This data, maintained by the Mayor’s Office of Housing (MOH), is an inventory of all income-restricted units in the city. This data includes public housing owned by the Boston Housing Authority (BHA), privately- owned housing built with funding from DND and/or on land that was formerly City-owned, and privately-owned housing built without any City subsidy, e.g., created using Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) or as part of the Inclusionary Development Policy (IDP). Information is gathered from a variety of sources, including the City's IDP list, permitting and completion data from the Inspectional Services Department (ISD), newspaper advertisements for affordable units, Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation’s (CEDAC) Expiring Use list, and project lists from the BHA, the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), MassHousing, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), among others. The data is meant to be as exhaustive and up-to-date as possible, but since many units are not required to report data to the City of Boston, MOH is constantly working to verify and update it. See the data dictionary for more information on the structure of the data and important notes. The database only includes units that have a deed-restriction. It does not include tenant-based (also known as mobile) vouchers, which subsidize rent, but move with the tenant and are not attached to a particular unit. There are over 22,000 tenant-based vouchers in the city of Boston which provide additional affordability to low- and moderate-income households not accounted for here. The Income-Restricted Housing report can be directly accessed here:
https://www.boston.gov/sites/default/files/file/2023/04/Income%20Restricted%20Housing%202022_0.pdf

Learn more about income-restricted housing (as well as other types of affordable housing) here: https://www.boston.gov/affordable-housing-boston#income-restricted

Summary File 3 contains sample data, which is the information compiled from the questions asked of a sample of all people and housing units in the United States. Population items include basic population totals as well as counts for the following characteristics: urban and rural, households and families, marital status, grandparents as caregivers, language and ability to speak English, ancestry, place of birth, citizenship status, year of entry, migration, place of work, journey to work (commuting), school enrollment and educational attainment, veteran status, disability, employment status, industry, occupation, class of worker, income, and poverty status. Housing items include basic housing totals and counts for urban and rural, number of rooms, number of bedrooms, year moved into unit, household size and occupants per room, units in structure, year structure built, heating fuel, telephone service, plumbing and kitchen facilities, vehicles available, value of home, and monthly rent and shelter costs. The Summary File 3 population tables are identified with a "P" prefix and the housing tables are identified with an "H," followed by a sequential number. The "P" and "H" tables are shown for the block group and higher level geography, while the "PCT" and "HCT" tables are shown for the census tract and higher level geography. There are 16 "P" tables, 15 "PCT" tables, and 20 "HCT" tables that bear an alphabetic suffix on the table number, indicating that they are repeated for nine major race and Hispanic or Latino groups. There are 484 population tables and 329 housing tables for a total of 813 unique tables.

This dataset provides information on 62 in Massachusetts, United States as of March, 2025. It includes details such as email addresses (where publicly available), phone numbers (where publicly available), and geocoded addresses. Explore market trends, identify potential business partners, and gain valuable insights into the industry. Download a complimentary sample of 10 records to see what's included.

There are several forms, regulations and data associated with the Emergency Assistance (EA) Family Shelter Program for our business partners and constituents.

This dataset provides information on 265 in Massachusetts, United States as of March, 2025. It includes details such as email addresses (where publicly available), phone numbers (where publicly available), and geocoded addresses. Explore market trends, identify potential business partners, and gain valuable insights into the industry. Download a complimentary sample of 10 records to see what's included.

Click here to check Short-Term Rental Eligibility

Boston's ordinance on short-term rentals is designed to incorporate the growth of the home-share industry into the City's work to create affordable housing for all residents. We want to preserve housing for residents while allowing Bostonians to benefit from this new industry. Starting on on January 1, 2019, short-term rentals in Boston will need to register with the City of Boston.

Eligibility for every unit in the City of Boston is dependant on the following six criteria:

• No affordability covenant restrictions
• Compliance with housing laws and codes
• No violations of laws regarding short-term rental use
• Owner occupied
• Two- or three-family dwelling
• Residential use classification

The Short-Term Rental Eligibility Dataset leverages information, wherever possible, about these criteria. For additional details and information about these criteria, please visit https://www.boston.gov/short-term-rentals.

ABOUT THIS DATASET

In June 2018, a citywide ordinance established new guidelines and regulations for short-term rentals in Boston. Registration opened January 1, 2019. The Short-Term Rental Eligibility Dataset was created to help residents, landlords, and City officials determine whether a property is eligible to be registered as a short-term rental.

