The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes a rent of primary residence index for the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH area. Its August 2026 reading was 493.760, against 474.544 in August 2025. Those are BLS’s published index values. The percent changes on this page are my arithmetic from them.
The twelve-month change
Divide 493.760 by 474.544 and you get a 4.0% rise. For July, 491.717 against 476.161 works out to 3.3%, and from January through July the same comparison stayed between 3.3% and 3.6%. Two things moved the figure between July and August. The index fell from July to August of 2025, which lowers the starting point for this year’s comparison, and this year’s index rose from 491.717 in July to 493.760 in August.
The U.S. comparison
BLS’s rent of primary residence index for the U.S. city average went from 436.981 to 448.997 over the same twelve months, a 2.7% rise. The Boston metro’s rose faster.
What the index measures
BLS’s factsheet says the CPI program collects rent data from each sampled unit every 6 months, and divides each area’s rent sample into six subsamples called panels. Most rents included in the sample are continuing rents, and only a minority of observations are rents that changed since the previous observation period. Most of the cost of shelter for renter-occupied housing is rent, the factsheet adds. The series title on BLS’s data page says it isn’t seasonally adjusted.
What it leaves out
The index follows how rents change over time, and it has no dollar rent for any building or apartment. Its area is the Boston-Cambridge-Newton metro. BLS’s Boston-area release says that area includes Essex, Middlesex, Norfolk, Plymouth and Suffolk Counties in Massachusetts and Rockingham and Strafford Counties in New Hampshire, which is wider than the city itself. For the rent on a particular unit, you’d look at comparable listings for that unit.
The missing October
BLS shows no October 2025 reading for this series. Its footnote says the data are unavailable due to the 2025 lapse in appropriations.
Renewing a lease or pricing a rental?
Ask me for local comps. Diana Kim, REALTOR®, eXp Realty.
Questions
Common questions
How much did Boston-area rent rise in the past year?
The BLS rent of primary residence index for the Boston-Cambridge-Newton area was 4.0% higher in August 2026 than in August 2025, by arithmetic from BLS's published index values. The same comparison for July was 3.3%.
Is this the median rent in Boston?
No. The index follows how rents in a sample of units change over time, so there's no median or dollar rent to read off it.
Does the index cover only the city of Boston?
No. The series is for the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH area.
How does the Boston metro compare with the country?
Over the twelve months through August, the U.S. city average rent index rose 2.7% and the Boston metro's rose 4.0%, both by arithmetic from BLS's published index values.
Why is there no October 2025 reading?
BLS's footnote on the series says the data are unavailable due to the 2025 lapse in appropriations.
Sources
- Computed from BLS series CUURS11ASEHA, 'Rent of primary residence in Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH, all urban consumers, not seasonally adjusted': August 2026 index 493.760 divided by August 2025 index 474.544 = 1.040494, a twelve-month rise of 4.0494%, which rounds to 4.0% (author's arithmetic from the published index values; the 12-month percent change view on the same BLS data page also shows 4.0).
- Computed from BLS series CUUR0000SEHA, 'Rent of primary residence in U.S. city average, all urban consumers, not seasonally adjusted': August 2026 index 448.997 divided by August 2025 index 436.981 = 1.027498, a twelve-month rise of 2.7498%, which rounds to 2.7% (author's arithmetic from the published index values).
- BLS, Owners' Equivalent Rent and Rent factsheet (page last modified February 13, 2026): 'The CPI program collects rent data from each sampled unit every 6 months.' 'The CPI program divides each area's rent sample into six subsamples called panels.'
- BLS, Consumer Price Index for the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH area, area definition: 'The Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH Core Based Statistical Area includes Essex, Middlesex, Norfolk, Plymouth, and Suffolk Counties in Massachusetts and Rockingham and Strafford Counties in New Hampshire.'
Written by Diana Yeji Kim — REALTOR® at eXp Realty, serving Greater Boston in English, Korean, and Japanese.
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