Are Boston Renters Paying More For Less Space? New Report Answers The Question

BOSTON, MA — It's no secret that Boston apartment prices have been on the rise, but are renters still getting the same space they have in years past?

According to a new study from RentCafe.com, the answer is no.

The study found that newly built apartments in the city now average around 772 square feet, after losing 94 square feet on average, well below the national average of 908 square feet.

Boston currently ranks as the 14th city in the nation with the smallest new units, just about 30 square feet larger than in Manhattan or Washington, D.C. Though Boston ranks 14th, the city has actually seen the second largest decrease in apartment size in the last 10 years, behind only Detroit.

This comes as apartment prices have been increasing by nearly 9 percent since 2023, according to Boston Pads. Even expanding into the Greater Boston region shows that rentals are up in that two-year stretch by nearly 7 percent.

So why is this happening?

Rent Cafe's report found that developers have prioritized studio and one-bedroom apartments over bigger units, with the smaller options now accounting for two-thirds of all new units.

This also drives the price up for individual renters. As fewer bigger spaces enter the market, individuals are forced to pay a higher share of rent when sharing a unit.

In each case — studio through two-bedroom, four-bedroom and five-bedroom — the units have gotten smaller. The lone exception are three-bedroom apartments which have actually slightly grown in size.

Boston's shrinking living space actually bucks the nationwide trend.

Nationally, newly built apartments have grown slightly larger in recent years, averaging 908 square feet in 2024, up from 891 square feet in 2022.

The largest new units are in Tallahassee, averaging 1,130 square feet, while the most compact are in Seattle, with just 649 square feet on average. Studios, one- and two-bedroom apartments got larger, adding between 4 and 13 square feet to their floor plans.

To read the full report from Rent Cafe, click here.