The cost of housing, whether rented or owned, has risen quickly in Cambridge, making it unaffordable for many of our residents and adding to inequality in our city. From 2002 to 2022, the median market rate sale price of a single family home jumped 196% to $1,925,000, two families rose 163%, and the cost of a condominium rose 150%. On the rental market, as of the last quarter of 2023, the monthly median rent for a market rate Cambridge apartment was $2,625 for a 1BR unit, $3,375 for a 2BR unit and $3,850 for a 3BR unit. In Massachusetts, between 2012 and 2022, the number of units renting at $600-$999 dropped by 34% while the number of units renting over $2000 rose by 176%. And the trends continue.
This rise in housing costs has been faster than Cambridge’s rising median household income, which as of 2022 was $121,790, up roughly 55% since 2000. But many segments of our community (especially young adults, older adults, and people of color), on average make only a fraction of that income. Overall, in Cambridge, 18% of households make between 50-100% of that median Income, and 29% of households make less than half of it.
This trend of housing costs rising faster than incomes is a national phenomenon. Across the country and locally, the percent of cost-burdened households (meaning they pay more than 30% of income for housing) has been steadily climbing. Nationally, it is growing fastest for renters earning $45,000 to $74,999. But the hardest hit are renters earning less than $30,000 a year – 83% of those households are cost-burdened.
Here is the situation (as of 2021) for our Boston-Cambridge-Newton area:
Share of Households with Cost Burdens (paying more than 30% of income for housing):
All households: 35%
Renters: 50% (up to 52% in 2024)
Owners: 27%
Share of Households with Severe Cost Burdens (paying more than 50% of income for housing):
All households: 18%
Renters: 27%
Owners: 12%
Cambridge can create an alternative to this profit-driven housing market and provide a permanently affordable housing option through the land trust.
Data Sources:
CHAS data set from HUDUser.gov
Cambridge CDD
Cambridge Open Data Portal
US Census Bureau, 2018 – 2022 American Community Survey
Joint Center for Housing Studies, US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 1-year estimates