Boston-area apartment rents by T stop: Here’s what tenants can save by staying on the train

Median one-bedroom apartment rents in the Boston area increased near 74 T stops from spring 2018 to spring 2019, and decreased at 39 stops over the same period, according to a new analysis from real estate listings and research site RentHop.

To get the information, RentHop used its own data for one-bedrooms listed from January to April 2018 and January to April 2019 as well as state transportation data.

The site first looked at non-duplicated listings within 0.62 miles of a T stop and calculated median rents if there were at least 50 unique data points. If not, the site expanded to 1.2 miles from the T stop.

In the end and in short, one-bedroom medians were up particularly sharply around Park Street, Ashmont, Back of the Hill, Beachmont, and Boylston stations. Rents were down most significantly around Forest Hills, Capen Street, Wellington, Beaconsfield, and Back Bay stations. The map below is a handy intro to the RentHop findings.

The report also broke down where tenants can potentially save the most by staying on the train an extra stop.

A tenant, for instance, could save $801 a month on a one-bedroom staying on the Blue Line until Maverick rather than renting off Aquarium one stop earlier. The same tenant could save $800 staying on the Red Line to Charles/MGH rather than exiting at Park Street.

As for why some stops were cheaper than others, RentHop cited the obvious—location—but also inventory around the stations. For instance, the inventory of available one-bedrooms dropped annually around Park Street, hence the bounce in median rent for available units nearby.