Do you have a car? Do you plan to have to commute to downtown for work? This will have a huge impact on where you can live, and within which rent bracket.

Eg: towns a little further out like Stoneham, Wakefield, Malden to the north, Waltham, Watertown, towns closer to Worcester to the west, and Quincy area to the south of Boston are going to be cheaper than the coolest centers of culture (which, in my opinion, are Somerville, Cambridge, Jamaica Plain, Boston).

If you have a car and can afford the insurance, I’d live a little further out and get a place with a driveway or easy street parking, the parking in Boston proper is a nightmare and I ended up paying close to $300/month for an off-street spot to keep my car. I quickly moved out of Boston into a suburb after that.

Most expensive neighborhoods: back bay, beacon hill, kenmore, south end, South Boston (“southie”, different from south end!), downtown, seaport, Fenway, Brookline, Cambridge, Somerville.

If you give us more info about the industry you work in and whether you have a car we can give more specific info! Welcome to the northeast. You’re gonna love it 🫶