Greater Boston's average one bedroom rent was $2,782 in September 2026. The median one bedroom, the middle listing, asked $2,600. That median is $148 lower than August's, and it is the largest move on the board this month. Studios, two bedrooms and three bedrooms also asked a little less than they did in August. Apartments with four or more bedrooms held steady.
This is the first edition since July that compares one month with the one before it. In early July the mix of listings we measure changed, and we held back every trend until we had two full months on the same footing. August and September are those two months, so the month-to-month view is back below.
The full dataset lives on the Spot Easy Rent Index, which we update monthly and publish under a CC BY 4.0 license, so anyone can reuse it with attribution.
What this measures. Every figure here comes from apartments listed on Spot Easy, and every Spot Easy listing comes from a licensed real estate professional or directly from the MLS. We verify agents before their listings go live. Nothing in this dataset was posted anonymously, unlike sites where anyone can post a listing.
It also means this is our inventory, not a census of every apartment in Greater Boston. Nobody has that number. What we can tell you is exactly what we measured, and how.
What does an apartment cost in Greater Boston in September 2026?
| Apartment size | Average rent | Median rent |
|---|---|---|
| Studio | $2,306 | $2,200 |
| 1 bedroom | $2,782 | $2,600 |
| 2 bedroom | $3,434 | $3,165 |
| 3 bedroom | $3,983 | $3,600 |
| 4+ bedroom | $5,141 | $4,625 |
We lead with the average because it is the number most people mean when they ask what rent costs. We show the median beside it because the two tell you different things. The median is the middle listing: half asked more, half asked less. The average adds every listing together, so a few very expensive apartments pull it up.
The gap between them widens as apartments get bigger. For a studio it is about $105. For a three bedroom it is over $380, and for four or more bedrooms it is over $500. That tells you the top of the large-apartment market is stretched out by a small number of high asks. If you are shopping for a three bedroom on a budget, the median is the more realistic guide to what most listings ask.
Is rent going up in Boston? September against August
No. Asking rents eased in September at four of the five apartment sizes. The figures in this table are medians, because the median is the measure we have tracked longest.
| Apartment size | August 2026 median | September 2026 median | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Studio | $2,250 | $2,200 | -$50 |
| 1 bedroom | $2,748 | $2,600 | -$148 |
| 2 bedroom | $3,250 | $3,165 | -$85 |
| 3 bedroom | $3,650 | $3,600 | -$50 |
| 4+ bedroom | $4,600 | $4,625 | +$25 |
The one bedroom moved the most, down about 5%. Studios, two bedrooms and three bedrooms each slipped between 1% and 3%. Four or more bedrooms rose by less than 1%, which is as close to flat as this table gets.
Two cautions before you read much into it. First, this is one month against one month. A single step down is not a trend, and we will not call it one until later months agree. Second, September is the month when a large share of Boston leases turn over. The apartments on the market after September 1 are not the same set that was on the market before it, so some of this move can come from which apartments were listed and not only from landlords asking less.
We are still not publishing a year-over-year comparison. Every month before August 2026 was measured on the older listing mix, and setting September 2026 beside September 2025 would compare two different things. That view returns once we have a full year on the current footing.
Average rent by Boston neighborhood, September 2026
Cities first. Boston, Cambridge, Somerville and Brookline are reported at city level. For more on the city next door, see our guide to living in Somerville.
| City | Studio | 1 bed | 2 bed | 3 bed | 4+ bed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston | $2,326 | $2,839 | $3,573 | $3,947 | $4,633 |
| Brookline | $2,325 | $2,881 | $3,671 | $5,021 | $5,816 |
| Cambridge | $2,296 | $2,938 | $3,606 | $4,589 | $6,660 |
| Somerville | – | $2,510 | $3,193 | $3,706 | $5,115 |
Then neighborhoods. Note that the Boston row above contains the Boston neighborhoods below it, so these columns do not add up to it.
| Neighborhood | Studio | 1 bed | 2 bed | 3 bed | 4+ bed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Allston | $2,095 | $2,580 | $3,205 | $3,456 | $4,713 |
| Back Bay | $2,623 | $3,427 | $5,471 | – | – |
| Beacon Hill | $2,508 | $3,117 | $3,957 | – | – |
| Boston Downtown | – | $3,453 | – | – | – |
| Brighton | $2,072 | $2,392 | $2,998 | $3,623 | $4,997 |
| Charlestown | – | – | $4,295 | – | – |
| Chinatown | – | – | $4,947 | – | – |
| Coolidge Corner | – | $2,782 | $3,601 | $4,846 | $5,918 |
| Dorchester | – | $2,461 | $2,951 | $3,275 | $3,885 |
| East Boston | – | $2,653 | $3,174 | $3,310 | – |
| Fenway | $2,325 | $2,812 | $3,662 | $4,274 | – |
| Jamaica Plain | – | – | $3,159 | $3,510 | $4,495 |
| Mission Hill | – | $2,914 | $2,824 | – | $4,835 |
| North End | – | $3,436 | $4,627 | – | – |
| Roslindale | – | – | $2,920 | – | – |
| Roxbury | – | – | $2,916 | $3,401 | $4,060 |
| South Boston | – | $3,233 | $4,066 | $5,148 | $5,914 |
| South End | – | $3,295 | $4,628 | $5,374 | – |
A dash is a real answer, not a gap. We only publish a figure when we had at least 20 listings of that size in that area during the month. Below that, one unusual apartment moves the figure enough to mislead you, so we say nothing instead of guessing. Jamaica Plain had no publishable studio or one bedroom figure in September. Boston Downtown had only a one bedroom. West Roxbury did not reach the floor at any size, so it is not in the table this month. That is what our listings looked like in September, and we would rather show you the hole than fill it in.
