61fit
Downtown
$2K median rent
Downtown Crossing, the Common’s other edge, Chinatown and the Leather District as search terms. Walk maxes out. Part I is padded by people who do not sleep here.
NightlifeWalk 62Safety 5
Boston/Back Bay
44fit
Back Bay
Official planning neighborhood: Back Bay
Data vintage. ACS 2024 5-year · BPD Oct 2025 – Sep 2026 · OSM Sep 2026 · updated Sep 2026
Newbury, the brownstones, the Public Garden. Bay Village is a search term that sits inside the same planning neighborhood. You pay for the postcard and for the visitors who shop it.
newburybay villagecopley
Best in Boston for familiesWalkable BostonUnder $2,500 rent
Why this score
Safety
0
48 violent · 1331 property · 81.5 per 1k (Oct 2025 – Sep 2026)-50 vs city set
Schools
93
Rating 8.0 / 10 nearby+45 vs city set
Walk
26
OSM: 11 groceries · 44 cafes · 95 transit · 78 parks-1 vs city set
Cost
77
$2,853 ACS median vs your rent budget-16 vs city set
Vibe
58
OSM: 44 cafes · 139 restaurants · 12 bars · 78 parks+25 vs city set
Commute to work
From Back Bay, a typical weekday is 10 min to Downtown, 16 min to Seaport, 12 min to Longwood. Not live traffic.
Downtown is the fastest of these three job centers from here.
Downtown
10 min
Downtown Crossing, Financial District · -6 min vs the city-set median · fastest of these three
Seaport
16 min
Innovation District, the waterfront · -3 min vs the city-set median
Longwood
12 min
Hospitals, medical offices · -6 min vs the city-set median
Minutes are baked from neighborhood geography to three job centers — not Google, not this hour’s traffic.
Cost of living
The ACS median rent is $2,853 — every occupied rental mixed together, not the 1-bed in the window.
That is 26% of median household income — under the 30% HUD line. A household at this area’s median income ($131K) could “afford” about $3,273 a month at 30% of pay.
68% of households rent. Median home value is $1,568,816.
ACS median rent
$2,853
30% income budget
$3,273
Rent / income
26%
Median home
$1,568,816
Rent since 2014
ACS 5-year median gross rent for Boston city. Up 65% since 2014. Back Bay is 33% above the 2024 city median.
Overlapping 5-year ACS windows (B25064), not asking rent. Census does not publish a rent series for each official neighborhood, so the line is the city place. The dashed mark is this area’s ACS 2024 median.
HUD treats 30% of income as the cost-burden line. We do not split ACS rent into 1-bed vs 2-bed. Method.
Within a walk
Within a short walk of this official planning neighborhood: 11 groceries, 44 cafes, 78 parks, and 95 transit stops.
Daily errands and coffee are realistic on foot. Parks are close — 78 mapped parks in that radius. Transit is dense (95 stops or stations).
44 cafes and 139 restaurants make this one of the busier food pockets in the Boston set.
OpenStreetMap, 800 meters. Not a Walk Score license. More groceries than 10 of the other 19 areas in this city.
Population
16,912
Median age
36.2
Median income
$131K
Renters
68%
Bachelor+
88%
Violent / 1k
2.8
Property / 1k
78.7
ACS 2024 5-year (2020-2024) · 6 census tracts · BPD Oct 2025 – Sep 2026 · OSM 2026-09-10
Nightlife
Crime is BPD Part I reports per 1,000 ACS residents — not a judgment of who lives here. Home and rent figures are ACS medians, not live MLS. Read the method.
On the ground
What it is like to live here, beyond the scores.
Newbury, the brownstones, the Public Garden. Bay Village is a search term that sits inside the same planning neighborhood. You pay for the postcard. You also pay for the visitors who shop it — Part I property here is padded by people who do not sleep on Commonwealth.
Walk maxes out. A grocery exists if you picked the right block of Boylston. Weight walk, not schools. South End is the brownstone grid without the shopping street. Beacon Hill is the tighter, quieter hill next door.
Compiled from Zillow neighborhood guides, 5280 Magazine, Chicago and San Francisco resident guides, Mpls With Love, Eastside LA reporting, Seattle Times coverage, Boston planning-neighborhood writing, and local writing, 2025–2026. Editorial — not part of the fit score.
On Reddit
Public posts from r/boston that mention this neighborhood. Not Nextdoor, not people on this block, and not part of the fit score.
No r/boston posts in this snapshot mentioned Back Bay.
Last 90 days, snapshot 2026-09-01. Method.
Common questions
Straight answers from the numbers on this page.
Is Back Bay safe?
Back Bay shows more Part I than most of this Boston set (safety 0 vs city 50). BPD logged 2.8 violent and 78.7 property incidents per 1,000 residents — 81.5 combined. Visitors count in those numbers. This is not a judgment of who lives here.
What is rent in Back Bay?
ACS median rent is $2,853 — studios through large apartments mixed together. About 68% of households rent. Median home value is $1,568,816. Survey medians, not a listing you can message tonight.
Is Back Bay walkable?
Walk is 26 here vs 27 for the Boston set — you will likely drive or ride for a weekly shop. Inside 800 meters: 11 groceries, 44 cafes, 95 transit stops, 78 parks. Not a Walk Score license.
Is Back Bay good for families?
The scores lean family relative to this city set. Nearby school rating is 8.0 / 10. Median age is 36.2. That rating is not your assigned campus.
How long is the commute from Back Bay?
10 typical weekday minutes to Downtown. Not the app on your phone this hour. Other job centers are further down this page.
How many people live in Back Bay?
About 16,912 people. Median income $131K. 88% have a bachelor's or higher.
What neighborhoods are next to Back Bay?
Beacon Hill, South End, Fenway sit closest on this map. If you are choosing between two official planning neighborhoods, start with Back Bay vs Beacon Hill.
Next door
Adjacent on the map, ranked with your weights.
Back Bay vs Beacon HillBack Bay vs South EndBack Bay vs Fenway
58fit
Beacon Hill
$2K median rent
Gas lamps, brick, and a hill that actually is a hill. Charles Street is the errand. The Common is the lawn. Quieter than Back Bay, tighter than it looks on a map.
Family streetsWalk 34Safety 42
43fit
Fenway
$2K median rent
The park, the students, Kenmore, and Longwood as a search that actually sits next door. Game day is a tax. The rest of the week is apartments and hospitals.
NightlifeNear UTWalk 19Safety 47
36fit
West End
$3K median rent
MGH, the Garden, and towers that replaced a neighborhood. New rental, high median, and a walk to the river. You live here for the job and the T, not a main street.
PlannedWalk 22Safety 32
34fit
South End
$2K median rent
SoWa, brownstones, and a grid that walks. Tremont and Washington are the strips. Quieter than Back Bay’s shopping, denser than JP.
NightlifeWalk 6Safety 11