Best Places to Buy Rental Property in Massachusetts (2026)

Cheap is not the same as high-yield in Massachusetts. Pittsfield has the lowest median price on this list at $309,750 and ranks fourth; Springfield, where a $312,000 home asks $1,900 a month, ranks first at 7.3 percent gross. Chicopee follows at 6.6 percent, on a $316,750 median price and $1,750 in asking rent. One caution on the rent side: in Worcester houses asked a median of $2,650 while the all-type median was $2,200. For a house, compare house rents with house sale prices; substituting the house rent into a ratio whose denominator is a mixed sale median only makes the number look better, not more representative. The median city on this list closed at $530,000, well below the Massachusetts statewide median of $669,900. The table shows the 20 highest-yielding markets among 41 Massachusetts cities meeting the coverage requirements; the yield range above describes the markets shown. Two more cities clear the closings bar but not the rental one and appear in a second table with entry price only.

The ranking

Gross yield here is an asking rental yield screen: twelve times the median asking rent over the median closed price, before taxes, insurance, vacancy, management or repairs. Sales use municipal boundaries. Rental listings use the associated city name and may cover a wider postal area. The ratio therefore compares related, but not perfectly matched, market samples, and a home bought at the median price does not necessarily earn the median rent. Confirmed-close medians appear where at least 30 confirmed lease closes were recorded in the window.

City by city

1. Springfield, 7.3 percent gross

Read Springfield's $1,900 rent as an apartment figure: 72 percent of its listings are apartments or condos, and the house median is $2,495. The numbers: $312,000 median closed price across 839 closings, $1,900 median asking rent across 779 listings, 7.3 percent gross. Houses there closed at about $203 per square foot. Full detail is on the Springfield market page.

2. Chicopee, 6.6 percent gross

Chicopee's rental sample is 79 percent apartments and condos while its sales are mostly houses, so the $1,750 asking median understates what a house rents for there. At $316,750 to buy and $1,750 a month to rent, Chicopee yields 6.6 percent gross on 296 tracked closings. See the Chicopee page for the property mix and the price band.

3. Plymouth, 6.6 percent gross

Rent is what puts Plymouth third here; on price alone it would sit eighth of 20. Homes in Plymouth closed at a median of $509,500 over the last twelve months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $2,800, a gross yield of 6.6 percent. Houses there closed at about $368 per square foot. See the Plymouth page for the property mix and the price band.

4. Pittsfield, 6.4 percent gross

Pittsfield's rental sample is 82 percent apartments and condos while its sales are mostly houses, so the $1,650 asking median understates what a house rents for there. At $309,750 to buy and $1,650 a month to rent, Pittsfield yields 6.4 percent gross on 298 tracked closings. Houses there closed at about $198 per square foot. The Pittsfield market page carries the monthly figures.

5. Brockton, 5.9 percent gross

Brockton ranks fifth on yield but only ninth on entry price: the $2,600 median asking rent is doing the work, not a cheap purchase. At $525,000 to buy and $2,600 a month to rent, Brockton yields 5.9 percent gross on 377 tracked closings. The Brockton market page carries the monthly figures.

6. Lowell, 5.5 percent gross

Lowell's rental sample is 74 percent apartments and condos while its sales are mostly houses, so the $2,300 asking median understates what a house rents for there: houses asked $2,725. At $500,000 to buy and $2,300 a month to rent, Lowell yields 5.5 percent gross on 417 tracked closings. See the Lowell page for the property mix and the price band.

7. Fitchburg, 5.5 percent gross

Read Fitchburg's $1,975 rent as an apartment figure: 79 percent of its listings are apartments or condos, and the house median is $2,575. Homes in Fitchburg closed at a median of $430,000 over the last six months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $1,975, a gross yield of 5.5 percent. Houses there closed at about $230 per square foot. See the Fitchburg page for the property mix and the price band.

8. Worcester, 5.5 percent gross

Read Worcester's $2,200 rent as an apartment figure: 80 percent of its listings are apartments or condos, and the house median is $2,650. Homes in Worcester closed at a median of $481,000 over the last six months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $2,200, a gross yield of 5.5 percent. The Worcester market page carries the monthly figures.

9. Taunton, 5.3 percent gross

Read Taunton's $2,200 rent as an apartment figure: 75 percent of its listings are apartments or condos, and the house median is $2,400. The numbers: $499,900 median closed price across 355 closings, $2,200 median asking rent across 448 listings, 5.3 percent gross. Houses there closed at about $301 per square foot. See the Taunton page for the property mix and the price band.

10. Chelmsford, 5.3 percent gross

Chelmsford ranks tenth on yield but only seventeenth on entry price: the $2,850 median asking rent is doing the work, not a cheap purchase. At $650,000 to buy and $2,850 a month to rent, Chelmsford yields 5.3 percent gross on 204 tracked closings. Houses there closed at about $369 per square foot. Full detail is on the Chelmsford market page.

11. Salem, 5.3 percent gross

Salem's rental sample is 78 percent apartments and condos while its sales are mostly houses, so the $2,650 asking median understates what a house rents for there. The numbers: $605,000 median closed price across 293 closings, $2,650 median asking rent across 815 listings, 5.3 percent gross. Houses there closed at about $408 per square foot. See the Salem page for the property mix and the price band.

