The short version is this. A two bedroom in Waltham rents for a median of $2,688 and the typical rental leases in about 29 days, based on 317 rentals that closed in the six months ending 30 September 2026. Plan on about $5,900 in cash to move into a two bedroom, the lowest up front cost of any town I track. Waltham is the slowest of the ten to lease right now, which makes the first price matter more here than anywhere else I track. 59 percent of rentals in the last six months went at or above the original asking price.
Waltham isn't one rental market either. By zip code, the median rental runs from $2,350 in 02452 to $2,750 in 02451, and the zip code table below breaks it out by bedroom count. I pulled every closed rental in the MLS for the last two years and ran the numbers myself, and it gets updated every month. The other towns I cover are at the markets page, and the sales side of this town is in my Waltham home sales report.
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 | $1,700 (15) |
| 1 bedroom | $2,100 (55) | $2,100 (101) | $2,000 (158) |
| 2 bedroom | $2,595 (63) | $2,688 (114) | $2,600 (172) |
| 3 bedroom | $3,600 (33) | $3,762 (64) | $3,750 (83) |
| 4 bedroom | $4,925 (12) | $4,925 (24) | $4,500 (37) |
| 5+ bedroom | too few | too few | $5,250 (11) |
| All rentals | $2,500 (169) | $2,600 (317) | $2,538 (476) |
Medians. Number of closed rentals in parentheses. Windows end 30 September 2026. The biggest single step in Waltham is from a 2 bedroom to a 3 bedroom, $1,150 a month over the last twelve months.
| Zip | Area | Rentals | Median, all sizes | 1 bed | 2 bed | 3 bed | Days to rent |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 02452 | North Waltham and the Highlands | 79 | $2,350 | $2,000 (35) | $2,500 (28) | too few | 30 |
| 02453 | Downtown, South Side and Brandeis | 285 | $2,595 | $2,100 (87) | $2,600 (109) | $3,600 (53) | 31 |
| 02451 | North and west Waltham | 107 | $2,750 | $2,100 (34) | $2,750 (35) | $3,888 (22) | 27 |
Last twelve months, every closed Waltham rental, sorted by median. The all sizes median runs from $2,350 in 02452 to $2,750 in 02451, but part of that is the mix of housing in each zip, so compare the same bedroom count across a row where the sample allows.
| Type | 2br median | 2br days | 3br median | 3br days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apartment | $2,512 (102) | 33 | $3,200 (19) | 49 |
| Condo | $2,700 (53) | 37 | $3,600 (11) | 12 |
| Townhouse or duplex | $3,050 (16) | 22 | $3,750 (28) | 35 |
| Single family | too few | $3,995 (25) | 26 |
Last twelve months. Same bedroom count, different building: this is what the product itself is worth.
Priced right: 18 days. Overpriced: 57 days, and a $175 cut anyway.
476 closed Waltham rentals in the last twelve months
Over the last twelve months the median Waltham rental took 30 days. 9 percent rented within a week, and 26 percent are gone inside two weeks. 52 percent of rentals went at exactly the original asking price and another 6 percent above it, so 43 percent of Waltham landlords had to cut.
When they did cut, the pattern is the same one I find everywhere: 18 days at full price against 57 days with a cut, and the cut ran a median of $175 a month. Overpricing costs a month of vacancy and then the lower rent anyway.
| Time on market | Share |
|---|---|
| Under a week | 9% |
| 8 to 14 days | 18% |
| 15 to 30 days | 25% |
| 31 to 60 days | 25% |
| 61 to 90 days | 12% |
| More than 90 days | 12% |
476 rentals, last twelve months.
About $5,900 for a typical two bedroom.
That is 2.3 times one month of rent. 172 two bedroom rentals, last twelve months.
For a two bedroom in Waltham:
So a $2,600 two bedroom realistically needs about $5,900 in the bank to sign. If that shapes your search, better to know before you fall in love with something. Reach out and I'll send you what I currently have available.
My favorite part of the report, because these numbers exist nowhere else. Every feature 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fireplace | 12% | +$750 | 8 days faster |
| Garage parking | 18% | +$725 | 9 days faster |
| Built 2010 or later | 11% | +$725 | 6 days faster |
| A half bath | 18% | +$700 | 10 days faster |
| Second full bathroom | 27% | +$625 | no clear effect |
| Private outdoor space | 32% | +$475 | 11 days faster |
| Laundry in the unit | 46% | +$375 | 6 days faster |
| Air conditioning | 70% | +$325 | 4 days slower |
| Second parking space | 50% | +$225 | 6 days faster |
| Pets allowed | 61% | about $100 | 2 days faster |
| Walking distance to a T stop | 44% | about $50 | 11 days faster |
| Built before 1940 | 40% | about $75 | 11 days faster |
| Heat included in rent | 25% | $150 less | no clear effect |
Median differences within bedroom count, last twelve months. The rows near the bottom stay in on purpose. A report that finds a premium on every feature is a report you shouldn't trust.
