Cost of Living
per year
per month
How Malden's prices compare to the US city average across major spending categories.
How far does your salary go in Malden?
Your $100,000 in Malden has the same purchasing power as $79,567 in the average US city. You'd need $20,433 more here to maintain that standard of living.
Demographics and workforce data from the US Census ACS 5-Year.
bachelor's or higher
Climate, safety, and walkability indicators.
See a side-by-side breakdown of cost of living, housing, and salaries.
Popular comparisons
Sorted by affordability — most affordable first.
Within 10 points of Malden's cost index of 126, sorted by closest match.
Wondering whether you should move to Malden? It depends on what you're optimizing for, but the city has real arguments in its favor: solidly above-average earnings and crime statistics come out reassuring, plus 4 more things worth knowing. The data behind each is below.
Median household income in Malden is $90,295, a step above the national median of about $75k. The local job market leans toward industries that pay better than average, and that shows up in the take-home for most working households here.
Malden reports roughly 1,484 crime incidents per 100,000 residents, well under the US average of about 3,500 per 100k. As always, citywide numbers paper over real differences between neighborhoods — but the broader trend here is on the calmer end of the US distribution.
Malden's Walk Score is 89/100 — top-tier walkability by US standards. Groceries, coffee, work, social life: most of it lands within reasonable foot range of wherever you live. A lot of residents skip car ownership entirely, which is its own form of savings on top of the lifestyle change. Transit Score comes in at 54/100 too, so even the trips that are too far to walk are usually doable on a bus or train.
Malden's Bike Score is 67/100 — the kind of number you only get when a city has built real bike infrastructure (protected lanes, connected routes, drivers who expect cyclists). For commuting or just for getting around, the bike is a serious option here, not a hobby.
Malden's air quality index averages about 34 — comfortably in the EPA's "good" range. No daily ritual of checking the AQI before going for a run, no smoky-day plans, no surprise asthma flare-ups for the kids. The kind of background condition you notice mostly by its absence.
44% of adults 25 and over in Malden hold a bachelor's degree or higher — meaningfully above the US average of around 36%. That correlates with the things you'd expect: stronger schools, more white-collar employers, more bookstores than the population alone would predict.
Reasons are pulled from Malden's actual data — Census ACS, BLS, BEA, NOAA, EPA AQS, FBI, and Walk Score. We don't list positives that aren't supported by the numbers, which is why different cities show different sections.
Malden gets a handful of meaningful snow days each year. Winters average about 26°F — cold enough for several inches at a time, warm enough for everything to melt between storms.
Cold but workable. Winter in Malden averages about 26°F — colder than the national norm, mild compared to the upper Midwest. A solid coat handles most days; the genuine cold snaps are short.
Pleasantly warm. Malden's summer averages around 80°F — comfortable for outdoor evenings, hot enough on peak days to warrant AC but mild compared to the Sun Belt.
Malden falls in roughly USDA Zone 8. The zone classification is based on average annual minimum temperatures, so it's the right lookup for whether perennials and trees will overwinter here. Note that this is approximate from our winter-temperature data — check the USDA map for the exact zone before betting an expensive plant on it.
Malden sits at about 26 feet (8 m) above sea level — low-lying, but with enough cushion that day-to-day life isn't affected by ocean levels.
Hurricane season covers June through November, with peak activity in late summer and early fall. For Malden, the practical advice is: have a few days of water and supplies on hand from August onward, know your evacuation route, and don't wait for the news to tell you a storm is "probably nothing" — track the cone yourself.
By the numbers, yes. Malden reports roughly 1,484 crime incidents per 100,000 residents — well under the US average of about 3,500 per 100k. The big caveat applies as always: every city has neighborhoods that look nothing like the citywide average. But the citywide average here is genuinely good.
Yes, noticeably. Malden's cost-of-living index runs 126, about 26% above the US baseline. Housing usually accounts for most of the markup; groceries and services run higher too but with less drama.
Yes — Malden is one of the more walkable US cities. A Walk Score of 89/100 means most daily errands can be done on foot in most neighborhoods. Transit Score is 54 out of 100. Many residents go car-free comfortably.
Roughly $87,976 a year would match the lifestyle of someone earning $70,000 in an average US city. That's a starting point, not a target — negotiate higher when you can. Median rent in Malden runs about $1,962/mo — keeping housing under 30% of gross income points to a similar floor on what you'd want to earn.