Rent vs Buy in Boston, MA
Boston is an expensive place to buy, with a median listing price of $849,000. At that level, small shifts in your mortgage rate or how long you stay swing the rent-vs-buy result by a lot.
Rent runs about $2,150 a month here, which leaves Boston with a high price-to-rent ratio. That generally tilts the monthly math toward renting, with buying gaining only as equity and appreciation build over time.
How Boston compares
- Homes in Boston cost 92% more than the national median of $443,255.
- Rent in Boston runs roughly in line with the U.S. median of $2,200/mo.
- Homes in Boston cost 11% more than the Massachusetts median of $764,500.
What the numbers say
Property tax in Boston comes to about $750 a month ($8,999 a year) on a $849,000 median home at 1.06%. It is the biggest owning cost renters skip entirely, so model it before comparing.
Renters here pay about $2,150 a month ($25,800 a year), the baseline the buy case has to beat. Appreciation in Boston has been running hot recently, near 8.1% a year. The calculator holds to the long-run 3 to 3.5% national average anyway, because leaning on a hot streak to last is a frequent way short-stay buyers get hurt.
Homeowners insurance is modeled at the Massachusetts average of $1,700 a year; swap in a real quote once you have a specific home.
What makes the rent-vs-buy math different in Boston
Boston's price-to-rent ratio is about 32.9: the $849,000 median price divided by $2,150 a month in rent over a year. That is a high ratio, where renting frequently costs less each month and the buy case rests on a long hold plus price growth. As a single number, the ratio is a fast sanity check. It flags which side begins ahead, though your own inputs decide the final margin.
Because the ratio is high, the monthly cost of owning in Boston typically exceeds rent for the first several years, even before maintenance. Buying catches up only as the loan amortizes and the home appreciates, so the honest question is whether you will hold long enough for that crossover to arrive.
A few Boston specifics sharpen that read. Massachusetts' MBTA Communities law requires 177 cities and towns to establish at least one district of reasonable size where multifamily housing is permitted as of right. Source. As of May 2025, 133 of the 177 MBTA communities had adopted multifamily zoning under the law, with about 4,000 housing units in the pipeline. Source.
Home Purchase
Enter details about the home you're considering buying
Renting
Enter details about your rental alternative
Time Horizon & Market
Detailed mode adds 17 more inputs including advanced assumptions.
Buying is cheaper over 7 years
by $31,485
Buying comes out ahead, though the margin is meaningful only if you stay the full term and your assumptions hold roughly true.
The result is robust across small changes to your inputs.
Total cost of buying
$387,138
Average $4,609 per month over 7 years
Total cost of renting
$207,949
Average $2,476 per month over 7 years
Equity Built
$245,691
What you've paid down on the loan principal over 7 years.
Net Sale Proceeds
$211,339
What you'd walk away with after selling, minus closing costs.
Investment Growth
$65,204
What the down payment could grow to if invested instead of used to buy.
This chart shows total dollars spent on each path, month by month. With your inputs and time horizon, renting stays ahead the entire time.
Frequently Asked Questions
By Barron Hansen, Founder · Last reviewed