This page answers one question: what do rents and homes actually cost in Greater Boston, town by town. Every number below is computed from closed MLS transactions, 12,359 rentals over two full years plus the condo sales from the same towns, across the ten towns where I do most of my work. Rented and sold prices, not asking prices. Medians, not averages. Nothing published on fewer than ten transactions.
Each town has its own full rent report and home sales report, updated monthly, with rents by bedroom and neighborhood, days on market, move in costs, and what individual features are worth. This page is the comparison. Zillow and Redfin will give you an asking price index. Nobody else publishes any of this.
Sorted by what a two bedroom actually rents for. Every figure comes from rentals closed in the six months ending 30 September 2026, except the trend, which compares the same individual units against their own previous rent over the full two years, the most honest growth measure that exists. The last two columns put the rent next to what a two bedroom condo sold for in the same town over the last twelve months.
| Town | 2 bedroom rent | Days to rent | Got asking or more | Cash to move in | Rent trend, same units | 2 bedroom condo price | Gross yield |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waltham | $2,688 | 29 | 59% | $5,900 | flat | $562,000 | 5.7% |
| Arlington | $2,900 | 20 | 69% | $6,100 | up 3.2% | $760,000 | 4.6% |
| Medford | $2,900 | 26 | 71% | $6,400 | up 2.7% | $613,750 | 5.7% |
| Watertown | $2,900 | 22 | 66% | $6,000 | up 1.0% | $573,500 | 6.1% |
| Belmont | $3,000 | 24 | 73% | $6,000 | up 4.4% | $745,000 | 4.8% |
| Newton | $3,000 | 24 | 70% | $7,500 | up 4.0% | $760,000 | 4.7% |
| Lexington | $3,200 | 23 | 68% | $6,450 | up 2.2% | $705,000 | 5.4% |
| Somerville | $3,225 | 27 | 66% | $7,500 | up 3.6% | $770,000 | 5.0% |
| Brookline | $3,800 | 22 | 73% | $9,600 | up 3.0% | $883,000 | 5.2% |
| Cambridge | $3,850 | 23 | 68% | $8,650 | up 2.3% | $913,000 | 5.1% |
Two bedroom medians, days to rent and asking price share from the last six months. Cash to move in is the median of first month, plus last month where required, plus the security deposit, on two bedroom rentals over the last twelve months. Condo price is the median closed sale of a two bedroom condo in the last twelve months, linked to that town's sales report. Gross yield is a year of the two bedroom rent divided by that price, before taxes, condo fees, vacancy and repairs. Click any town for the complete report.
Read the spread: the same two bedroom costs $1,162 a month more in Cambridge than in Waltham. And the up front gap is wider still: $5,900 to sign in Waltham, $9,600 in Brookline. If you're choosing between towns, those two columns are the actual decision. For owners, the yield column is the one to watch: a two bedroom condo in Watertown returns 6.1% of its price in rent each year, against 4.6% in Arlington, which says a lot about where buyers are paying for appreciation instead of income.
Each report covers rents by bedroom count and neighborhood, how long rentals take, what it costs to move in, what features are worth, seasonality, and whether rents are rising, all with sample sizes shown and updated monthly.
These are the numbers I run my own business on. If you own a rental in any of these towns and want to know what it should rent for, send me the address and what it last rented at, and I'll tell you what I'd list it for and how long I think it takes. No charge, no pressure, it's a five minute exercise for me. And if you're a renter trying to pick a town, tell me your budget and I'll tell you honestly where it goes furthest.
Thinking about buying or selling instead? The same towns have full home sales reports.
Source. Every figure on this page and the ten town reports is calculated from closed rental transactions recorded in MLS Property Information Network: 12,359 rentals settled 1 October 2024 through 30 September 2026 across Waltham, Watertown, Newton, Belmont, Arlington, Lexington, Medford, Somerville, Cambridge and Brookline. These are rents tenants actually signed, not asking prices.
Method. Medians throughout, because averages get dragged by the luxury end. Time on market is the MLS days on market field. Any figure resting on fewer than ten rentals is suppressed rather than published. Rent trends come from matched pairs: the same unit rented twice, at least six months apart, compared against itself.
Corrections. If you find an error anywhere in these reports, tell me. I'll fix it and note it in that report's log. That's the deal.
Based on information provided to and compiled by MLS Property Information Network, Inc. covering the period 1 October 2024 through 30 September 2026.