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/North End
54fit
North End
Official planning neighborhood: North End
Data vintage. ACS 2024 5-year · BPD Oct 2025 – Sep 2026 · OSM Sep 2026 · updated Sep 2026
Hanover Street is the postcard. The alleys are where people actually live. You will hear the tourists. You will also walk to a grocery if you picked the right block.
hanover streetlittle italy boston
Best in Boston for familiesWalkable BostonUnder $2,500 rent
Why this score
Safety
95
12 violent · 54 property · 7.0 per 1k (Oct 2025 – Sep 2026)+45 vs city set
Schools
57
Rating 7.0 / 10 nearby+9 vs city set
Walk
25
OSM: 11 groceries · 28 cafes · 93 transit · 86 parks-2 vs city set
Cost
81
$2,728 ACS median vs your rent budget-12 vs city set
Vibe
54
OSM: 28 cafes · 102 restaurants · 31 bars · 86 parks+21 vs city set
Commute to work
From North End, a typical weekday is 8 min to Downtown, 12 min to Seaport, 22 min to Longwood. Not live traffic.
Downtown is the fastest of these three job centers from here.
Downtown
8 min
Downtown Crossing, Financial District · -8 min vs the city-set median · fastest of these three
Seaport
12 min
Innovation District, the waterfront · -7 min vs the city-set median
Longwood
22 min
Hospitals, medical offices · +4 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 $2,728 — 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 ($115K) could “afford” about $2,869 a month at 30% of pay.
78% of households rent. Median home value is $777,320.
ACS median rent
$2,728
30% income budget
$2,869
Rent / income
29%
Median home
$777,320
Rent since 2014
ACS 5-year median gross rent for Boston city. Up 65% since 2014. North End is 27% 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, 28 cafes, 86 parks, and 93 transit stops.
Daily errands and coffee are realistic on foot. Parks are close — 86 mapped parks in that radius. Transit is dense (93 stops or stations).
28 cafes and 102 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
9,436
Median age
30.7
Median income
$115K
Renters
78%
Bachelor+
82%
Violent / 1k
1.3
Property / 1k
5.7
ACS 2024 5-year (2020-2024) · 4 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.
Hanover Street is the postcard. The alleys are where people actually live. You will hear the tourists. You will also walk to a grocery if you picked the right block. Little Italy is the search; the planning neighborhood is this small polygon.
Weight walk. The rent is Back Bay-adjacent. Downtown is the next official line. Charlestown is the peninsula across the mouth of the Charles if you wanted a yard and a monument.
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 North End.
Last 90 days, snapshot 2026-09-01. Method.
Common questions
Straight answers from the numbers on this page.
Is North End safe?
North End sits on the quieter side of this Boston map (safety 95 vs city 50). BPD logged 1.3 violent and 5.7 property incidents per 1,000 residents — 7.0 combined. Visitors count in those numbers. This is not a judgment of who lives here.
What is rent in North End?
ACS median rent is $2,728 — studios through large apartments mixed together. About 78% of households rent. Median home value is $777,320. Survey medians, not a listing you can message tonight.
Is North End walkable?
Walk is 25 here vs 27 for the Boston set — you will likely drive or ride for a weekly shop. Inside 800 meters: 11 groceries, 28 cafes, 93 transit stops, 86 parks. Not a Walk Score license.
Is North End good for families?
There is more night and visitor traffic in the mix — not the quietest family default. Nearby school rating is 7.0 / 10. Median age is 30.7. That rating is not your assigned campus.
How long is the commute from North End?
8 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 North End?
About 9,436 people. Median income $115K. 82% have a bachelor's or higher.
What neighborhoods are next to North End?
West End, Charlestown, Downtown sit closest on this map. If you are choosing between two official planning neighborhoods, start with North End vs West End.
Next door
Adjacent on the map, ranked with your weights.
North End vs West EndNorth End vs CharlestownNorth End vs Downtown
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
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
44fit
Charlestown
$2K median rent
The Navy Yard, the monument, and a peninsula that still feels slightly separate. The bridge is the commute. Family streets sit two blocks off the tourist path.
Family streetsWaterfrontWalk 4Safety 89
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