The Short-Term Rental Eligibility Dataset currently joins data from the following datasets and is refreshed nightly:

• Live Street Address Management (SAM) Addresses.
• Assessing Online.
• Building and Property Violations
• Problem Properties
• Income-Restricted Properties
• STR Registration Data

HOW TO DETERMINE ELIGIBILITY FOR SHORT-TERM RENTAL REGISTRATION

1. ** Open** the Short-Term Rental Eligibility Dataset. In the dataset's search bar, enter the address of the property you are seeking to register.

2. Find the row containing the correct address and unit of the property you are seeking. This is the information we have for your unit.

3. Look at the columns marked as “Home-Share Eligible,” “Limited-Share Eligible,” and “Owner-Adjacent Eligible.”

   • A “yes” under any of these columns means your unit IS eligible for registration under that short-term rental type. Click here for a description of short-term rental types.
   • A “no” under any of these columns means your unit is NOT eligible for registration under that short-term rental type. Click here for a description of short-term rental types.

4. If your unit has a “yes” under “Home-Share Eligible,” “Limited-Share Eligible,” or “Owner-Adjacent Eligible,” you can register your unit here.

WHY IS MY UNIT LISTED AS “NOT ELIGIBLE”?

If you find that your unit is listed as NOT eligible, and you would like to understand more about why, you can use the Short-Term Rental Eligibility Dataset to learn more. The following columns measure each of the six eligibility criteria in the following ways:

1. No affordability covenant restrictions

   • A “yes” in the “Income Restricted” column tells you that the unit is marked as income restricted and is NOT eligible.
     
     
   • The “Income Restricted” column measures whether the unit is subject to an affordability covenant, as reported by the Department of Neighborhood Development and/or the Boston Planning and Development Agency.
     
     
   • For questions about affordability covenants, contact the Department of Neighborhood Development.
     
     

2. Compliance with housing laws and codes

   • A “yes” in the “Problem Properties” column tells you that this unit is considered a “Problem Property” by the Problem Properties Task Force and is NOT eligible.
     
     
   • Learn more about how “Problem Properties” are defined here.
     
     
   • A “yes” in the “Problem Property Owner” column tells you that the owner of this unit also owns a “Problem Property,” as reported by the Problem Properties Task Force.
     
     
   • Owners with any properties designated as a Problem Property are NOT eligible.
     
     
   • No unit owned by the owner of a “Problem Property” may register a short-term rental.
     
     
   • Learn more about how “Problem Properties” are defined here.
     
     
   • The “Open Violation Count” column tells you how many open violations the unit has. Units with any open violations are NOT eligible. Violations counted include: violations of the sanitary, building, zoning, and fire code; stop work orders; and abatement orders.
     
     
   • NOTE: Violations written before 1/1/19 that are still open will make a unit NOT eligible until these violations are resolved.
     
     
   • If your unit has an open violation, visit these links to appeal your violation(s) or pay your code violation fine(s).
     
     
   • The “Violations in the Last 6 Months” column tells you how many violations the unit has received in the last six months. Units with three or more violations, whether open or closed, are NOT eligible.
     
     
   • NOTE: Only violations written on or after 1/1/19 will count against this criteria.
     
     
   • If your unit has an open violation, visit these links to appeal your violation(s) or pay your code violation fine(s).
     
     
   • How to comply with housing laws and codes:
     
     
   • Have an open violation? Visit these links to appeal your violation(s) or pay your code violation fine(s).
     
     
   • Have questions about problem properties? Visit Neighborhood Service’s Problem Properties site.
     
     

3. No violations of laws regarding short-term rental use

   • A “yes” in the “Legally Restricted” column tells you that there is a complaint against the unit that finds

     • A legal restriction that prohibits the use of the unit as a Short-Term Rental under local, state, or federal law, OR

     • legal restriction that prohibits the use of the unit as a Short-Term Rental under condominium bylaws.

     • Units with legal restrictions found upon investigation are NOT eligible.
       
       

     • If the investigation of a complaint against the unit yields restrictions of the nature detailed above, we will mark the unit with a “yes” in this column. Until such complaint-based investigations begin, all units are marked with “no.”
       
