Who owns and who rents in Boston?

The share of households that own versus rent in Boston, MA, how that split has changed since 2015 and how it compares with the county, state and nation.

U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates.

This story was assembled using AI and public data sources.

Boston's housing is split like this.

Homeowner households: 35% — U.S.: 65%

Occupied households

• Own: 98813
• Rent: 180403

Homeownership rate

• Boston: 35.4
• Suffolk County: 36.6
• MA: 62.6
• U.S.: 65

What it means

35% of households here own their home — 30 percentage points lower than the national rate of 65%.

Since 2015, the homeowner share has risen by about 1.1 percentage points.