Median rent in Somerville
July 2026. Active listings on Spot Easy, each posted by a verified agent or imported from MLS PIN.
| Size | Median | Middle 50% |
|---|---|---|
| studio | $2,318 | $2,100 – $2,496 |
| 1-bedroom | $2,600 | $2,300 – $2,813 |
| 2-bedroom | $3,100 | $2,750 – $3,588 |
| 3-bedroom | $3,750 | $3,213 – $4,200 |
| 4+ bedroom | $4,700 | $4,150 – $5,400 |
About Somerville
Somerville sits immediately north of Cambridge and prices below the regional median, which is unusual for a city this close to the core. The Spot Easy Rent Index put the median asking rent for a Somerville one-bedroom at $2,600 in July 2026, against $2,750 across Greater Boston, with half of one-bedrooms listing between $2,300 and $2,813. Two-bedrooms ran to a $3,100 median against $3,395 regionally, so the discount holds as apartments get larger rather than narrowing.
Six rapid transit stations sit inside the city. Davis is on the Red Line and Assembly is on the Orange Line, and the Green Line Extension added Union Square on the D branch plus East Somerville, Gilman Square and Magoun Square on the E. There is no commuter rail station anywhere in Somerville — the nearest is Porter, over the line in Cambridge, on the Fitchburg route.
The squares are the practical unit of search here. Davis Square and Union Square anchor opposite ends of the city, with Teele Square beyond Davis and Winter Hill along Broadway between them. Each has its own supply and its own walk to a station, and those two things move together.
Close to three-quarters of Somerville properties listed on Spot Easy with a known unit count are two- or three-family houses. Fewer than one in a hundred sits in a building of fifty units or more. A Somerville apartment is therefore almost always a floor of a house: expect a back porch, a basement washer shared with the other floors, and street parking rather than a garage. Renters who need an elevator will find far more of that stock in Cambridge.
Lease starts cluster hard on September 1, and inventory for that date builds from spring onward. Because a whole floor tends to come free on that date rather than at an arbitrary point in the year, off-cycle vacancies are genuinely scarce here — more so than in cities with a larger share of managed buildings, where turnover is spread more evenly.
Spot Easy lists Somerville apartments from verified agents, with filters for no-fee listings, parking, laundry and pet policy. Medians by bedroom count are published on the Spot Easy Rent Index, alongside the same figures for the surrounding cities.
FAQ about Somerville Apartments for Rent
What is the average rent in Somerville?
In July 2026 the median asking rent in Somerville is $2,318 for a studio, $2,600 for a 1-bedroom, $3,100 for a 2-bedroom, $3,750 for a 3-bedroom and $4,700 for a 4+ bedroom. Those figures come from active listings on Spot Easy, and we recalculate them each month.
How much should I budget for an apartment in Somerville?
Most 1-bedrooms in Somerville rent for about $2,600 a month. Half of studios list between $2,100 and $2,496, half of 1-bedrooms list between $2,300 and $2,813 and half of 2-bedrooms list between $2,750 and $3,588. About half of what you find will sit outside that middle band, in one direction or the other.
Are rents going up in Somerville?
The median 1-bedroom in Somerville is $2,600 in July 2026, up 4.0% from $2,500 in July 2025. We hold 14 months of Somerville rent history, built from our own listings.
Are there no-fee apartments in Somerville?
Yes. 75.3% of Somerville listings where we know the fee carry no broker fee. You can filter your search down to those, and we verify each agent before they can post.
Is it cheaper to split a 2-bedroom in Somerville than rent a studio?
Usually, yes. A 2-bedroom in Somerville splits to about $1,550 each, against $2,318 for a studio. That saves roughly $768 a month, or 33%.
How does Somerville rent compare with nearby neighborhoods?
For a 1-bedroom, the median in Somerville is $2,600, next to Cambridge at $2,900 and Allston at $2,380. These cover the same bed size in the same month, and we only include areas with enough active listings to report.
What is the difference between Davis Square and Union Square?
They sit at opposite ends of Somerville and reach Boston on different lines. Davis Square is on the Red Line, one stop from Porter and three from Harvard, and has the longer-established restaurant and cinema cluster. Union Square is the Green Line D branch terminus, added by the Green Line Extension, and reaches Lechmere and North Station rather than Harvard and downtown. Which one suits you depends less on the squares themselves than on where you are travelling: the Red Line and the Green Line serve genuinely different parts of Boston. Teele Square sits past Davis and trades a longer walk to the station for more space, and Winter Hill runs along Broadway between the two. Prices move with that geography as well as with the housing itself, so it is worth searching two squares side by side rather than filtering the whole city and sorting by price.
Which Green Line stations did the extension add in Somerville?
Four inside the city: Union Square on the D branch, and East Somerville, Gilman Square and Magoun Square on the E branch, all confirmed against the MBTA's route data. This matters when you are reading listings, because two nearby stations that renters often assume are Somerville are not — both Ball Square and Medford/Tufts are in Medford according to the MBTA's own municipality records, even though Ball Square sits right on the boundary. If a listing markets itself on proximity to one of those, check the actual address rather than the station name. The extension changed the northern half of the city considerably: neighborhoods that were previously a bus ride from the nearest station now sit within a short walk of one. For renters that has made the northern squares directly comparable to Davis on transit terms, where previously they were not, and it is the main reason Somerville now has six rapid transit stations rather than two.