       

     • NOTE: Currently no units have a “legally restricted” designation.
       
       

4. Owner-occupied

   • A “no” in the “Unit Owner-Occupied” column tells you that there is NO Residential Tax Exemption filed for that unit via the Assessing Department, and that unit is automatically categorized as NOT eligible for the following Short-Term Rental types:

     • Home-Share
     • Limited-Share
       
       
     • Residential Tax Exemption indicates that a unit is owner-occupied and generates a “yes” in the “Unit Owner-Occupied” column.
       
       

     • Owners are not required to file a Residential Tax Exemption in order to be eligible to register a unit as a Short-Term Rental.
       
       

     • If you would like to apply for Residential Tax Exemption, you can apply here.
       
       

     • If you are the owner-occupant of a unit and you have not filed for Residential Tax Exemption, you can still register your unit by proving owner-occupancy.
       

     • It is recommended that you submit proof of residency in your short-term rental registration application to expedite the process of proving owner-occupancy (see

This dataset provides information on 42 in Massachusetts, United States as of March, 2025. It includes details such as email addresses (where publicly available), phone numbers (where publicly available), and geocoded addresses. Explore market trends, identify potential business partners, and gain valuable insights into the industry. Download a complimentary sample of 10 records to see what's included.

The American Community Survey Education Tabulation (ACS-ED) is a custom tabulation of the ACS produced for the National Center of Education Statistics (NCES) by the U.S. Census Bureau. The ACS-ED provides a rich collection of social, economic, demographic, and housing characteristics for school systems, school-age children, and the parents of school-age children. In addition to focusing on school-age children, the ACS-ED provides enrollment iterations for children enrolled in public school. The data profiles include percentages (along with associated margins of error) that allow for comparison of school district-level conditions across the U.S. For more information about the NCES ACS-ED collection, visit the NCES Education Demographic and Geographic Estimates (EDGE) program at: https://nces.ed.gov/programs/edge/Demographic/ACSAnnotation values are negative value representations of estimates and have values when non-integer information needs to be represented. See the table below for a list of common Estimate/Margin of Error (E/M) values and their corresponding Annotation (EA/MA) values.All information contained in this file is in the public domain. Data users are advised to review NCES program documentation and feature class metadata to understand the limitations and appropriate use of these data.-9An '-9' entry in the estimate and margin of error columns indicates that data for this geographic area cannot be displayed because the number of sample cases is too small.-8An '-8' means that the estimate is not applicable or not available.-6A '-6' entry in the estimate column indicates that either no sample observations or too few sample observations were available to compute an estimate, or a ratio of medians cannot be calculated because one or both of the median estimates falls in the lowest interval or upper interval of an open-ended distribution.-5A '-5' entry in the margin of error column indicates that the estimate is controlled. A statistical test for sampling variability is not appropriate.-3A '-3' entry in the margin of error column indicates that the median falls in the lowest interval or upper interval of an open-ended distribution. A statistical test is not appropriate.-2A '-2' entry in the margin of error column indicates that either no sample observations or too few sample observations were available to compute a standard error and thus the margin of error. A statistical test is not appropriate.

The American Community Survey Education Tabulation (ACS-ED) is a custom tabulation of the ACS produced for the National Center of Education Statistics (NCES) by the U.S. Census Bureau. The ACS-ED provides a rich collection of social, economic, demographic, and housing characteristics for school systems, school-age children, and the parents of school-age children. In addition to focusing on school-age children, the ACS-ED provides enrollment iterations for children enrolled in public school. The data profiles include percentages (along with associated margins of error) that allow for comparison of school district-level conditions across the U.S. For more information about the NCES ACS-ED collection, visit the NCES Education Demographic and Geographic Estimates (EDGE) program at: https://nces.ed.gov/programs/edge/Demographic/ACSAnnotation values are negative value representations of estimates and have values when non-integer information needs to be represented. See the table below for a list of common Estimate/Margin of Error (E/M) values and their corresponding Annotation (EA/MA) values.All information contained in this file is in the public domain. Data users are advised to review NCES program documentation and feature class metadata to understand the limitations and appropriate use of these data. -9 An '-9' entry in the estimate and margin of error columns indicates that data for this geographic area cannot be displayed because the number of sample cases is too small. -8 An '-8' means that the estimate is not applicable or not available. -6 A '-6' entry in the estimate column indicates that either no sample observations or too few sample observations were available to compute an estimate, or a ratio of medians cannot be calculated because one or both of the median estimates falls in the lowest interval or upper interval of an open-ended distribution. -5 A '-5' entry in the margin of error column indicates that the estimate is controlled. A statistical test for sampling variability is not appropriate. -3 A '-3' entry in the margin of error column indicates that the median falls in the lowest interval or upper interval of an open-ended distribution. A statistical test is not appropriate. -2 A '-2' entry in the margin of error column indicates that either no sample observations or too few sample observations were available to compute a standard error and thus the margin of error. A statistical test is not appropriate.

