Boston's Student Housing Crisis

by Elle Palumbo, Storytelling & Engagement Intern

The Boston housing crisis affects everyone, including local residents and graduating undergraduate students. With the vast amounts of students in the Boston area, housing costs are soaring. Students wanting to live in the city before and after graduation are significantly occupying local housing, leaving local residents to compete with them. Boston residents are facing limited land and a growing population (specifically of students) which is creating a difficult situation for residents’ quality of life.

Known for its dedication to education, Boston is home to 36 colleges and universities, with the number of students enrolling in undergraduate programs increasing greatly. According to the 2024 Boston Student Housing Report, total student enrollment in Boston increased by 17,666 students (12.2%) between 2013-2024, due to a 25.7% increase in graduate enrollment.

As the enrollment has increased, not only are students being forced to find off-campus housing in the city, but post-graduated students and long-time residents are being priced out of their homes. Some institutions in Boston, including Emerson College, Northeastern University, and Suffolk University do not guarantee housing for all four undergraduate years, leading to a surplus of students occupying off-campus residential areas.

Recent Emmanuel College graduate Caroline Kuchar explained her struggle with finding an apartment in the area after graduation, stating “Finding an apartment in Boston was basically like a second part-time job when I was looking. It was very overwhelming because everything here is so incredibly expensive and it moves so quickly.”

As students begin to move into off-campus housing, the average rent begins to increase, leading to local residents being forced to leave their homes. Stacy Fox, executive director of the Boston University Initiative on Cities explained the issue to NBC10 Boston stating, “A group of students who want to live together might be more able to pay higher rents than a family who lives nearby, and this can sometimes lead to displacement of long-time residents." Due to the lack of housing available and the combined amount of young adults moving into the city, local residents are competing for their spot in Boston. Organizations such as City Life/Vida Urbana, a non-profit located in Jamaica Plains, focuses on providing assistance for people facing foreclosure or eviction due to high housing costs in Boston.

As of February 2026, the average rent in Boston is $3,410 per month, which is higher than the national average of $1,625 per month. Boston’s average is just below New York City’s $4,047 per month, but over San Francisco's $3,205, according to Apartments.com. Students occupying off-campus housing typically live in 2-3 bedroom apartments, with prices ranging from $4,284 per month to $5,669 per month. With the combined lack of dorms for students and the growing population of undergraduate enrollment, housing prices in Boston are skyrocketing.

Affordable housing is becoming less customary in Boston areas that have a high percentage of students who live off-campus, including in the Fenway, Kenmore, Alston, Longwood, and Mission Hill areas. According to the Boston Political Review, about 39,000 students live off-campus in these areas, with off-campus housing becoming the norm in these areas, effectively pushing out local residents who cannot compete with college students using 2-3 bedroom spaces.

Lane Couturier, an upcoming 2026 graduate from Emmanuel College, explained their struggle with apartment hunting in Boston as a student stating, "Realtors here are kind of like sharks, they reel you in and go over your budget. A lot of the apartments they showed me were very expensive but kind of grubby. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to not want a pipe hanging out of the ceiling.”

As a way to combat this issue, The Boston City Council passed two ordinances, with the potential to tackle the growing housing crisis in August and October of 2025. One included an accountability ordinance for increasing data on off-campus housing for Boston universities, while the other included prioritizing flipping vacant and abandoned buildings into residential properties. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu has laid out the Boston Housing Strategy 2025 plan, which will aim to stabilize the housing market through new residential development, focusing on creating more affordable housing for low income residents and reducing racial disparities in housing. The plan will also focus on creating policies that prioritize walkability, public transit access and a reduction of the carbon footprint.

Pressure on families, local residents and students wanting to live in the city begins to grow as the housing market in Boston only gets worse. Despite Mayor Wu’s strategy for combating the issue, local residents are still being pushed out of their homes and students are expected to pay higher rents just to remain in the city.