126k. Average income in Massachusetts wealthiest town (Dover) is $373k.

Rhode Island is a foodie’s heaven and there is the bonus of living closer to the ocean than most areas in Massachusetts. It has Newport. We have the prestige of Brown. Everyplace is expensive but Rhode Island is still generally more affordable than Massachusetts. There’s waterfire. Lower average income. The hospitals in RI don’t measure up to MGH, Dana Farber, Brighham. There is some mafia presemce. The people tend to be unfriendly to outsiders. There are rivalries between towns that carry into the work place in the form of grudges. Rhode Islanders keep grudges forever. Rhode Islanders love Del’s, coffee milk, NY system hot dogs, and pizza strips. Higher percentage of people with italian ancestry.

Both states love Dunkin.

I’m ok with down votes. I lived 20 years in one, 10 years in the other. This was my experience.

Lived in North Shore MA for 5 years before moving to South County. I’ll never go back. Better beaches, better roads, more affordable (this all relative) housing, taxes. We doubled our home size and lot size, added a garage and paid $40k more than we sold our old house for.

Schools seem excellent where we are. Very rural, but pretty easy access to everything. 15 min to downtown Newport and 20ish minutes to Providence. Honestly can’t beat it.

RI continues to feel like a hidden gem to me.

What are your preferences regarding urban vs rural or suburban living?

Massachusetts sucks and Rhode Island is the best that's all you need to know

R.I has better cannabis 🤣🤣

How much will your income be? That's basically the starting point. There are a lot of comments here from South County areas like Barrington or South Kingston which are great communities/good schools to live but extremely pricey (assuming 800k is a lot to you).

If you get a good paying job in RI, then there is no need to live in MA. There are tons of Rhode Islanders who work in Boston (including my spouse) and wish they could work in RI but the pay is too low. Towns like Foster or Coventry may appeal to you and are a short commute from Providence. Tax wise it is simpler to fill out one state form than two...and you do end up paying more with two because the credit is not enough.

Massachusetts is more expensive but generally better run - better schools, more business friendly, stronger tax base, etc. Real estate taxes are significantly lower but properties are generally assessed higher (eg Cumberland is $15/thousand vs bordering towns in MA - north Attleboro is $12.79, Attleboro is $13.69, Wrentham is $12.62) Sales tax is also slightly lower. Lowest tax rates in RI are in towns where significant portion of residents are out-of-staters who aren't a drain on services (Newport, Narragansett, Charlestown, Westerly, little compton). Most other towns carry the financial albatross otherwise known as the city of Providence around their necks and tax the absolute shit out of your property. Rhode Island is definitely cheaper cost of living but outside of East greenwich and Barrington the public schools are really not great.

All that being said, I moved here a decade ago from Massachusetts and have no plans to move back. As frustrating, corrupt, and annoying as RI can be, it is a beautiful state, especially South county. It is very different in a way that's hard to explain. it was settled differently than Massachusetts, where towns were set up in a very cookie cutter way around a central common, so many towns are really very different and distinct villages with different vibes that someone just drew lines around (saylesville, valley falls, and central falls would really make more sense as one town, but they're split between three.) Again with Cumberland as the example - valley falls is very working class mill village, Arnold mills is very 50s Americana, Cumberland hill is very white collar wealthy, West Wrentham is woodsy with lots of space and large forested lots. You can apply this to most towns in RI. Traffic in Massachusetts is additionally absolutely infuriating - as annoying as the 6-10 cluster fuck can be, traffic on 128 starts at 530 in the morning and spreads down to north Attleboro by 700 - like "why the fuck would anybody live here" type of traffic. am also of the opinion that Rhode Island beaches are much better than MA beaches by and large with warmer water and less seaweed(and no Cape traffic, which makes rt 4/rt1 in summer look like a cakewalk).

Would you have to file taxes in Both States ?