Summary File 2 contains 100-percent United States decennial Census data, which is the information compiled from the questions asked of all people and about every housing unit. Population items include sex, age, race, Hispanic or Latino origin, household relationship, and group quarters occupancy. Housing items include occupancy status, vacancy status, and tenure (owner-occupied or renter- occupied). The 100-percent data are presented in 36 population tables ("PCT") and 11 housing tables ("HCT") down to the census tract level. Each table is iterated for 250 population groups: the total population, 132 race groups, 78 American Indian and Alaska Native tribe categories (reflecting 39 individual tribes), and 39 Hispanic or Latino groups. The presentation of tables for any of the 250 population groups is subject to a population threshold of 100 or more people, that is, if there were fewer than 100 people in a specific population group in a specific geographic area, their population and housing characteristics data are not available for that geographic area.

These datasets include information about housing listings on Craigslist for the state of Massachusetts processed from data scraped by BARI. This release includes listings for all five Massachusetts regions designated by Craigslist (Boston, Cape Cod, South Coast, Western Mass, and Worcester). CRAIGSLIST.Listings is a listing-level file that contains information about housing listings posted on Craigslist. Listing data has been aggregated across census tracts to generate CRAIGSLIST.CT, which includes ecometrics that describe neighborhoods in terms of listing frequency and property value.

West Virginia and Kansas had the lowest cost of living across all U.S. states, with composite costs being half of those found in Hawaii. This was according to a composite index that compares prices for various goods and services on a state-by-state basis. In West Virginia, the cost of living index amounted to 84.8 - well below the national benchmark of 100. Nevada - which had an index value of 100.1 - was only slightly above that benchmark. Expensive places to live included Hawaii, Massachusetts, and California Housing costs in the U.S. Housing is usually the highest expense in a household’s budget. In 2023, the average house sold for approximately 427,000 U.S. dollars, but house prices in the Northeast and West regions were significantly higher. Conversely, the South had some of the least expensive housing. In West Virginia, Mississippi, and Louisiana, the median price of the typical single-family home was less than 200,000 U.S. dollars. That makes living costs in these states significantly lower than in states such as Hawaii and California, where housing is much more expensive. What other expenses affect the cost of living? Utility costs such as electricity, natural gas, water, and internet also influence the cost of living. In Alaska, Hawaii, and Connecticut, the average monthly utility cost exceeded 500 U.S. dollars. That was because of the significantly higher prices for electricity and natural gas in these states.

In 2024, households in California needed an hourly wage of over 47 U.S. dollars to afford the rent of a two-bedroom apartment. Massachusetts had the second-least affordable two-bedroom apartments, as a household would have to earn at least around 45 U.S. dollars per hour in order to afford rent payments. These figures are considerably higher than the average minimum wage in place in many states. There was no state in which a minimum wage worker could afford rent for the average two-bedroom apartment, if they only worked 40 hours a week. Where are the least affordable counties and metros? The least affordable rents were predominately in Californian counties and metropolitan areas in 2024. District of Columbia has one of the highest minimum wages in the country, which stood at 17 U.S. dollars per hour as of January 2024. Thus, the affordability of two-bedroom apartments highlights how disproportionately high housing costs are in the state.

March 2025

Graph and download economic data for Housing Inventory: Median Listing Price in Massachusetts (MEDLISPRIMA) from Jul 2016 to Feb 2025 about MA, listing, median, price, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Housing Inventory: Median Listing Price in Suffolk County, MA (MEDLISPRI25025) from Jul 2016 to Feb 2025 about Suffolk County, MA; Boston; MA; listing; median; price; and USA.