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/Roxbury
50fit
Roxbury
Official planning neighborhood: Roxbury
Data vintage. ACS 2024 5-year · BPD Oct 2025 – Sep 2026 · OSM Sep 2026 · updated Sep 2026
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.
nubian squaredudleyfort hill
Best in Boston for familiesWalkable BostonUnder $2,500 rent
Why this score
Safety
16
318 violent · 1012 property · 26.3 per 1k (Oct 2025 – Sep 2026)-34 vs city set
Schools
4
Rating 5.5 / 10 nearby-44 vs city set
Walk
50
OSM: 9 groceries · 3 cafes · 221 transit · 134 parks+23 vs city set
Cost
100
$1,278 ACS median vs your rent budget+7 vs city set
Vibe
45
OSM: 3 cafes · 29 restaurants · 1 bars · 134 parks+12 vs city set
Commute to work
From Roxbury, a typical weekday is 16 min to Downtown, 18 min to Seaport, 12 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
18 min
Innovation District, the waterfront · -1 min vs the city-set median
Longwood
12 min
Hospitals, medical offices · -6 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 $1,278 — 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 ($52K) could “afford” about $1,306 a month at 30% of pay.
76% of households rent. Median home value is $690,499.
ACS median rent
$1,278
30% income budget
$1,306
Rent / income
29%
Median home
$690,499
Rent since 2014
ACS 5-year median gross rent for Boston city. Up 65% since 2014. Roxbury is 40% 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: 9 groceries, 3 cafes, 134 parks, and 221 transit stops.
A grocery run on foot is possible; some trips will still need a ride. Parks are close — 134 mapped parks in that radius. Transit is dense (221 stops or stations).
3 cafes and 29 restaurants make this one of the busier food pockets in the Boston set.
OpenStreetMap, 800 meters. Not a Walk Score license. More groceries than 8 of the other 19 areas in this city.
Population
50,658
Median age
35
Median income
$52K
Renters
76%
Bachelor+
28%
Violent / 1k
6.3
Property / 1k
20.0
ACS 2024 5-year (2020-2024) · 18 census tracts · BPD Oct 2025 – Sep 2026 · OSM 2026-09-10
Family 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.
Dudley, Nubian Square, and a lot of city history in one official line. New infill sits next to older streets. Fort Hill is the search for the view. The median home is the lowest in this Boston set — that is the number, not a verdict.
Part I is the highest violent rate on this map. Visitors and the arterials count; so do the blocks. Weight cost and the Longwood job. South End is the brownstone north. Dorchester is the larger neighbor east. Do not skip the page.
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 Roxbury.
Last 90 days, snapshot 2026-09-01. Method.
Common questions
Straight answers from the numbers on this page.
Is Roxbury safe?
Roxbury shows more Part I than most of this Boston set (safety 16 vs city 50). BPD logged 6.3 violent and 20.0 property incidents per 1,000 residents — 26.3 combined. Visitors count in those numbers. This is not a judgment of who lives here.
What is rent in Roxbury?
ACS median rent is $1,278 — studios through large apartments mixed together. About 76% of households rent. Median home value is $690,499. Survey medians, not a listing you can message tonight.
Is Roxbury walkable?
Walk is 50 here vs 27 for the Boston set — some errands work on foot; some still need a ride. Inside 800 meters: 9 groceries, 3 cafes, 221 transit stops, 134 parks. Not a Walk Score license.
Is Roxbury good for families?
The scores lean family relative to this city set. Nearby school rating is 5.5 / 10. Median age is 35. That rating is not your assigned campus.
How long is the commute from Roxbury?
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 Roxbury?
About 50,658 people. Median income $52K. 28% have a bachelor's or higher.
What neighborhoods are next to Roxbury?
Mission Hill, Jamaica Plain, South End sit closest on this map. If you are choosing between two official planning neighborhoods, start with Roxbury vs Mission Hill.
Next door
Adjacent on the map, ranked with your weights.
Roxbury vs Mission HillRoxbury vs Jamaica PlainRoxbury vs South End
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
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
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