Does Somerville have a commuter rail station?
No. There is no commuter rail stop anywhere inside Somerville, which surprises renters given how well served the city is by rapid transit. The nearest is Porter, just over the boundary in Cambridge, on the Fitchburg line running northwest toward Waltham and Concord and inbound to North Station. From most of Somerville, reaching any other commuter rail line means travelling to North Station or South Station first. If your commute depends on a specific commuter rail line, work out the change you will actually make before narrowing your search by square — the six rapid transit stations inside Somerville are excellent for travel within the urban core and much less useful for reaching destinations further out along the rail network. Porter is a short Red Line ride from Davis, so a Davis-area apartment is the usual answer for someone who needs occasional commuter rail access without giving up the city.
Why do so many Somerville listings describe a floor rather than a unit?
Because that is genuinely what most of them are. Close to three-quarters of Somerville properties listed on Spot Easy with a known unit count are two- or three-family houses, so listings are commonly described as a first floor, second floor or top floor rather than by a unit number. Each floor is typically a full apartment with its own entrance off a shared front hall or back staircase. In practice this shapes what you get: rooms tend to be laid out in the house's original arrangement, ceilings are often higher than in newer construction, you will usually share a basement and sometimes a porch, and sound travels between floors more than it would in a purpose-built building. Ask which floor a listing is on — it materially affects noise, heating and stairs. Top-floor apartments often have the best light and the most stairs; first floors are easiest to move into and closest to the street.
Are there elevator buildings in Somerville?
Very few. Fewer than one in a hundred Somerville properties listed on Spot Easy with a known unit count sits in a building of fifty units or more, and only about one in twenty is in a building of ten units or more. If step-free access is a requirement rather than a preference, Somerville is a difficult place to search and you should filter for it explicitly from the start rather than hoping to find it later. Cambridge next door has roughly three times the share of ten-plus-unit buildings, and Brookline has more still. Within Somerville itself, filtering by building size will narrow your search very quickly. The Rent Index bears out the same pattern from the pricing side: two-bedrooms ran to a $3,100 median in July 2026, well below the regional $3,395, because you are renting a floor of a house rather than a serviced unit.
Are studio apartments common in Somerville?
No, they are the thinnest segment of the market. The Rent Index recorded a Somerville studio median of $2,318 in July 2026, but on the thinnest sample of any bed size — studios are outnumbered roughly six to one by two-bedrooms here. The reason is the housing stock: a floor of a two- or three-family house naturally divides into multiple bedrooms rather than a single open room, and there is very little purpose-built studio inventory. If you want to live alone here, a one-bedroom at a $2,600 median is the realistic target rather than a studio, and the gap between the two is small enough that holding out for a studio rarely pays. Renters set on studios will find far more of them in denser parts of Boston. Three-bedrooms, by contrast, are plentiful at a $3,750 median, which reflects how naturally the local housing stock divides.
When should I start looking for an apartment in Somerville?
Start four to five months ahead. Somerville concentrates lease starts on September 1 more tightly than most of the region, and inventory for that date builds from spring onward, so a search that begins in July is arriving late to a cycle that opened in April. The two- and three-family stock reinforces this: when a whole floor becomes available it usually does so on the standard September turnover rather than at an arbitrary point in the year, which means off-cycle vacancies are genuinely scarce. If you need a start date outside September, expect noticeably fewer options and be ready to decide quickly, because those listings tend to come from a single vacancy rather than a wave of turnover across the city. The practical consequence is that flexibility on start date is worth more here than in a city of managed buildings, and flexibility on square is worth less, because supply is thin everywhere at the same moments.
How do I find no-broker-fee apartments in Somerville?
Use the no-fee filter on Spot Easy, then confirm the terms in writing before applying. Fee arrangements are set per listing, not per neighborhood, so two apartments on the same street can differ. Treat a listing that says nothing about a fee as unconfirmed rather than fee-free — silence is missing information. Where a fee applies it is commonly a month's rent, which against the July 2026 Somerville one-bedroom median of $2,600 is a substantial addition to move-in costs that already include first month, last month and a security deposit. Because much of the Somerville stock is owned by small landlords rather than management companies, terms vary more here than in a city dominated by large buildings, so ask the agent for the total due at signing. Every agent listing on Spot Easy is verified before their listings appear, which matters more in a market where most landlords are individuals rather than companies.
What documents do I need to rent an apartment in Somerville?
Photo identification, recent pay stubs or an offer letter, bank statements and previous landlord references cover most requests. Because a large share of Somerville apartments are owned by small landlords rather than management companies, screening is often less formal than in a managed building — but references tend to carry more weight, and decisions can be made quickly and in person. Massachusetts law caps what can be collected at signing: first month's rent, last month's rent, a security deposit no greater than one month's rent, and the cost of a new lock. The deposit must be held in a separate interest-bearing account at a Massachusetts bank and you are owed a receipt. Having documents assembled beforehand is a real advantage when a floor comes up mid-cycle. It is also worth asking who actually manages the building day to day, because in the two- and three-family stock that is often the owner rather than a management office.