Inner Boston suburbs Towns, Compared
The dense ring right outside Boston — subway or a short commuter-rail hop, walkable centers, and the highest prices in the state outside the city itself.
Of the 17 Inner Boston suburbs towns we cover, Brookline has the strongest school tier and Cambridge is closest to downtown Boston at about 14 minutes, and Chelsea is the cheapest at roughly $650k for a 4BR house. 13 of them have MBTA rail.
Every Inner Boston suburbs town
Sorted by school tier, then commute to Boston. Every column links through to the town’s own page.
| # | Town | Schools | 4BR house | Commute | Rail | Tax rate | Est. bill |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brookline | top schools · Niche 1stT1 | $2.05MT4 | 24 minT1 | T · 21 min | $10.24T2 | ≈$21,000 |
| 2 | Newton | top schools · Niche 10thT1 | $1.9MT4 | 31 minT2 | T · 26 min | $9.69T1 | ≈$18,400 |
| 3 | Belmont | top schools · Niche 6thT1 | $1.9MT4 | 33 minT2 | Rail · 21 min | $11.51T2 | ≈$21,900 |
| 4 | Cambridge | strong schools · Niche 19thT2 | $1.7MT4 | 14 minT1 | T · 6 min | $6.67T1 | ≈$11,300 |
| 5 | Arlington | strong schools · Niche 28thT2 | $1.25MT3 | 34 minT2 | None | $10.67T2 | ≈$13,300 |
| 6 | Milton | strong schools · Niche 26thT2 | $1.35MT3 | 34 minT2 | T · 26 min | $11.81T2 | ≈$15,900 |
| 7 | Somerville | solid schoolsT3 | $1.25MT3 | 14 minT1 | T · 6 min | $8.97T1 | ≈$11,200 |
| 8 | Medford | solid schools · Niche 129thT3 | $900kT3 | 16 minT1 | T · 8 min | $8.63T1 | ≈$7,800 |
| 9 | Quincy | solid schools · Niche 54thT3 | $875kT2 | 22 minT1 | T · 14 min | $11.78T2 | ≈$10,300 |
| 10 | Melrose | solid schools · Niche 57thT3 | $950kT3 | 28 minT1 | Rail · 16 min | $11.47T2 | ≈$10,900 |
| 11 | Watertown | solid schools · Niche 113thT3 | $950kT3 | 31 minT2 | None | $12.20T2 | ≈$11,600 |
| 12 | Winthrop | solid schools · Niche 117thT3 | $850kT2 | 34 minT2 | None | $11.14T2 | ≈$9,500 |
| 13 | Waltham | solid schoolsT3 | $1MT3 | 36 minT2 | Rail · 44 min | $10.32T2 | ≈$10,300 |
| 14 | Malden | mixed schoolsT4 | $700kT2 | 19 minT1 | T · 11 min | $11.40T2 | ≈$8,000 |
| 15 | Chelsea | mixed schoolsT4 | $650kT2 | 24 minT1 | Rail · 18 min | $11.48T2 | ≈$7,500 |
| 16 | Everett | mixed schoolsT4 | $700kT2 | 24 minT1 | None | $12.62T3 | ≈$8,800 |
| 17 | Revere | mixed schoolsT4 | $675kT2 | 25 minT1 | T · 17 min | $8.94T1 | ≈$6,000 |
How this region is defined: “Inner Boston suburbs” has no legal boundary, so we use the membership of the Inner Core Committee rather than drawing our own line. Data last reviewed . See the methodology for every source.
