Moving to Greater Boston
Moving to Greater Boston means navigating Massachusetts's real, current statewide housing shortage from within its epicenter, alongside a genuinely wide range of MBTA access across this region's twelve markets -- from Cambridge's and Somerville's dense subway access to Framingham's and Waltham's more car-and-commuter-rail-dependent profiles.
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Learn moreBoston's Housing Shortage Shapes the Whole Region
Boston's own rental-supply picture is genuinely two-sided: the city's vacancy rate climbed to approximately 1.43% in 2026 (up ~72% year-over-year, the most renter-friendly in four years) even as new housing permits fell to just 432 units in Q1 2026 -- the city's slowest construction pace since 2010, consistent with Massachusetts's own broader roughly 222,000-home statewide shortage. This dynamic doesn't stop at Boston's city line: every market in this region shares the same underlying supply constraint, which is a real, structural reason housing costs run high across all twelve places even where individual cities (Chelsea, Malden) post comparatively affordable headline figures.
A Genuine MBTA Access Range
Cambridge, Somerville, Brookline, Quincy-adjacent Boston neighborhoods, Malden, Medford, Chelsea, and Revere all carry direct subway (Red, Green, Orange, Blue Line, or Silver Line busway) access, while Newton relies on the Green Line's D and B branches plus commuter rail, and Wellesley, Waltham, and Framingham rely primarily on the Framingham/Worcester commuter-rail line and highway access (Route 9, I-95/128, or the Mass Pike respectively) rather than direct subway. This is a real, practical distinction worth confirming directly against a specific commute before assuming uniform transit access across 'Greater Boston.'
Massachusetts's Flat State Income Tax, Plus the Millionaires Surtax
Every place in this region shares Massachusetts's real flat 5% state income tax, with a real 4% 'millionaires tax' surtax above $1,107,750 in income, producing an effective 9% top rate for high earners -- a genuinely simpler statewide tax picture than New York's graduated system, but still a real, material planning factor for this region's substantial population of biotech, tech, and finance-sector high earners.
Key takeaways
- Boston's genuinely two-sided rental market (rising vacancy, falling new construction) reflects Massachusetts's broader statewide housing shortage -- a structural condition shared across this entire region, not just Boston proper.
- MBTA subway access varies genuinely across this region -- Cambridge, Somerville, Brookline, Malden, Medford, Chelsea, and Revere all have it directly; Wellesley, Waltham, and Framingham rely primarily on commuter rail and highway access instead.
- Massachusetts's flat 5% state income tax (9% effective top rate above $1,107,750 with the millionaires surtax) applies uniformly across this region.
- Somerville's Green Line Extension (2022) and Revere's Suffolk Downs redevelopment are both real, current infrastructure and housing-supply changes actively reshaping their local markets -- worth checking current status before assuming older commute-time or supply figures still apply.
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