A free resource by NextGen Coastal — monthly OC rental market intelligence

Comparing Cambridge vs Newton vs Boston vs Somerville

Live from the NGP-Rental-Data warehouse. Pick 2 to 4 cities and see them side by side.

Cities to compare (2 to 4)

Or share the URL directly: ?cities=us-ca-irvine,us-tx-austin,us-fl-miami

Headline numbers

Cambridge

MA

$3,456

YoY change
+1.4%
Vacancy
4.6%
2-BR rent
Cap rate
Renter share
66.5%

Newton

MA

$3,509

YoY change
+2.7%
Vacancy
4.5%
2-BR rent
Cap rate
Renter share
30.0%

Boston

MA

$3,441

YoY change
+2.0%
Vacancy
4.6%
2-BR rent
Cap rate
Renter share
64.3%

Somerville

MA

$3,519

YoY change
+3.3%
Vacancy
1.6%
2-BR rent
Cap rate
Renter share
65.8%

All values from the NGP-Rental-Data warehouse. Updated March 2026. See methodology.

Rent index — overlaid, last 5 years

ZORI rent index — Cambridge vs Newton vs Boston vs Somerville

Monthly Zillow ZORI rent index. Data updates monthly. Source: methodology.

Demographics & income

Metric CambridgeNewtonBostonSomerville
Median household income $130,748$190,304$97,344$132,572
Median age 30.442.133.331.9
Renter household share 66.5%30.0%64.3%65.8%
YoY rent change +1.4%+2.7%+2.0%+3.3%
Cap rate (overall)
$/unit (MFR)

Demographics: Census ACS5 2019-2024. Rent & cap rate: NGP-Rental-Data warehouse (see methodology). Cells marked "—" mean the metric isn't available for that geography in any free public source we ingest.