How Much Is Rent in Quincy, MA in 2026?
Last updated: October 4, 2026
FRESHNESS: rate/stat-dependent
MARKET INSIGHTS
How Much Is Rent in Quincy, MA in 2026?
October 4, 2026 | By Krista Recker
Depending on which source you use, the typical Quincy rent in fall 2026 is either $2,295 or $2,777 a month. Apartment List's September 2026 Quincy report puts the citywide median rent at $2,295. RentCafe, using Yardi Matrix data in its August 31, 2026 snapshot, puts the average at $2,777. That is a gap of $482 a month, or about $5,784 a year, for the same city in the same season.
Neither one is wrong. They are measuring different Quincys. RentCafe's market trend data is built from larger multifamily properties, generally those with 50 or more units, which in Quincy means the newer Quincy Center and North Quincy buildings. Apartment List starts from Census Bureau median rent statistics and estimates current citywide rents by applying a growth rate from its own listing data. So the honest answer to "how much is rent in Quincy" is that it depends on which kind of building you are renting in, and the two answers are roughly $500 a month apart.
The other thing that changed is not the rent at all. It is what you are allowed to be charged before you get the keys. Since August 1, 2025, a Massachusetts landlord cannot require you to pay the landlord's broker fee, directly or through the landlord's agent. That removed what used to be a fourth month of rent from the move in bill for a lot of renters, and the Attorney General's office is still recovering money from landlords who have not caught up.
Below: what each source actually says and why they disagree, what a Quincy apartment costs by bedroom count, what a landlord may legally collect upfront, where the broker fee law stands now, and what all of it means if you own a rental here instead of renting one.
Who this applies to
This is written for you if any of the following is true:
- You are apartment hunting in Quincy and want to know what a realistic budget looks like before you start touring.
- You just got quoted a move in cost and want to know whether every line on it is legal.
- You are renting in Boston and doing the math on whether moving down the Red Line actually saves you money.
- You own a Quincy rental and you are setting a number for a unit turning over this fall.
- You are looking at a Quincy multi family as an investment and you want rent figures you can underwrite with instead of a screenshot.
If you are a renter, the upfront cost section is the part that will save you the most money, so read that before the market data. If you are an owner or an investor, start with the section on why the sources disagree, because picking the wrong benchmark is how a unit ends up priced $300 off in either direction.
How much is rent in Quincy MA right now?
The honest answer is a range, roughly $2,300 to $2,800 a month for a typical Quincy apartment, and the number you should use depends on the kind of building you are renting.
Here is what three named sources say, with the date each one was captured and what each one actually measures. Figures checked against each provider's own published page and stated methodology in September 2026. These pages are live and change, so each row is a dated snapshot rather than a permanent figure.
| Source and date | What it reports for Quincy | What it measures | Best used for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apartment List, September 2026 Quincy Rent Report | Median rent $2,295, down 0.5% year over year, up 4.8% from January through August 2026 | A modeled citywide median rent estimate that begins with Census Bureau median rent data and extrapolates forward using Apartment List listing data and a same unit rent growth analysis | A renter budgeting for a typical Quincy unit, including the small multi family housing that private listing samples tend to miss |
| RentCafe, using Yardi Matrix, August 31 2026 snapshot | Average rent $2,777, down 1.25% from $2,812 a year earlier | Larger multifamily properties, generally those with 50 or more units | A renter targeting a newer Quincy Center or North Quincy apartment building with on site management |
| Zumper, page updated September 20, 2026 | Median rent $2,723, up about 4.7% year over year, which the page rounds to 5% | A rolling 30 day measure of active Zumper listings across available property types on its own platform | A platform specific snapshot of current asking rents, not executed leases and not all Quincy inventory |
Look at the direction column and you will see the real problem. Two of the three say Quincy rents fell over the past year. One says they rose about 4.7%. Same city, same twelve months, opposite conclusions. That is not a sign that one provider is careless. It is a sign that "average rent in Quincy" is not a single measurable thing, because a studio in a new elevator building and the second floor of a Wollaston two family are not competing for the same renter, and because a median of what is listed today is a different question from a modeled estimate of what the whole city pays.
What I would actually do with this: use Apartment List's $2,295 median as your baseline if you are looking at ordinary Quincy housing stock, use RentCafe's $2,777 if you are targeting larger managed buildings, and treat any single number a listing site shows you as a starting point rather than an answer.
