This story is part of CNBC Make It's Millennial Money series, which details how people around the world earn, spend and save their money.
In a lot of ways, living on Martha's Vineyard is like what you see on "Dawson's Creek" or "The Summer I Turned Pretty" — think summer romances, beach bonfires, cute boutiques and coffee shops on every corner.
"You're kind of just living in this movie life," says Tyla Packish, 23, who grew up on the island and lives in her hometown of Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts.
What you don't see is what life is like when the last tourists head home after Labor Day. "Living here year-round is definitely an interesting experience because you go from the summer being extremely packed and full of life, to the winter being dead and with no one around," Packish tells CNBC Make It.
Many shops and restaurants close up after the season and basic goods tend to cost more. For example, gas can be $1 to $2 more per gallon, sometimes more, on the island than on the mainland, she says.
For all its positives and negatives, Martha's Vineyard is home and where Packish works remotely in advertising and social media, earning $85,000 a year. Here's what her life and budget look like living on the island.
What it's like to live in vacation paradise year-round
About 20,600 people call Martha's Vineyard home year-round; during the summer season between Memorial Day and Labor Day, the population can swell to over 94,000.
In her free time, Packish goes to the beach with friends, all of whom she's known since childhood. She also spends time on the island with her dad, mom, stepdad and two younger sisters, "and then I have probably a million cousins running around."
She says her family has lived on Martha's Vineyard for multiple generations, going back to at least her great grandparents, and many of them stayed on the island to work in the trades and raise their families.
Her dad is an entrepreneur in real estate, while her mom owns a house cleaning business and her stepdad is a boat mechanic.
There are a few myths about Martha's Vineyard that Packish says aren't true, like that everyone who lives there is "super wealthy and owns a mansion."
"Really, it's a bunch of normal people with rich people that visit sometimes," she says. Not to say that there aren't some wealthy islanders, Packish says, but many residents she knows are working class.
Martha's Vineyard has "all the standard businesses that you would see anywhere, like boutiques, coffee shops, banks [and] grocery stores," Packish says. "But we don't have any of the big chains. So we don't have malls, we don't have more affordable options. We just have [locally] owned family businesses."
The island also has most of the services people need, like doctors, though they're scarce and often book up far in advance. When something isn't available on Martha's Vineyard, islanders must take the ferry to the mainland of Massachusetts.
For Packish, that means a recent trip to the eye doctor was a five-hour ordeal involving a ferry trip, rideshares and a lot of waiting around. When she goes on vacation, she leaves home five hours ahead of her flight because it can take up to three hours just to get to the airport.
She typically leaves the island once a month, but can go for stretches of several months at a time.
"My whole life outside of the island revolves around trying to get on the ferry and making sure that everything aligns with the boat schedule," she says.
How she spends her money
Here's how Packish spent her money in February 2025.
- Retirement savings: $1,583 toward a Roth 401(k) and a Roth IRA
- Discretionary: $705 for travel, clothes, home goods and an eye doctor appointment
- Food: $551 for groceries and dining out
- Car insurance: $159
- Transportation: $153 for gas, rideshares and ferry tickets
- Subscriptions: $69 for Apple iCloud storage, Google storage, Netflix, magazines, Spotify and Quickbooks
Packish previously worked in social media marketing and recently switched companies to work for an advertising agency; all told, she'll earn about $67,000 from her full-time job this year.
In 2022, during her sophomore year of college, she started a side hustle doing social media management and consulting for businesses on Martha's Vineyard. She takes on about five to eight clients per season, from restaurants to retailers, and spends between 10 to 50 hours per weekon her business depending on the time of the season.
She brought in about $18,000 from her side hustle last year.
For a few months during this year's offseason, Packish lived rent-free in a one-bedroom apartment that her father owns that was vacant. She'll return to living with her family once summer visitors arrive. Otherwise, "I wouldn't be able to live on Martha's Vineyard with my salary," she says.
In the absence of paying for rent, Packish focuses on super-charging her retirement savings. She made $1,583 in contributions for the month; last year, she put $7,000 into a Roth IRA saved over $10,000 in a 401(k).
Given her low living expenses, "I figured, why not start early?" she says. "And then when there are years where I'm learning how to pay rent and budget and things like that, I don't have to worry about my retirement or saving."
She also keeps her shopping and food spending in check, though the price of basic goods, from groceries to clothes, are often more expensive on the island. She supplements her in-person shopping with trips to the mainland of Massachusetts to shop now and then, plusshopping online for more variety and lower prices.
Packish's February spend was higher than usual because she paid for a flight, Airbnb and bus tickets for an upcoming trip to San Antonio, Texas.
Life beyond the island
After attending college in Savannah, Georgia, Packish moved back home to Martha's Vineyard in 2024 in order to save money and plan her next move off the island.
As far as dealing with summer visitors, "I personally love having all the tourists come and visit because they do boost our economy," she says. "Martha's Vineyard wouldn't be what it is without the tourists, and it just makes for a fun season."
While residents are typically families or older adults, Packish says the year-round Martha's Vineyard lifestyle might be good for those who enjoy a quieter life.
"It's a lot of fun having a very simple life that I don't really have to worry or stress about anything," she says. "I just really like how calm and relaxed my life is here."
That said, Packish doesn't see herself living on the island forever.
In August, she'll move to Los Angeles for her new job. She'll finish one last season with her side hustle clients before recommending them to a friend of hers who owns a digital marketing agency.
"I've got to spread my wings and try to learn somewhere new," Packish says. "I could see myself maybe coming back here when I'm older, maybe to raise a family."
Editor's note: This story has been updated to clarify gas price disparities on the island and that Packish takes the ferry to mainland Massachusetts to shop.
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