The cheapest one bedroom on the board is Brighton at $2,392, followed by Dorchester at $2,461. The most expensive is Boston Downtown at $3,453, with the North End at $3,436 and Back Bay at $3,427 close behind. For studios, Brighton and Allston are the lowest at $2,072 and $2,095.
What a triple decker costs against a condo
Same city, same bedroom count, different building. Boston's housing stock is old and varied enough that the type of building you rent in can move your rent as much as picking a different neighborhood. These figures are medians.
| Building type | Studio | 1 bed | 2 bed | 3 bed | 4+ bed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apartment | $2,200 | $2,550 | $3,000 | $3,400 | $4,400 |
| Multi-Family | not published | $2,313 | $3,000 | $3,573 | $5,000 |
| Condo | $2,500 | $2,900 | $3,600 | $4,000 | $4,200 |
| Brownstone | $2,295 | $2,798 | $3,500 | $4,150 | not published |
| Single-Family | not published | not published | not published | $4,100 | $5,800 |
A two bedroom in a multi-family building, which in Boston usually means a triple decker, had a median of $3,000 in September. The same two bedroom in a condo asked $3,600. That is $600 a month, or $7,200 over a year long lease, for the same number of bedrooms. Standard apartment buildings matched the triple decker at $3,000.
If your search is driven by budget more than finish, filtering by building type is one of the largest levers in this dataset.
How we measure this
Every figure here comes from apartments listed on Spot Easy, not from a model or a survey.
- What counts: any listing on the market at some point during September 2026, in Greater Boston. That is Boston, Brookline, Cambridge, Somerville, Medford, Newton, Everett, Quincy, Watertown and Malden.
- Every qualifying listing on Spot Easy, not a sample or a model. We do not survey, estimate or extrapolate. If it was listed and it met the rules below, it is in the figure.
- Every listing traces to a licensed professional or the MLS. Agents are verified before their listings go live. There is no anonymous submission path into this dataset.
- The 20 listing floor. We publish a figure for an area and bedroom size only when at least 20 listings qualify. Under that, we publish nothing.
- Duplicates removed. The same unit relisted is counted once.
- Rents outside $500 to $20,000 are excluded as data entry errors.
- Average first, median alongside. The average is the familiar number. The median shows what the middle listing asks, which a few luxury units cannot move.
- Month-to-month changes use the median. It is the measure we have tracked longest, so the comparison table uses it and says so.
The honest limits. This measures Spot Easy's inventory, not every apartment in Boston. It reflects asking rents, not signed rents. When the mix of listings we carry changes, as it did in July, we say so rather than report the shift as a market move. That is why this report compares September with August only, and with nothing earlier. And because we recompute each month against live listing data, a figure can shift slightly if we republish, which is why we date everything by month rather than by day.
The underlying data is free to reuse with attribution under CC BY 4.0. Journalists and researchers can take the full Rent Index including the downloadable CSV. For questions about methodology, contact Joel Mundele, CEO, at [email protected].
Frequently asked questions
Is rent going up in Boston? Not in September 2026. Greater Boston's median asking rent was lower than in August for studios, one, two and three bedrooms. The median one bedroom fell $148 to $2,600. Four or more bedrooms were about flat. That is one month against one month, not yet a trend.
What is the average rent in Greater Boston right now? As of September 2026: studio $2,306, one bedroom $2,782, two bedroom $3,434, three bedroom $3,983, four or more bedrooms $5,141. The medians are lower: $2,200, $2,600, $3,165, $3,600 and $4,625.
Which Boston neighborhood has the cheapest rent? Among the areas where we publish a one bedroom figure, Brighton was lowest in September 2026 at an average of $2,392, followed by Dorchester at $2,461. Brighton and Allston had the cheapest studios, at $2,072 and $2,095.
Why doesn't this report compare September 2026 with September 2025? The mix of listings we measure changed in early July 2026. Every earlier month was measured on the old mix, so a year-over-year comparison would set two different things side by side. We compare September with August, the two months on the same footing, and we will bring back the year-over-year view once a full year is measured on the current mix.
Where does this data come from? Apartments listed on Spot Easy during the reported month, aggregated into the Rent Index and updated monthly. Full methodology and a downloadable CSV are at spoteasy.com/data/rent-index, published under CC BY 4.0.
Looking for a place now? Browse current Boston apartments on Spot Easy, or start with Brighton and Dorchester, the two lowest-priced one bedroom markets in this month's index. If you are weighing fees too, our Boston broker fee law guide covers who pays and when.
Rent figures as of September 2026. Updated monthly.