Boston’s T is one of the largest rapid transit systems in the nation, behind New York City and Chicago and similar in size to Washington D.C. This means hundreds of thousands of people rely on the MBTA system to get them to and from work, school, yoga classes, and whatever else they may need. It is no wonder proximity to the T is one of the first things people consider when searching for an apartment in Boston. As important as it is, RentHop’s data scientists want to give you a hand with your apartment search by mapping out median rents by each T train stop.
Our key findings this year include:
- Overall, one-bedroom median rent in Boston went up 4.5% from 2018 to 2019.
- Rents increased at 74 stops across all train lines and decreased at 39 stops. 8 stops experienced no growth in the past year.
- As fewer units right by the stop were available between January and April, median rent went up 8.2% at Park Street (Green/Red), mostly driven up by 660 Washington Street, a high-end apartment building that’s only 0.3 miles away from the stop.
- With more units below $3,000 became available at 130 Dartmouth St, median rent at Back Bay (Orange) went down by 6.3%.
Our Interactive T Map Displays All Stops With Respective Rents and YoY Fluctuations
To calculate the median rent for the map above, we used RentHop rental data for one-bedroom apartments from January to April 2018 and 2019, as well as MBTA GIS data for T stops from Mass.gov. To get accurate prices near the subway stops, we looked first at non-duplicated listings within 0.62 miles of an MBTA stop and if there were 50 unique data points we calculated the median. If not, the radius from the stop was increased to 1.2 miles and the data was resampled to ensure enough unique listings were used when calculating the median.
Ride the Train to Savings
Would you travel an extra stop to save a couple hundred dollars? How about for $800? The list below represents the largest price disparities between each stop. This could be because the stops on the edge of a neighborhood and rents dropped at one stop while prices soared at the other, or all of the above. It is also possible that the typical one-bedroom apartment near one stop is very different from an apartment just one stop away.
Only 75 stops experienced rent growth this year, 15 fewer than in 2018. Even so, Greater Boston remains to be one of the most expensive rental markets in the U.S. Chinatown continued to be one of the most expensive MBTA stops, with a median rent of $3,363, 2.9% higher than last year. In Cambridge, median rents went up at all stops except for Central (-2.9%).
These stops saw the biggest rent drops on one-bedroom apartments
- Forest Hills – Orange Line: $1,850, YoY -8.2%
- Capen Street – Red Line: $1,925, YoY -7.2%
- Wellington – Orange Line: $2,100, YoY -6.6%
- Beaconsfield – Green Line: $1,963, YoY -6.5%
- Back Bay – Orange Line: $3,245, YoY -6.3%
These stops saw some of the biggest rent hikes
- Park Street – Green/Red Line: $3,200, YoY 8.2%
- Ashmont – Red Line: $1,729, YoY 8.0%
- Back Of The Hill – Green Line: $1,875, YoY 7.9%
- Beachmont – Blue Line: $1,938, YoY 7.6%
- Boylston – Green Line: $3,064, YoY 7.5%
Turn your commute into extra cash at these stops
- Save $801 between Aquarium ($2,995) and Maverick ($2,194) – Blue Line
- Save $800 between Park Street ($3,200) and Charles/MGH ($2,400) – Red Line
- Save $789 between Community College ($3,041) and Sullivan Square ($2,253) – Orange Line
- Save $600 between Prudential ($3,100) and Kenmore ($2,500) – Green Line
- Save $563 between Kendall/MIT ($3,010) and Central ($2,448) – Red Line
Love Our Map? There is a Condensed Map for Easy Sharing
What Does This Mean for You?
Finding an apartment in Boston certainly isn’t easy. Deciding where to live and starting your search can be the most difficult step. By giving you as much information about the market as possible, RentHop wants to point you in the right direction. This map is just one of the data-backed insights we offer. All of our Boston apartment for rent are ranked using available data to ensure that renters always see the best quality apartments.
