Housing in Roxbury at a glance
- Population
- 56,800
- Housing units
- about 22,199
- Median value, owner-occupied homes
- $633,000Boston: $731,700 (-14%)
- Median gross rent
- $1,280 a monthBoston: $2,147 (-40%)
- Owner-occupied homes
- 24.5%Boston: 35.7%
- Homes built before 1980
- 66.1%
- Median year built
- 1958
Roxbury lies close to the middle of Boston and has the lowest rent in the city: $1,280 each month, compared with $2,147 for Boston overall. Owner estimates are also low, at $633,000, ninth in the ranking and under the $731,700 for Boston. Owners make up 24.5% of households, seventh. The housing is newer than elsewhere in the city, with a median build year of 1958 and 66.1% of homes predating 1980, which ranks ninth. The neighbours are far more costly: South End is at $1,178,000 in owner estimates, Jamaica Plain stands at $811,000, and Fenway sits near $685,000, where rents are $2,320 and above Roxbury's by a wide margin. Few Boston sectors show such a gap in rents against their immediate surroundings.
Questions about Roxbury
What is the median home value in Roxbury, Boston?
$633,000 for owner-occupied homes, against $731,700 for Boston as a whole (Payotte estimate from Census ACS 2020-2024 5-year data for the census tracts within the official boundary). It is the owners' own estimate of their home's value, not a sale price.
What is the median rent in Roxbury?
$1,280 a month in gross rent (rent plus utilities paid by the renter), against $2,147 in Boston (Payotte estimate from Census ACS 2020-2024 5-year data for the census tracts within the official boundary).
Do most people in Roxbury own or rent?
Most rent: 24.5% of occupied homes are owner-occupied, against 35.7% in Boston (Payotte estimate from Census ACS 2020-2024 5-year data for the census tracts within the official boundary).
Data and method
Data as of: American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates, U.S. Census Bureau (retrieved 2026-11-02).
Estimate from the 18 census tracts whose internal point lies within the official boundary: counts are summed, and each median is recomputed from the summed value, rent and year-built brackets (grouped median, linear interpolation). The gap with the city is measured with the same method on the whole city. Boundaries used: Boston Planning Department GIS, BPDA Neighborhoods (consulted 2026-11-02).
Roxbury is one of the 10 most populous neighborhoods (of 23 in the planning department neighborhood dataset) of Boston: population 56,800 (Boston Population Estimates 2025, Neighborhood Level (City of Boston Planning Department Research Division, Analyze Boston)).
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates, tables B01003, B25001, B25003, B25034, B25063, B25064, B25075, B25077; U.S. Census Bureau, 2024 Gazetteer files (census tract internal points). City figures: the same survey, published for Boston as a whole. Home values are owners' estimates, not sale prices.
Near Roxbury
The closest sectors of Boston, by distance between population centres.
Other sectors of Boston
Five trades, one spot each
Payotte lists one professional per trade in Roxbury. No one is listed yet: every spot is open.
- Real estate agentOpen spot
- Mortgage loan officerOpen spot
- Home inspectorOpen spot
- Real estate attorneyOpen spot
- AppraiserOpen spot
Work in one of these trades in Roxbury? Ask for your spot.