It seems fairly obvious, but you should probably look for jobs here before you move. That way you have a much better sense of your income here and general location in the state. Boston is the hub for colleges, but we do have some scattered throughout the state. Academic jobs here are very competitive, so landing one before moving makes a lot of sense. Once you have jobs, you know roughly where you will need to live and can search the areas commutable to your jobs for housing. Nobody here can tell you what's affordable without knowing where you have to be for work. Generally the farther you are from Boston, the cheaper housing becomes. Central and western MA are much more affordable, but you have fewer high-income jobs available so most people have longer commutes as the trade off for more land and cheaper housing.