The short version is this. A two bedroom in Medford rents for a median of $2,900 and takes 21 days, based on 118 rentals that closed in the six months ending 26 August 2026. Plan on about $6,100 in cash to move in. Demand is real: 72 percent of Medford rentals over the last six months went at or above the original asking price, and the typical rental leases in about three weeks.
Medford closed 1,007 rentals in the last 25 months, one of the biggest rental markets I track, split across three distinct worlds: the Tufts student blocks, the Wellington and Station Landing towers, and the two families everywhere else. I pulled every closed rental in the MLS 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 | too few | too few | too few |
| 1 bedroom | $2,400 (23) | $2,400 (36) | $2,400 (53) |
| 2 bedroom | $2,900 (73) | $2,900 (118) | $2,800 (215) |
| 3 bedroom | $3,500 (45) | $3,500 (83) | $3,400 (142) |
| 4 bedroom | $4,295 (13) | $4,300 (24) | $4,295 (49) |
| 5 bedroom | too few | $5,500 (10) | $5,450 (12) |
| All rentals | $3,000 (163) | $3,000 (280) | $3,000 (484) |
Medians. Number of closed rentals in parentheses. Windows end 26 August 2026. Medford runs a real five bedroom market, which most towns don't, because the group houses around Tufts rent as whole units.
| Area | Rentals | Median, all sizes | 2 bedroom | Days to rent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tufts University area | 98 | $3,300 | $2,900 (33) | 28 |
| Wellington | 70 | $3,000 | $3,000 (47) | 30 |
| West Medford | 50 | $3,300 | $2,725 (18) | 23 |
| North Medford | 17 | $3,200 | too few | 41 |
Full 25 month period, listings where the MLS carries a neighborhood tag; most carry none and sit only in the town totals. The three worlds show up clearly: the Tufts area medians high because whole houses rent to groups, Wellington is the two bedroom tower market at $3,000, and West Medford, the commuter rail end, is quietly the cheapest two bedroom in town at $2,725 and the fastest at 23 days.
| Type | 2br median | 2br days | 3br median | 3br days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apartment | $2,750 (229) | 25 | $3,150 (146) | 28 |
| Condo | $3,000 (152) | 29 | $3,500 (43) | 31 |
| Townhouse or duplex | $2,700 (36) | 20 | $3,600 (59) | 39 |
| Single family | too few | too few | $4,000 (49) | 24 |
Full 25 month period. The condo premium over an apartment is $250 on a two bedroom, which is mostly the Wellington and Station Landing tower stock versus the older walk ups.
Priced right: 18 days. Overpriced: 44 days, and a $200 cut anyway.
1,000 closed Medford rentals, 25 months
The median Medford rental takes 28 days. Eleven percent rent within a week, twenty seven percent inside two weeks. Over the full period 52 percent went at exactly the original ask and another 9 percent above it, and in the last six months that combined figure hit 72 percent.
The pricing math is the same story as every town I run, and it does not get old: at or above ask leases in 18 days, cutting takes 44 and gives up a median $200 a month anyway. Overpricing buys a month of vacancy and then the lower rent on top.
| Time on market | Share |
|---|---|
| Under a week | 11% |
| 8 to 14 days | 16% |
| 15 to 30 days | 27% |
| 31 to 60 days | 27% |
| 61 to 90 days | 10% |
| More than 90 days | 8% |
1,000 recent rentals, 25 months.
About $6,100 for a typical two bedroom.
A little over twice one month of rent. 424 two bedroom rentals.
For a Medford two bedroom:
So a $2,900 apartment realistically needs about $6,100 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.
| Feature | Share of rentals | Rent difference | Speed difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Built 2010 or later | 9% | +$975 | no clear effect |
| Second full bathroom | 41% | +$798 | 8 days slower |
| A half bath | 14% | +$675 | 2 days faster |
| Garage parking | 35% | +$562 | no clear effect |
| Air conditioning | 67% | +$512 | 2 days slower |
| Laundry in the unit | 59% | +$500 | 4 days slower |
| Private outdoor space | 37% | +$500 | no clear effect |
| Two or more parking spaces | 41% | +$448 | no clear effect |
| Shared laundry only, none in the unit | 37% | $450 less | 5 days faster |
| Built before 1940 | 65% | $725 less | 4 days faster |
| Pets allowed | 56% | +$150 | 5 days faster |
| Dishwasher | 86% | +$350 | 5 days faster |
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 real money in Medford. A second space runs about $448 a month and a garage $562, against roughly $50 for the same thing in Watertown one town over. Medford's street parking is permit tight and the commuter share is high, so off street space is scarce in exactly the way that shows up in rent. If you own a two family here with a driveway you're not renting out, you're leaving money on the table.
