The short version is this. A two bedroom in Cambridge rents for a median of $3,825 and takes 21 days, based on 366 rentals that closed in the six months ending 26 August 2026. Plan on about $8,400 in cash to move in, the most of any town I track. And the square matters enormously: the same two bedroom runs $3,200 in North Cambridge and $4,400 by Kendall.
Cambridge is the largest market I cover, 3,268 closed rentals in 25 months, which makes these the deepest samples on any page I publish, down to twelve neighborhoods with real numbers. I pulled every closed rental in the MLS across all five Cambridge zip codes and ran the numbers myself. Nobody else publishes this, so I do. Updated monthly, and the other towns I cover are at the markets page.
These are rented prices, not asking prices. What tenants signed for, not what landlords hoped for. Three windows because the short one is current and the long one is stable. Anything with fewer than ten rentals behind it I leave out rather than pretend it means something.
| Bedrooms | Last 3 months | Last 6 months | Last 12 months |
|---|---|---|---|
| Studio | $2,500 (34) | $2,500 (66) | $2,500 (120) |
| 1 bedroom | $3,000 (182) | $3,000 (307) | $3,000 (466) |
| 2 bedroom | $3,800 (208) | $3,825 (366) | $3,800 (578) |
| 3 bedroom | $4,600 (91) | $4,675 (166) | $4,575 (240) |
| 4 bedroom | $6,000 (34) | $6,200 (53) | $6,000 (84) |
| 5 bedroom | $9,750 (10) | $9,500 (11) | $7,000 (17) |
| All rentals | $3,575 (560) | $3,600 (971) | $3,500 (1,507) |
Medians. Number of closed rentals in parentheses. Windows end 26 August 2026. Cambridge is the most expensive of the ten towns I cover at every bedroom count, and also the only one with a real studio market: 240 closed in 25 months, more than some of my towns close in total.
| Area | Rentals | 1 bedroom | 2 bedroom | Days to rent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Cambridge | 48 | too few | $3,200 (29) | 28 |
| Mid Cambridge | 74 | $2,875 (32) | $3,450 (26) | 23 |
| Inman Square | 56 | too few | $3,500 (19) | 26 |
| Harvard Square | 291 | $2,798 (106) | $3,650 (118) | 27 |
| Cambridgeport | 119 | $2,875 (18) | $3,872 (50) | 21 |
| Central Square | 97 | $2,900 (29) | $4,000 (34) | 22 |
| East Cambridge | 227 | $3,250 (87) | $4,000 (108) | 25 |
| Riverside | 30 | too few | $3,800 (10) | 22 |
| Cambridge Highlands | 123 | $3,150 (61) | $4,300 (37) | 53 |
| Porter Square | 104 | $3,350 (24) | $4,325 (50) | 28 |
| West Cambridge | 117 | $3,255 (21) | $4,400 (37) | 33 |
| Kendall Square | 267 | $3,610 (104) | $4,400 (71) | 36 |
Sorted roughly by two bedroom price, full 25 month period, listings where the MLS carries a neighborhood tag; half do. Two things worth staring at. A Harvard Square one bedroom at $2,798 is $800 cheaper than a Kendall one bedroom, the old walk up stock against the lab economy towers. And the expensive squares are also the slow ones: Kendall at 36 days and the Highlands at 53, while the cheaper walk up neighborhoods turn over in about three weeks.
| Type | 1br median | 2br median | 2br days | 3br median |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apartment | $2,975 (491) | $3,500 (514) | 27 | $4,100 (253) |
| Condo | $3,000 (505) | $3,800 (621) | 22 | $4,525 (142) |
| Townhouse or duplex | $2,975 (20) | $4,000 (79) | 22 | $5,500 (92) |
| Single family | too few | $4,150 (16) | 38 | $6,620 (35) |
Full 25 month period. A three bedroom townhouse runs $1,400 over a three bedroom apartment, and a three bedroom single family, rare as they are, runs $6,620.
Priced right: 19 days. Overpriced: 51 days, and a $200 cut anyway.
