50fit
Roxbury
$1K median rent
Dudley, Nubian Square, and a lot of city history in one official line. New infill sits next to older streets. Weight the numbers honestly; do not skip the page.
Family streetsWalk 50Safety 16
Boston/Mission Hill
34fit
Mission Hill
Official planning neighborhood: Mission Hill
Data vintage. ACS 2024 5-year · BPD Oct 2025 – Sep 2026 · OSM Sep 2026 · updated Sep 2026
The hill above the Longwood hospitals. Students, brick, and a walk to the Fens. Quieter than Fenway’s bars, tighter than JP’s porches.
brighamlongwood hill
Best in Boston for familiesWalkable BostonUnder $2,500 rent
Why this score
Safety
68
24 violent · 154 property · 11.6 per 1k (Oct 2025 – Sep 2026)+18 vs city set
Schools
21
Rating 6.0 / 10 nearby-27 vs city set
Walk
0
OSM: 5 groceries · 5 cafes · 73 transit · 42 parks-27 vs city set
Cost
100
$1,785 ACS median vs your rent budget+7 vs city set
Vibe
12
OSM: 5 cafes · 19 restaurants · 1 bars · 42 parks-21 vs city set
Commute to work
From Mission Hill, a typical weekday is 16 min to Downtown, 22 min to Seaport, 8 min to Longwood. Not live traffic.
Longwood is the fastest of these three job centers from here.
Downtown
16 min
Downtown Crossing, Financial District · at the city-set median
Seaport
22 min
Innovation District, the waterfront · +3 min vs the city-set median
Longwood
8 min
Hospitals, medical offices · -10 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 $1,785 — every occupied rental mixed together, not the 1-bed in the window.
That is 33% of median household income — over the 30% HUD line. A household at this area’s median income ($65K) could “afford” about $1,615 a month at 30% of pay.
90% of households rent. Median home value is $869,287.
ACS median rent
$1,785
30% income budget
$1,615
Rent / income
33%
Median home
$869,287
Rent since 2014
ACS 5-year median gross rent for Boston city. Up 65% since 2014. Mission Hill is 17% below 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: 5 groceries, 5 cafes, 42 parks, and 73 transit stops.
Daily errands and coffee are realistic on foot. Parks are close — 42 mapped parks in that radius. Transit is dense (73 stops or stations).
5 cafes and 19 restaurants make this one of the busier food pockets in the Boston set.
OpenStreetMap, 800 meters. Not a Walk Score license. More groceries than 3 of the other 19 areas in this city.
Population
15,407
Median age
27.2
Median income
$65K
Renters
90%
Bachelor+
48%
Violent / 1k
1.6
Property / 1k
10.0
ACS 2024 5-year (2020-2024) · 4 census tracts · BPD Oct 2025 – Sep 2026 · OSM 2026-09-10
Near UT
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 hill above the Longwood hospitals. Students, brick, and a walk to the Fens. Quieter than Fenway’s bars, tighter than JP’s porches. Brigham is the search for the medical edge.
Weight the Longwood commute and cost. Fenway is the game-day official neighbor. Roxbury is down the hill. JP is the porch if you wanted a pond instead of a hospital.
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 Mission Hill.
Last 90 days, snapshot 2026-09-01. Method.
Common questions
Straight answers from the numbers on this page.
Is Mission Hill safe?
Mission Hill is middle of the pack for Part I here (safety 68 vs city 50). BPD logged 1.6 violent and 10.0 property incidents per 1,000 residents — 11.6 combined. Visitors count in those numbers. This is not a judgment of who lives here.
What is rent in Mission Hill?
ACS median rent is $1,785 — studios through large apartments mixed together. About 90% of households rent. Median home value is $869,287. Survey medians, not a listing you can message tonight.
Is Mission Hill walkable?
Walk is 0 here vs 27 for the Boston set — you will likely drive or ride for a weekly shop. Inside 800 meters: 5 groceries, 5 cafes, 73 transit stops, 42 parks. Not a Walk Score license.
Is Mission Hill good for families?
Family fit depends on the school rating nearby and how much quiet you want. Nearby school rating is 6.0 / 10. Median age is 27.2. That rating is not your assigned campus.
How long is the commute from Mission Hill?
16 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 Mission Hill?
About 15,407 people. Median income $65K. 48% have a bachelor's or higher.
What neighborhoods are next to Mission Hill?
Roxbury, Fenway, South End sit closest on this map. If you are choosing between two official planning neighborhoods, start with Mission Hill vs Roxbury.
Next door
Adjacent on the map, ranked with your weights.
Mission Hill vs RoxburyMission Hill vs FenwayMission Hill vs South End
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
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
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
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