Rents in the Boston area: Cambridge, Brookline, and Boston the priciest

Cambridge, Brookline, and Boston were the most expensive municipalities in the Boston area to rent either a one- or a two-bedroom apartment as of September 1, according an analysis from real estate listings site Zumper.

The analysis culled data from vacant and/or available apartments during August in 15 different towns and cities.

The median one-bedroom rent in Cambridge was $2,380 a month. In Brookline, it was $2,300, and, in Boston, it was $2,200.

As for two-bedrooms, the order was the same: Cambridge at $2,930, Brookline at $2,800, and Boston at $2,600.

The least expensive towns and cities to rent a one- or a two-bedroom apartment were, not surprisingly, relatively far from downtown Boston. (See chart below for a deeper breakdown.)

But lower rents do not always mean steady rents. The median one-bedroom rent in Haverhill, for instance, near the New Hampshire border spiked higher month-over-month and year-over-year than in anywhere else that Zumper tracks.

• Boston metro report: September 2017 [Zumper]