3,268 closed Cambridge rentals, 25 months
The median Cambridge rental takes 27 days, and the market has two personalities. The walk up stock moves in about three weeks. The luxury tower stock sits: eleven percent of all Cambridge rentals took more than ninety days, the fattest stale tail of any town I track, and it's concentrated in exactly the buildings with the highest asking rents.
The pricing math holds here like everywhere: at or above ask leases in 19 days, cutting takes 51 and gives up a median $200 a month anyway. Fifty six percent went at exactly the original ask and another 9 percent above it.
| Time on market | Share |
|---|---|
| Under a week | 12% |
| 8 to 14 days | 16% |
| 15 to 30 days | 27% |
| 31 to 60 days | 23% |
| 61 to 90 days | 11% |
| More than 90 days | 11% |
All 3,268 rentals, 25 months.
About $8,400 for a typical two bedroom.
2.3 times one month of rent. 1,230 two bedroom rentals, the deepest sample I have.
Cambridge asks for the most cash up front of any town I track:
So a $3,800 apartment realistically needs about $8,400 in the bank to sign. If that shapes your search, better to know now. Reach out and I'll send you what I currently have available.
Every feature below is compared within the same bedroom count, so a two bedroom is only measured against another two bedroom, and any comparison with fewer than ten rentals on either side gets thrown out. At this sample size these are the most reliable feature numbers I publish.
| Feature | Share of rentals | Rent difference | Speed difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fireplace | 11% | +$1,600 | no clear effect |
| A half bath | 15% | +$1,225 | no clear effect |
| Second full bathroom | 50% | +$1,000 | no clear effect |
| Garage parking | 49% | +$825 | no clear effect |
| Any off street parking | 47% | +$800 | 1 day faster |
| Laundry in the unit | 62% | +$750 | 1 day faster |
| Elevator building | 52% | +$700 | 7 days slower |
| Air conditioning | 84% | +$669 | 5 days slower |
| Dishwasher | 89% | +$600 | 6 days slower |
| Built 2010 or later | 33% | +$625 | 12 days slower |
| Built before 1940 | 37% | $750 less | 10 days faster |
| Shared laundry only, none in the unit | 36% | $700 less | 1 day slower |
| Pets allowed | 52% | +$300 | 2 days slower |
| Heat included in the rent | 37% | about $75 less | no clear effect |
Median differences within bedroom count. The bottom rows stay in on purpose. A report that finds a premium on every feature is a report you shouldn't trust.
Parking is worth more in Cambridge than anywhere I track: $800 a space, $825 for a garage. Resident permit competition plus the densest housing in the state does that. If you own a Cambridge unit with a deeded space and you're renting it bundled for free, you're giving away roughly ten grand a year of pricing power.
And notice what the new towers don't get. Built 2010 or later carries only a $625 premium here, less than a fireplace, and those buildings sit twelve days longer. The pre war stock rents $750 under the new stock but ten days faster. Cambridge renters, more than anywhere else I cover, will pay for character and location and will make the lab towers wait.
Those numbers describe what a unit was listed with, not what I verified in person. Agents who fill out listings carefully also tend to be marketing better units, so part of what any feature appears to be worth is really the value of a better building and a better listing. The bathroom, fireplace, parking and year built rows rest on hard structural fields and are the most reliable. The amenity checkboxes are directional.
The September 1 academic cycle runs this market. April through June are the fast months at about three weeks, July is the biggest volume month of the year as fall leases sign, and then the door closes: October and December rentals take 46 days. The season gap here is a full month of vacancy. If your lease ends between October and January, fixing that cycle is worth more than any renovation on this page.
| Month | Rentals closed | Median days to rent |
|---|---|---|
| January | 148 | 42 |
| February | 137 | 29 |
| March | 192 | 28 |
| April | 280 | 21 |
| May | 396 | 20 |
| June | 408 | 18 |
| July | 508 | 24 |
| August | 430 | 26 |
| September | 305 | 30 |
| October | 182 | 46 |
| November | 143 | 38 |
| December | 139 | 46 |
Two years pooled, 3,268 rentals.
