46fit
Jamaica Plain
$2K median rent
JP: the Pond, Centre Street, and the first stop for people who want a porch without leaving the city line. The Southwest Corridor is the spine.
Family streetsWaterfrontWalk 23Safety 37
Boston/Brighton
50fit
Brighton
Official planning neighborhood: Brighton
Data vintage. ACS 2024 5-year · BPD Oct 2025 – Sep 2026 · OSM Sep 2026 · updated Sep 2026
The western end of the same student river as Allston, with more two-families. Cleveland Circle and Oak Square are the searches. You will ride the B or C more than you walk downtown.
cleveland circleoak squarewashington street brighton
Best in Boston for familiesWalkable BostonUnder $2,500 rent
Why this score
Safety
79
39 violent · 457 property · 10.3 per 1k (Oct 2025 – Sep 2026)+29 vs city set
Schools
50
Rating 6.8 / 10 nearby+2 vs city set
Walk
26
OSM: 19 groceries · 20 cafes · 144 transit · 37 parks-1 vs city set
Cost
98
$2,238 ACS median vs your rent budget+5 vs city set
Vibe
23
OSM: 20 cafes · 69 restaurants · 4 bars · 37 parks-10 vs city set
Commute to work
From Brighton, a typical weekday is 28 min to Downtown, 36 min to Seaport, 16 min to Longwood. Not live traffic.
Longwood is the fastest of these three job centers from here.
Downtown
28 min
Downtown Crossing, Financial District · +12 min vs the city-set median
Seaport
36 min
Innovation District, the waterfront · +17 min vs the city-set median
Longwood
16 min
Hospitals, medical offices · -2 min vs the city-set median · fastest of these three
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 $2,238 — every occupied rental mixed together, not the 1-bed in the window.
That is 29% of median household income — under the 30% HUD line. A household at this area’s median income ($94K) could “afford” about $2,348 a month at 30% of pay.
77% of households rent. Median home value is $689,762.
ACS median rent
$2,238
30% income budget
$2,348
Rent / income
29%
Median home
$689,762
Rent since 2014
ACS 5-year median gross rent for Boston city. Up 65% since 2014. Brighton is 4% 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: 19 groceries, 20 cafes, 37 parks, and 144 transit stops.
Daily errands and coffee are realistic on foot. Parks are close — 37 mapped parks in that radius. Transit is dense (144 stops or stations).
20 cafes and 69 restaurants make this one of the busier food pockets in the Boston set.
OpenStreetMap, 800 meters. Not a Walk Score license. More groceries than 15 of the other 19 areas in this city.
Population
48,045
Median age
29.4
Median income
$94K
Renters
77%
Bachelor+
73%
Violent / 1k
0.8
Property / 1k
9.5
ACS 2024 5-year (2020-2024) · 14 census tracts · BPD Oct 2025 – Sep 2026 · OSM 2026-09-10
Near UTFamily streets
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.
The western end of the same student river as Allston, with more two-families. Cleveland Circle and Oak Square are the searches. You will ride the B or C more than you walk downtown. Cost is the point relative to Back Bay.
Weight the Longwood commute and budget. Allston is louder and closer to the BU strip. West Roxbury is the house version of west-of-downtown if the T is not the product.
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 Brighton.
Last 90 days, snapshot 2026-09-01. Method.
Common questions
Straight answers from the numbers on this page.
Is Brighton safe?
Brighton sits on the quieter side of this Boston map (safety 79 vs city 50). BPD logged 0.8 violent and 9.5 property incidents per 1,000 residents — 10.3 combined. Visitors count in those numbers. This is not a judgment of who lives here.
What is rent in Brighton?
ACS median rent is $2,238 — studios through large apartments mixed together. About 77% of households rent. Median home value is $689,762. Survey medians, not a listing you can message tonight.
Is Brighton walkable?
Walk is 26 here vs 27 for the Boston set — you will likely drive or ride for a weekly shop. Inside 800 meters: 19 groceries, 20 cafes, 144 transit stops, 37 parks. Not a Walk Score license.
Is Brighton good for families?
The scores lean family relative to this city set. Nearby school rating is 6.8 / 10. Median age is 29.4. That rating is not your assigned campus.
How long is the commute from Brighton?
28 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 Brighton?
About 48,045 people. Median income $94K. 73% have a bachelor's or higher.
What neighborhoods are next to Brighton?
Allston, Fenway, Mission Hill sit closest on this map. If you are choosing between two official planning neighborhoods, start with Brighton vs Allston.
Next door
Adjacent on the map, ranked with your weights.
Brighton vs AllstonBrighton vs FenwayBrighton vs Mission Hill
44fit
Back Bay
$3K median rent
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.
NightlifeWalk 26Safety 0
43fit
Allston
$2K median rent
Harvard Ave and Brighton Ave are the night. Students, late buses, and a rent that still undercuts Back Bay. Brookline is the next city over, not this official polygon.
NightlifeNear UTWalk 16Safety 74
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
34fit
Mission Hill
$2K median rent
The hill above the Longwood hospitals. Students, brick, and a walk to the Fens. Quieter than Fenway’s bars, tighter than JP’s porches.
Near UTWalk 0Safety 68