The capital of Massachusetts is a melting pot of cultures, backgrounds and personalities, each reflected in one of the 23 distinct official Boston neighborhoods and more than 80 subdistricts.
From Mission Hill for students and young families to West Roxbury‘s tree-lined suburban vibe to financial industrialists and history buffs Downtown, you’re guaranteed to find a home in The Hub that suits your needs.
The most popular Boston neighborhoods
Considering relocating to Beantown or just want to know which neighborhood would be the ideal one for you to hang your Red Sox cap?
Well then, grab your CharlieCard and a bowl of “chowdah” and learn more about the most popular areas of this thriving city, and then take our Boston neighborhood quiz to see which one is calling your name.
Back Bay
Between the landmarks of Fenway Park and Boston Common is the iconic neighborhood of Back Bay. The district along the shore of the Charles River has two personalities split along Boyleston Street.
North of Boyleston, Back Bay is a grid of charming upscale apartments on both sides of the Commonwealth Avenue Greenway. To the south is the “High Spine” of upscale shopping, hotel and high-rise office towers, including the John Hancock and Prudential towers and Trinity Church on Copley Square. And in the middle along Newbury and Boylston is an eight-block corridor of trendy bars, popular restaurants, upscale shops and fine-blend cafes.
Save your pennies for a pad in this neighborhood. The average one-bedroom rent in Back Bay is about $3,750 a month.
North End
North End is, appropriately, the north end of the Shawmut Peninsula, the city tip across the Central Artery from — and now connected to, thanks to the Big Dig — Downtown. The oldest residential community in Boston, North End is filled with European-style thoroughfares and sidewalks and historical sites like Paul Revere’s House, Old North Church and Copp’s Hill Burying Ground.
As well, North End is a mecca of Italian-American culture and a sea of traditional Italian restaurants and bakeries. The tiny neighborhood is mostly residential, yet somehow also houses more than a hundred shops, stores and eateries.
An average one-bedroom apartment in the North End costs about $3,000, which is fairly cheap by Boston standards.
Fenway-Kenmore
Yes, before you ask, Fenway-Kenmore is home of Fenway Park. But this constantly-changing neighborhood under the CITGO sign — known by locals as The Fens, Kenmore Square or just Kenmore — is much more than the Green Monster.
Fenway — not Cambridge — is The Hub’s true higher education hub, location of Northeastern University, Boston University, Berklee College of Music, Massachusetts College of Art, Boston Conservatory and Harvard Medical School.
It’s also a neighborhood of Brownstone townhouses, red brick-covered walk-ups and midrise apartment buildings filled with young professionals and recent grads, parks and greenspaces and eating and drinking establishments packed before and after Sox games — or any night of the week.
Living in the middle of the action will cost you. A one-bedroom place here averages about $3,775 a month.
South Boston (Southie)
The expansive former landfill across the Fort Point Channel from Downtown, you may know South Boston better by its nickname, “Southie.” Once a working-class Irish Catholic neighborhood, today, those working-class Southies mix with an influx of millennials professionals, pushing up rental prices.
Home of Gillette and Reebok, the neighborhood is equal parts of the old school industrial Southie of “Good Will Hunting” and “The Departed” and trendy nightlife hotspot. The area along the Channel, known as the Seaport District is the hottest destination for restaurants, bars and clubs.
Beacon Hill
Tucked between Downtown and Back Bay, Mass General and Boston Common, the riverside neighborhood of Beacon Hill is an affluent nearly entirely residential locale filled with brick-front, low-rise apartments, rowhomes and domestic gardens. But to most Massachusetts residents, Beacon Hill is home of the State Capitol and the seat of the Commonwealth’s government.
For non-gubernatorial residents, Beacon Hill is a neighborhood that’s a step back in time with narrow gaslit streets, boutique shops and quaint cafes along Cambridge and Charles Streets.
Look for a one-bedroom apartment here to cost about $2,500 a month on average, but some units can be thousands of dollars more expensive.
South End
This is not Southie. Do not confuse South End with South Boston. They’re very different, distinct places just across the Central Artery from each other. South End is a unique neighborhood of streets lined with Victorian-style rowhomes, which, at 300 acres, is the largest district of Victorian rowhomes in the country.
The neighborhood is also bursting with parks and green spaces, containing 11 public parks and 16 community gardens. Pockets of modish restaurants, bistros, wine bars and after-work pubs line the east/west corridors of Tremont, Shawmut, Washington and Harrison Streets.
The average one-bedroom apartment in this neighborhood tops $4,000 a month.
Dorchester
Boston’s largest and most populous neighborhood is Dorchester — or “daw-chestah” if you’re a native Wahlberg, or just “Dot” to most locals — covering most of southeastern Boston along the Neponset River. It’s also the city’s most diverse region, with a nearly 40 percent Black population, large clusters of Irish, Polish, German, Latino, Indian and East Asian ancestry, as well as the city’s second-biggest LGBTQ+ community.
Much of Dorchester offers a suburban feel, with tracts of single-family homes and rental communities among community parks and alongside strip malls, movie theaters, chain restaurants and big-box stores. The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library also sits along the Dorchester waterfront.
You’ll spend about $3,120 a month on a one-bedroom apartment in Dorchester.
Cambridge
Yes, Cambridge is home to two of the most important higher education institutions in the world, Harvard University and MIT. The campuses are home to a slew of university-related museums, and the surrounding blocks are lined with student hangouts, cheap eateries, beloved bars and music clubs.
But Cambridge — a city independent from Boston — is more than just a college town. The city has been a high-tech business hub for half a century, and today is home to major offices for Google, Microsoft and Amazon. And while Harvard Square gets all the attention, six historic squares ring Cambridge.
Living in Cambridge is slightly more affordable than in Boston. A one-bedroom apartment here will only cost you about $3,000 a month.
Find the best Boston neighborhood for you
Still undecided about your Boston neighborhood? Just answer a few questions and we’ll tell you!
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Once you’ve chosen your neighborhood, check out the available apartments for rent or homes to buy. Whatever you’re looking for, you can find a place that suits your needs.