| Bedrooms | Median size | Rent per square foot |
|---|---|---|
| Studio | 466 sqft | $6.18 |
| 1 bedroom | 663 sqft | $4.54 |
| 2 bedroom | 989 sqft | $3.89 |
| 3 bedroom | 1,238 sqft | $3.70 |
| 4 bedroom | 1,842 sqft | $3.53 |
| 5 bedroom | 2,000 sqft | $3.47 |
A Cambridge studio costs $6.18 a square foot, half again the rate of anything outside this city, and the most expensive residential space among all ten towns I cover. Every roommate you add saves real money here. Square footage comes from the listing agent and is approximate.
Depends entirely on which unit you rent, and Cambridge is the one town where the segments are genuinely moving in opposite directions.
Studios fell 10.7 percent, from $2,800 to $2,500, on healthy samples of about 120 each year. That's the new tower supply hitting the bottom of the market all at once. Meanwhile two bedrooms rose 3.5 percent and the family sizes drifted up. The all bedroom median sat perfectly flat at $3,500 while all of that happened underneath it.
The same unit check, and this is on 303 matched pairs, the largest sample I have anywhere: median change up 2.6 percent, with 193 up, 63 flat and 47 down.
The honest summary: existing Cambridge units are rising around 2.5 percent on turnover, family sized units are firm, and the studio market is genuinely falling as new supply lands on it. If you're a renter, the studio is the one segment where you have real negotiating power, and if you own studios near the new towers, price defensively.
| Bedrooms | 12mo to Aug 2025 | 12mo to Aug 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Studio | $2,800 (114) | $2,500 (120) | down 10.7% |
| 1 bedroom | $3,000 (496) | $3,000 (466) | flat |
| 2 bedroom | $3,672 (592) | $3,800 (578) | up 3.5% |
| 3 bedroom | $4,500 (254) | $4,575 (240) | up 1.7% |
| 4 bedroom | $6,300 (102) | $6,000 (84) | down 4.8% |
| Same unit, rented twice | 303 matched pairs | up 2.6% | |
| Included | Share of rentals |
|---|---|
| Water | 78% |
| Sewer | 69% |
| Snow removal | 53% |
| Trash | 47% |
| Grounds maintenance | 39% |
| Hot water | 38% |
| Heat | 34% |
| Laundry facilities | 20% |
| Parking | 20% |
A third of Cambridge rentals include heat, the highest rate of my ten towns, because the big managed buildings bundle it. Note the flip side from the feature table: heat included costs essentially nothing here, so in Cambridge specifically it really is close to free money for a renter.
Own a rental in Cambridge? These are the numbers I price units with every week. If you want to know what yours 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 and no pressure, it's a five minute exercise for me.
Renting instead? Get in touch and I'll send you what I have available, and here's my general guide to Cambridge if you're new to the area.
Source. Every figure on this page is calculated from closed rental transactions recorded in MLS Property Information Network: 3,268 Cambridge rentals, studios through seven bedrooms, settled between 26 July 2024 and 26 August 2026, pulled across the city's five zip codes and merged with duplicates removed by MLS number. One zip code, 02138, reached the 1,000 record export limit, so a small number of its rentals may be missing from the totals. These are rents tenants actually signed, not asking prices.
Method. Medians, not averages. Time on market is the MLS days on market field. Any figure resting on fewer than ten rentals gets left out entirely.
What's approximate. Square footage, amenities and included utilities are entered by listing agents and aren't independently verified. Square and neighborhood labels are as coded in the MLS; about half of listings carry one. A handful of records carry out of town labels from data entry errors and stay in the totals. August 2026 is partial, through the 26th.
Corrections. If you find an error, tell me. I'll fix it and note it in the log below. That's the deal.
Based on information provided to and compiled by MLS Property Information Network, Inc. covering the period 26 July 2024 through 26 August 2026.