12. Peabody, 5.1 percent gross

Peabody ranks twelfth on yield but only eighteenth on entry price: the $2,750 median asking rent is doing the work, not a cheap purchase. The numbers: $651,075 median closed price across 242 closings, $2,750 median asking rent across 337 listings, 5.1 percent gross. See the Peabody page for the property mix and the price band.

13. Milford, 5.1 percent gross

Read Milford's $2,300 rent as an apartment figure: 73 percent of its listings are apartments or condos. The numbers: $545,000 median closed price across 172 closings, $2,300 median asking rent across 205 listings, 5.1 percent gross. The Milford market page carries the monthly figures.

14. Dorchester, 5.1 percent gross

Rent is what puts Dorchester fourteenth here; on price alone it would sit nineteenth of 20. The numbers: $782,500 median closed price across 286 closings, $3,300 median asking rent across 2,328 listings, 5.1 percent gross. See the Dorchester page for the property mix and the price band.

15. Haverhill, 4.9 percent gross

Haverhill is cheaper than its yield rank suggests: eleventh on price, fifteenth on yield, because a $535,000 home there rents for only $2,200. Homes in Haverhill closed at a median of $535,000 over the last six months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $2,200, a gross yield of 4.9 percent. Houses there closed at about $309 per square foot. The Haverhill market page carries the monthly figures.

16. Medford, 4.8 percent gross

Medford ranks sixteenth on yield but only twentieth on entry price: the $3,463 median asking rent is doing the work, not a cheap purchase. At $860,000 to buy and $3,463 a month to rent, Medford yields 4.8 percent gross on 296 tracked closings. Full detail is on the Medford market page.

17. Attleboro, 4.8 percent gross

A low entry price does not carry Attleboro far: it is ninth cheapest on this list and seventeenth on yield, with rent of $2,100 against a $525,000 median price. At $525,000 to buy and $2,100 a month to rent, Attleboro yields 4.8 percent gross on 262 tracked closings. Full detail is on the Attleboro market page.

18. Weymouth, 4.8 percent gross

Homes in Weymouth closed at a median of $630,000 over the last six months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $2,500, a gross yield of 4.8 percent. The Weymouth market page carries the monthly figures.

19. Lynn, 4.8 percent gross

A low entry price does not carry Lynn far: it is fourteenth cheapest on this list and nineteenth on yield, with rent of $2,400 against a $605,000 median price. At $605,000 to buy and $2,400 a month to rent, Lynn yields 4.8 percent gross on 385 tracked closings. Houses there closed at about $368 per square foot. See the Lynn page for the property mix and the price band.

20. Methuen, 4.7 percent gross

Methuen is cheaper than its yield rank suggests: thirteenth on price, twentieth on yield, because a $600,000 home there rents for only $2,350. Homes in Methuen closed at a median of $600,000 over the last six months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $2,350, a gross yield of 4.7 percent. The Methuen market page carries the monthly figures.

Priced, but too few rentals to rank

These cities cleared 100 tracked closings but fewer than 50 rental listings carried their name in the last twelve months, so no yield is printed for them.

How this ranking is built

• •Cities: every Massachusetts city where Resideline tracked at least 100 closings inside the municipal boundary in its reporting window (six or twelve months) and at least 50 rental listings under the city's name since September 10, 2025: 41 cities qualify and the table shows the 20 highest-yielding.
• •Prices: the median price homes closed at inside the city limits, from Resideline's tracked closings; the state comparison uses the statewide median of $669,900 across 40,376 closings.
• •Rents: the median advertised rent on rental listings Resideline tracked in the last twelve months, all property types, measured on the listings that carry the city's name (a postal footprint, wider than the city line in some places).
• •Confirmed-close medians: Observed rent blends two kinds of record: confirmed lease closes extracted from property records, and the final asking rent on listings that left Resideline tracking without a recorded close. Where a city has at least 30 confirmed closes in the window, their median is printed beside the asking figure; in the last twelve months about a quarter of Resideline's close episodes are confirmed closes. The asking and confirmed-close samples are separate, not paired, so a difference between their medians is not a measured gap on the same listings.
• •What is missing: taxes, insurance, vacancy, management and repairs, which turn a gross yield into a net one, and the unit mix, which differs between what sells and what rents.

Sources and related pages

• •Resideline tracked closings inside city limits (window per city, updated September 10, 2026) and rental listings since September 10, 2025; confirmed lease closes extracted from property records.
• •More Massachusetts rankings: Cheapest cities to buy a house in Massachusetts ranks the same kind of list with each city's price per square foot for houses, realized appreciation and days to contract beside the median, and Cap Rate by City ranks the Massachusetts cities Resideline tracks by gross rental yield. The Massachusetts housing market hub carries the statewide figures and the largest Massachusetts markets by closings.
• •Asking rent vs observed rent compares live asking rents with final asking rents under that study's own definition; it says nothing about confirmed lease closes.

Prepared with Resideline's research pipeline and reviewed by Jeffrey Batista, Resideline's founder.