Suffolk County · Boston-Cambridge-Newton · population 673,458
Where Boston stands
At or near all-time high.
Home value trajectory · last 10 years
Zillow ZHVI · monthlyLifestyle scores
Scores are heuristic estimates from population density, state, and known transit/walkable cities. Not based on a paid Walk Score / Transit Score API — see methodology for the formula.
Rent trajectory · last 5 years
Zillow ZORI · monthlyHome value vs rent · indexed to 100
Both rebased at first month of ZORI data (~2015)Rent vs buy
At a 19.4 price-to-rent ratio, Boston is in the 'depends on horizon' zone. Buy if you'll be there 5+ years and value flexibility on the home; rent if you might move, want zero maintenance friction, or expect rates to drop.
How the momentum score breaks down
methodology →Boston has held up across the cycle: home values at $793,154 with +1.9% 5-year CAGR. The bull case is structural — population, location, employer base — and holds even if next year's print is soft.
Boston's bear case is the boring one: the cycle is real and any market that's run hard can stall. Watch for slowing population growth, rising days-on-market, or builder discounts as the early warning signals.
About Boston
Boston is a city in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, with an estimated population of 673,458. It anchors the Boston-Cambridge-Newton metro area. The median home value in Boston is $793,154 as of 2026-04, down 0.7% over the last 12 months. Over the last five years, home values have averaged +1.9% annual growth, with prices at or near the 5-year peak. Rents in Boston average $3,413 per month, roughly flat year-over-year (+2.5%). The composite momentum score is 56 of 100 (Stable). Conditions are neither hot nor cold, so the local fit matters more than market timing.
▲ Bull case
▼ Bear case
About Boston (Wikipedia)
Boston is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Massachusetts. It serves as a cultural and financial center of New England, a region of the Northeastern United States. Boston has an area of 48.4 sq mi (125 km2) and a population of 675,647 as of the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in the Northeastern United States after New York City and Philadelphia. The larger Greater Boston metropolitan statistical area had a population of 4.9 million in 2023, making it the largest metropolitan area in New England and the eleventh-largest in the United States.
Source: Wikipedia · this summary is contributed and licensed under CC-BY-SA.
City facts
Extracted from the Wikipedia infobox. Values may be slightly out of date relative to the latest sources.
Playbook
Lifestyle fit matters more than market timing in a Stable market. Take your time on the home and neighborhood; the macro trend isn't urgent. Negotiate normally.
Price competitively from day one or risk a 60+ day listing. Staging, photography, and presentation matter more in Stable markets than in Hot ones.
Stable cap rates, no big appreciation story to lean on. Underwrite this as a pure cash-flow play — the math has to work on rent alone.
Local safety & alerts
No active National Weather Service alerts for Suffolk County right now.
Public-safety links are official .gov sources, not curated by us. Suffolk County routes NWS alerts; check the state EM portal for non-weather emergencies.
Neighborhoods of Boston
25 tracked · ranked by median home valueSee the full neighborhood ranking →
Cities like Boston
Run the numbers for Boston
Sources: Zillow ZHVI (home values), Zillow ZORI (rents), US Census ACS + place population. Updated when source agencies publish revisions.
Climate & natural-disaster risk
State-level averages from NOAA Climate Normals (1991-2020) and FEMA National Risk Index. City-level conditions can vary significantly within a state.
Local sports teams
Major professional teams the Boston-Cambridge-Newton area cheers for. Detailed stats, schedules, and player pages on intherafters.com.
Current weather
Find rentals & listings
Open current Boston listings on the major real-estate sites.
Links open the live search on the destination site — results are always current.
Local economy & environment
Humidity is annual average relative humidity (NOAA). Income is Census ACS 5-year estimate. Industries are largest employment sectors statewide (BLS); the local mix in a given city may vary.
Cities similar to Boston
Explore other places with comparable momentum or affordability.