Boston rental market drops to fourth most expensive in the U.S.: report

Real estate data and listings site Zumper has long kept Boston in third place in its regular reports on the priciest U.S. markets for renting a 1-BR apartment, always behind San Francisco and New York. The same dynamic generally held for 2-BRs, too.

Not anymore.

For the first timeonly the third time—and the first time since July 2016—Boston is not the nation’s third most expensive rental market per Zumper. It’s the fourth.

Silicon Valley-dominated San Jose gets the bronze in the site’s March 30 report, which analyzed the rents for all vacant and available homes that Zumper tracks.

The median rent for a San Jose 1-BR is $2,260, and for a Boston 1-BR it’s $2,200.

Don’t get too excited: Boston’s sum is still roughly twice the national median of $1,164. Plus, the Boston median for a 2-BR is $2,600. Nationally, it’s $1,377. See chart below.

The take-away, then? Still a very expensive area to rent an apartment, whatever the moderation.

• Zumper National Rent Report: April 2017 [Zumper]