HUD published its FY 2027 Fair Market Rents in the Federal Register on September 1, and the Boston-Cambridge-Quincy two bedroom figure is $3,008 a month. It takes effect October 1, 2026. The outgoing FY 2026 figure was $2,941, so the move is 2.3%. The FY 2025 figure was $2,837.
What the number measures
In HUD’s own words, an FMR is its best effort to estimate the 40th percentile gross rent paid by recent movers into standard quality units in each FMR area. Gross rent means contract rent plus an estimate of the utilities a tenant pays, so the figure is higher than the rent line on a listing. Recent movers means people who signed a new lease recently, which is close to what an apartment hunter faces. And 40th percentile means four in ten of those recent movers paid less and six in ten paid more, so the figure lands under the midpoint for a modest unit.
The full Boston table
- Efficiency: $2,440
- One bedroom: $2,518
- Two bedroom: $3,008
- Three bedroom: $3,584
- Four bedroom: $3,953
The area is wide. HUD’s schedule lists towns across Essex County from Amesbury to Swampscott, most of Middlesex County from Cambridge and Somerville out to Framingham and Hopkinton, Norfolk County towns from Brookline and Quincy down to Foxborough and Wrentham, Plymouth County towns mostly along the South Shore, Boston itself, and two Rockingham County towns in New Hampshire, Seabrook and South Hampton. All of those towns share the same $3,008 for a two bedroom.
How HUD gets there
The base is Census American Community Survey rent data for recent movers, trended forward for inflation to the middle of the fiscal year. Boston is one of the exceptions. For the FY 2026 figure HUD used a local rent survey conducted in November 2024 in place of the ACS estimate, and the FY 2027 notice again lists Boston-Cambridge-Quincy among the areas whose figures rest on 2024 survey data rather than ACS, which is one reason the number can move differently from the ACS based figures elsewhere. HUD publishes the methodology paper if you want the details.
What it’s used for
Housing agencies use the FMR to set payment standards for Housing Choice Vouchers, anywhere between 90 percent and 110 percent of the FMR. If you own a rental and a voucher holder applies, the ceiling you’ll be dealing with is the agency’s payment standard, which starts from this table. Some agencies use HUD’s ZIP code version of the table, called Small Area FMRs, instead. If you hold a voucher, the same goes for you.
How to read it against a listing
Subtract a fair estimate of heat, electricity, hot water and any other utilities you’d pay separately from $3,008 before you compare it to an advertised rent, and remember it’s a 40th percentile. A two bedroom listed above the FMR can still be priced fairly. A listing well below it is worth a second look at what’s included and what condition it’s in.
Renting in Greater Boston, or deciding what to ask for a unit you own? Send me the town and unit size and I’ll pull the figures that apply to it. Diana Kim, REALTOR®, eXp Realty.
Questions
Common questions
What is the FY 2027 Fair Market Rent for a two bedroom in Boston?
HUD's FY 2027 Fair Market Rent for a two bedroom in the Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH area is $3,008 a month, effective October 1, 2026. The FY 2026 figure was $2,941.
Is the Fair Market Rent the average rent in Boston?
No. HUD defines it as its best estimate of the 40th percentile gross rent paid by recent movers into standard quality units. Gross rent includes an estimate of tenant paid utilities, and a 40th percentile sits below the middle of the market.
What is the Fair Market Rent used for?
Mainly to set payment standards for the Housing Choice Voucher program. Public housing agencies may set their payment standards between 90 percent and 110 percent of the FMR. It also sets rents in several other HUD programs.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, FY 2027 Schedule of Metropolitan & Non-Metropolitan Fair Market Rents, Massachusetts: 'Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH HMFA' 0 BR 2440, 1 BR 2518, 2 BR 3008, 3 BR 3584, 4 BR 3953. The schedule lists the area's component towns in Essex, Middlesex, Norfolk and Plymouth counties and beyond, plus the Rockingham County, NH towns of Seabrook and South Hampton.
- HUD, FY 2026 Fair Market Rent Documentation System, Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH HUD Metro FMR Area, 'Final FY 2026 FMRs By Unit Bedrooms': Efficiency $2,359, One-Bedroom $2,476, Two-Bedroom $2,941, Three-Bedroom $3,526, Four-Bedroom $3,894. 'The FY 2026 Fair Market Rents for Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH HUD Metro FMR Area are based on the results of a local rent survey conducted in November 2024.'
- Federal Register, Fair Market Rents for the Housing Choice Voucher Program, Moderate Rehabilitation Single Room Occupancy Program, and Other Programs, Fiscal Year 2027, published September 1, 2026 (91 FR 56156), DATES: 'Effective Date of FY 2027 FMRs: October 1, 2026, unless HUD receives a valid request for reevaluation of specific area FMRs as described below.' Body: 'HUD's FMR calculations represent HUD's best effort to estimate the 40th percentile gross rent paid by recent movers into standard quality units in each FMR area.' Same notice, Sec. III.D: 'HUD does not use ACS data to establish the base rent or recent-mover factor in cases where it has locally collected survey data which are more recent than the 2024 ACS.' 'HUD uses survey data from 2024 for Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH HUD Metro FMR Area'. 'HUD lacks the resources to conduct local surveys of rents'. Sec. IV.B: 'HUD lists Small Area FMRs for all areas in the Small Area FMR Schedule. PHAs operating in areas where the use of Small Area FMRs is not mandated must notify HUD of their voluntary use of Small Area FMRs in the operation of their HCV Program.' Boston-Cambridge-Quincy is not among the mandatory Small Area FMR areas listed in the November 2016 notice (81 FR 80678) or the October 25, 2023 notice (88 FR 73352).
- HUD, Calculation of HUD Fair Market Rents, updated June 2026: 'Fair Market Rents (FMRs) are operating parameters used within a variety of HUD housing assistance programs. They represent HUD's best estimate of the 40th percentile of rents paid by recent movers within various housing markets.' 'FMRs are most notably used to establish the payment standards for the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program, where public housing agencies (PHAs) may set payment standards between 90 percent and 110 percent of FMRs.' 'FMRs are also used for a variety of other HUD programs to determine assistance payments, and contract and award amounts.' 'Rents in the ACS (and the FMRs themselves) are gross rents, they include both shelter costs and tenant-paid utilities'. Sec. VII: 'HUD allows for the submission of rental survey data by outside parties. If the submitted data is more current than the ACS, HUD uses it in place of the ACS rent estimates.'
Written by Diana Yeji Kim — REALTOR® at eXp Realty, serving Greater Boston in English, Korean, and Japanese.
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