Read this table for what it really says. The biggest gaps in Waltham (fireplace, garage parking, built 2010 or later) mostly describe which kind of property you're in, not an amenity you can add on a weekend. They are the signature of the newer or larger unit.
And the things that barely move the rent here: pets allowed, walking distance to a t stop, built before 1940. Where most listings already have something, it stops being worth extra.
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 year built, bathroom, garage and fireplace rows rest on hard structural fields and are the most reliable. The amenity checkboxes are directional.
The fast months are March, April and May, when the median rental goes in 26 to 26 days. June and August close the most deals. The slow months are December and July, at 38 to 43 days. If your lease ends in late fall or winter, fix the cycle. A vacant month on a $2,550 Waltham rental is a $2,550 mistake.
| Month | Rentals closed | Median days to rent |
|---|---|---|
| January | 50 | 28 |
| February | 33 | 31 |
| March | 69 | 26 |
| April | 76 | 26 |
| May | 93 | 26 |
| June | 116 | 26 |
| July | 111 | 38 |
| August | 112 | 28 |
| September | 77 | 27 |
| October | 63 | 28 |
| November | 56 | 30 |
| December | 53 | 43 |
Two full years of closings pooled by the month the lease was signed, October 2024 through September 2026.
| Bedrooms | Median size | Rent per square foot |
|---|---|---|
| Studio | 400 sqft | $4.26 |
| 1 bedroom | 642 sqft | $3.29 |
| 2 bedroom | 995 sqft | $2.77 |
| 3 bedroom | 1,700 sqft | $2.20 |
| 4 bedroom | 2,345 sqft | $2.05 |
| 5+ bedroom | 2,150 sqft | $2.33 |
Last twelve months. A studio in Waltham costs $4.26 a square foot against $2.33 for a 5+ bedroom. Square footage comes from the listing agent and is approximate, so trust the pattern more than the exact cents.
Flat, measured the most honest way there is.
The same units against themselves: across 64 cases where one Waltham unit rented twice at least six months apart, the median change was flat. 28 went up, 16 held, 20 went down.
Full years side by side, October 2024 through September 2025 against October 2025 through September 2026, the all bedroom median went from $2,700 to $2,538, down 6.0%. Headline medians move with the mix of what happened to rent, which is why the same unit comparison is the one I trust.
| Bedrooms | Oct 2024 to Sep 2025 | Oct 2025 to Sep 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 bedroom | $2,100 (137) | $2,000 (158) | down 4.8% |
| 2 bedroom | $2,700 (153) | $2,600 (172) | down 3.7% |
| 3 bedroom | $3,500 (86) | $3,750 (83) | up 7.1% |
| 4 bedroom | $4,400 (38) | $4,500 (37) | up 2.3% |
| 5+ bedroom | $5,800 (11) | $5,250 (11) | down 9.5% |
| All rentals | $2,700 (433) | $2,538 (476) | down 6.0% |
| Same unit, rented twice | 64 matched pairs | flat | |
Full twelve month windows on both sides, so seasonality can't fake the comparison.
| Included | Share of rentals |
|---|---|
| Water | 78% |
| Sewer | 60% |
| Trash | 45% |
| Snow removal | 43% |
| Grounds maintenance | 40% |
| Parking | 36% |
| Hot water | 27% |
| Heat | 25% |
| Laundry facilities | 22% |
| Gas | 7% |
| Electricity | 4% |
Last twelve months, as listed. Only 25 percent of Waltham rentals include heat, so budget for winter utilities on everything else.
Own a rental in Waltham? 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 Waltham 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. Waltham closed 909 rentals settled 1 October 2024 through 30 September 2026, every one of them in this analysis, deduplicated by listing number. These are rents tenants actually signed, not asking prices.
Windows. The headline numbers use the last three, six and twelve months ending 30 September 2026. The trend compares two complete twelve month windows, and the seasonal table pools both years.
Method. Medians, not averages, because the top of the market would drag an average around badly. Time on market is the MLS days on market field. Cash to move in is first month, plus last month where required, plus the security deposit. 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. Neighborhoods are as coded in the MLS.
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 1 October 2024 through 30 September 2026.