Housing mix
Boston, MA housing supply, ownership, and rent
What the latest ACS housing mix can and cannot tell buyers and renters comparing options in Boston, MA.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
Last updated . Article facts reviewed through this date. Time-sensitive figures show their own as-of dates.
Boston, MA's current ACS housing baseline includes 310,625 total housing units, 283,374 occupied units, and 27,251 vacant units. For borrower planning, those counts can still help a borrower establish the scale of the measured housing base before comparing tenure, rent, current listings, property condition, and financing. The figures describe stock across the survey period; they do not say that 27,251 homes were listed for sale or available to rent at one moment. Reading 310,625 total units with 283,374 occupied and 27,251 vacant units keeps the release internally grounded while leaving live availability to current listing and property evidence.
A grounded Boston, MA comparison starts with current listings and lease offers, then uses the ACS evidence to check whether the sample is being interpreted in the context of 310,625 total units, a vacancy share of 8.8%, and an owner share of 35.7%. On the rental side, replace the $2,147 median with the actual lease, utilities, deposits, and expected changes. For the ownership budget, keep the 35.7% share as market context while adding the selected property's price, taxes, insurance, maintenance, association obligations, loan disclosures, and cash-to-close. For the decision at hand, the resulting worksheet will not turn 64.3% or 35.7% into a recommendation, but it will keep the two paths comparable and make the remaining assumptions visible before a decision.