Boston, MA Rental Market Trends

Boston Rent Report: April 2024

Welcome to the Apartment List April 2024 Rent Report for Boston, MA. Currently, the overall median rent in the city stands at $2,300, after rising 1.1% last month. Prices and are now up 2.0% year-over-year. Read on to learn more about what’s been happening in the Boston rental market and how it compares to trends throughout the broader Boston metro area and the nation as a whole.

Boston rents are up 1.1% month-over-month and up 2.0% year-over-year

The median rent in Boston rose by 1.1% over the course of March, and has now increased by a total of 2.0% over the past 12 months. Boston’s rent growth over the past year has is similar to the state average (2.3%) and has outpaced the national average (-0.8%).

Boston rent growth in 2024 pacing below last year

Three months into the year, rents in Boston have risen 0.6%. This is a slower rate of growth compared to what the city was experiencing at this point last year: from January to March 2023 rents had increased 1.4%.

March rent growth in Boston ranked #20 among large U.S. cities

Boston rents went up 1.1% in the past month, compared to the national rate of 0.6%. Among the nation's 100 largest cities, this ranks #20. Similar monthly rent growth took place in Pittsburgh, PA (1.1%) and Tulsa, OK (1.1%).

Boston is the #8 most expensive large city in the U.S., with a median rent of $2,300

Citywide, the median rent currently stands at $2,212 for a 1-bedroom apartment and $2,329 for a 2-bedroom. Across all bedroom sizes (ie, the entire rental market), the median rent is $2,300. That ranks #8 in the nation, among the country's 100 largest cities.

For comparison, the median rent across the nation as a whole is $1,220 for a 1-bedroom, $1,374 for a 2-bedroom, and $1,388 overall. The median rent in Boston is 65.7% higher than the national, and is similar to the prices you would find in Chula Vista, CA ($2,349) and San Diego, CA ($2,293).

Boston rents are 7.6% higher than the metro-wide median

If we expand our view to the wider Boston metro area, the median rent is $2,137 meaning that the median price in Boston proper ($2,300) is 7.6% greater than the price across the metro as a whole. Metro-wide annual rent growth stands at 2.2%, above the rate of rent growth within just the city.

The table below shows the latest rent stats for 12 cities in the Boston metro area that are included in our database. Among them, Cambridge is currently the most expensive, with a median rent of $2,880. Lowell is the metro’s most affordable city, with a median rent of $1,698. The metro's fastest annual rent growth is occurring in Lowell (6.5%) while the slowest is in Watertown Town (-0.4%).

City
Median 1BR Rent
Median 2BR Rent
M/M Rent Growth
Y/Y Rent Growth
Boston
$2,212
$2,329
1.1%
2.0%
Cambridge
$2,615
$3,168
1.2%
1.1%
Framingham
$1,610
$2,126
-0.8%
3.0%
Lowell
$1,293
$1,783
1.1%
6.5%
Malden
$1,950
$2,497
0.5%
2.1%
Norwood
$2,096
$2,533
0.7%
3.8%
Peabody
$1,837
$2,203
0.9%
0.5%
Quincy
$1,981
$2,338
1.2%
0.3%
Somerville
$2,017
$2,669
2.7%
1.8%
Waltham
$1,942
$2,476
2.8%
1.6%
Watertown Town
$1,949
$2,479
1.9%
-0.4%
Weymouth Town
$1,807
$2,178
0.8%
1.9%
See More

You can also use the map below to explore the latest rent trends in the Boston metropolitan area.

Methodology

Apartment List is committed to the accuracy and transparency of our rent estimates. We begin with reliable median rent statistics from the Census Bureau, then extrapolate them forward to the current month using a growth rate calculated from our listing data. In doing so, we use a same-unit analysis similar to Case-Shiller’s approach, capturing apartment transactions over time to provide an accurate picture of rent growth in cities across the country. Our approach corrects for the sample bias inherent in other private sources, producing results that are much closer to statistics published by the Census Bureau and HUD. For more details, please see the Apartment List Rent Estimate Methodology.

Data Access

Apartment List publishes monthly rent reports and underlying data for hundreds of cities across the nation, as well as data aggregated for counties, metros, and states. These data are intended to be a source of reliable information that help renters and policymakers make sound decisions. Insights from our data are covered regularly by journalists across the country. To access the data yourself, please visit our Data Downloads Page.

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