CITY PROFILE

Boston, MA

Buy a house cheap, rent an apartment expensive, freeze anyway.

By the numbers

Typical home value$742K · Zillow, May 2026 (ZHVI)
Typical rent$3,211/mo · Zillow, May 2026 (ZORI)
Average temperature9.6°C · warmest 22.4°C · coolest -3.5°C · NASA POWER
Annual precipitation1206 mm · NASA POWER
Metro size rank (US)#10 · Zillow SizeRank

Match scores

  • Affordable to buy63
  • Affordable to rent18
  • Climate comfort45
  • Big-city amenities80

Scores are 0–100, normalised across the metros we cover, derived from the sourced figures above (higher = better on that factor). A research aid, not a recommendation to move. Job market, safety, and healthcare access need key-gated feeds (BLS, FBI, Census) not yet wired — see the methodology.