The old stock discount is the widest I track after Newton. Sixty five percent of Medford's rentals were built before 1940 and they rent for about $725 less than the newer stock at the same bedroom count. That gap is the renovation budget argument in one number: the market will pay for the update.
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, garage, parking and year built rows rest on hard structural fields and are the most reliable. The amenity checkboxes are directional.
The rhythm here has two peaks: the usual summer surge, and a September echo you don't see in the non student towns, because the Tufts cycle closes leases right into the fall semester. The fast months are March through June at about three weeks. The trap is December at a median of 48 days, the worst single month in any town I track. Never let a Medford lease end in December.
| Month | Rentals closed | Median days to rent |
|---|---|---|
| January | 45 | 39 |
| February | 53 | 28 |
| March | 66 | 21 |
| April | 87 | 26 |
| May | 90 | 20 |
| June | 111 | 21 |
| July | 103 | 28 |
| August | 154 | 26 |
| September | 114 | 24 |
| October | 62 | 36 |
| November | 53 | 32 |
| December | 62 | 48 |
Two years pooled, 1,000 rentals.
| Bedrooms | Median size | Rent per square foot |
|---|---|---|
| Studio | 436 sqft | $3.96 |
| 1 bedroom | 680 sqft | $3.53 |
| 2 bedroom | 1,100 sqft | $2.55 |
| 3 bedroom | 1,300 sqft | $2.53 |
| 4 bedroom | 1,847 sqft | $2.30 |
| 5 bedroom | 2,000 sqft | $2.60 |
One line in this table breaks the usual pattern: the five bedroom rate goes back up. That's the Tufts group house market pricing by the bedroom, not by the square foot, and it's why owning a big house near campus rents differently from owning one anywhere else. Square footage comes from the listing agent and is approximate.
The medians say frozen: the all bedroom median was $3,000 in both years, the two bedroom $2,800 in both years, the three bedroom moved one tenth of a percent. You will not find a flatter set of medians anywhere.
The units say otherwise. Across 52 Medford units that rented twice at least six months apart, the median change was up 2.7 percent, with 31 up, 11 flat and 10 down. And the edges moved: one bedrooms rose 4.3 percent and four bedrooms 8.7.
The honest summary: Medford rents are creeping up around 2 to 3 percent on turnover while the headline medians sit perfectly still. If you're a landlord pricing a renewal off the town median, you're pricing off a number that hides the drift.
| Bedrooms | 12mo to Aug 2025 | 12mo to Aug 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 bedroom | $2,300 (60) | $2,400 (53) | up 4.3% |
| 2 bedroom | $2,800 (193) | $2,800 (215) | flat |
| 3 bedroom | $3,398 (146) | $3,400 (142) | flat |
| 4 bedroom | $3,950 (48) | $4,295 (49) | up 8.7% |
| 5 bedroom | $5,450 (12) | $5,450 (12) | flat |
| Same unit, rented twice | 52 matched pairs | up 2.7% | |
The five bedroom rows rest on 12 closings each and the four bedroom on about 50, so read the big swings gently.
| Included | Share of rentals |
|---|---|
| Water | 80% |
| Sewer | 61% |
| Trash | 39% |
| Parking | 32% |
| Snow removal | 31% |
| Grounds maintenance | 27% |
| Laundry facilities | 22% |
| Hot water | 12% |
Heat doesn't make this list because only 15 percent of Medford rentals include it, one of the lowest rates I track. In a market where two thirds of the stock is pre war, budget the winter gas bill like it's part of the rent, because it effectively is.
Own a rental in Medford? 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 currently have available.
Source. Every figure on this page is calculated from closed rental transactions recorded in MLS Property Information Network. Medford closed 1,007 rentals in the 25 months ending 26 August 2026; the MLS export caps at 1,000 records, so this page is computed from 1,000 of them, covering the full period from 26 July 2024 through 25 August 2026. 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. Neighborhood labels are as coded in the MLS and most listings carry none. August 2026 is partial, through the 25th.
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 25 August 2026.