How much is a studio, 1 bedroom, or 2 bedroom in Quincy MA?
For larger multifamily properties in Quincy in RentCafe's August 31, 2026 snapshot, a studio averaged $2,164, a one bedroom $2,568, and a two bedroom $3,155.
Those figures come with the same caveat as above, and it matters more here than anywhere else in this post: RentCafe's bedroom level data is drawn from properties generally having 50 or more units. A one bedroom in a 2023 building with a gym and a parking garage is a different product than a one bedroom on the top floor of a 1925 three decker, and in Quincy the second one is far more common. RentCafe did not report a three bedroom figure for Quincy at all, which tells you something about where large building inventory is concentrated.
| Unit size | RentCafe average, larger multifamily, August 31 2026 | Average size reported | Annual rent at that figure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Studio | $2,164 | 522 square feet | $25,968 |
| 1 bedroom | $2,568 | 751 square feet | $30,816 |
| 2 bedrooms | $3,155 | 1,074 square feet | $37,860 |
| 3 bedrooms | Not reported for Quincy | Not reported | Not applicable |
| All rentals combined | $2,777 | 865 square feet | $33,324 |
One more benchmark worth knowing, because it is a government figure rather than a listing site figure, and because the timing matters for anyone reading this in early October. HUD's FY2027 Fair Market Rents for the Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH HUD Metro FMR Area took effect October 1, 2026. They are $2,440 for an efficiency, $2,518 for a one bedroom, $3,008 for a two bedroom, and $3,584 for a three bedroom.
Read that number for what it is. Fair Market Rent is a metro wide gross rent benchmark, meaning it accounts for shelter rent plus tenant paid utilities other than telephone, and it is used mainly to administer voucher programs. It is not a measurement of Quincy specifically and it is not an asking rent or a signed lease average. Figures checked against HUD's FY2027 metropolitan Fair Market Rent schedule in September 2026.
How much do you need upfront to rent an apartment in Quincy?
Massachusetts caps what a landlord can require you to pay before your tenancy starts. Under Massachusetts General Laws chapter 186, section 15B, as amended effective August 1, 2025, no landlord and no agent of the landlord may require a tenant or prospective tenant to pay, to the landlord or the landlord's agent, any amount in excess of:
- Rent for the first full month of occupancy.
- Rent for the last full month of occupancy, calculated at the same rate as the first month.
- A security deposit equal to no more than the first month's rent, provided the landlord holds it as the statute requires and gives you the statement of condition the statute requires.
- The purchase and installation cost for a key and lock.
Two boundaries on that list are worth knowing. The statute does not reach tenancies of one hundred days or less that are for a vacation or recreational purpose. And the cap governs what a landlord or the landlord's agent may require, which is a different question from a fee you might voluntarily agree to pay a broker you retained yourself. More on that below.
The 2025 amendment added the words "or agent of the lessor," which is the change that closed the broker fee route, and it made clear the limit applies to what you pay the landlord's agent, not just the landlord.
Run the math at each of the benchmarks above and the upfront number gets real fast.
| Monthly rent | First month | Last month | Security deposit | Upfront total before the key and lock cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $2,295, Apartment List Quincy median, September 2026 | $2,295 | $2,295 | $2,295 | $6,885 |
| $2,568, RentCafe 1 bedroom average, August 2026 | $2,568 | $2,568 | $2,568 | $7,704 |
| $2,777, RentCafe all rentals average, August 2026 | $2,777 | $2,777 | $2,777 | $8,331 |
| $3,155, RentCafe 2 bedroom average, August 2026 | $3,155 | $3,155 | $3,155 | $9,465 |
Two things worth saying plainly. First, a landlord is not required to collect all four items, and plenty do not, so the table above is a legal ceiling rather than a forecast of your bill. Second, if your move in cost sheet has a mandatory line on it that is not one of those four items, that line is worth a question before you sign anything.
The statute also authorizes the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities to write regulations allowing a landlord and tenant to agree on a fee in place of a security deposit, capped in total at one month's rent and required to be optional for the tenant. I could not locate an adopted regulation implementing that option, so treat the four items above as the working list and confirm the current status if a landlord offers you a deposit alternative.
I wrote about the security deposit rules themselves in more detail in an earlier post, including the separate interest bearing Massachusetts bank account, the receipt requirements, the statement of condition, and the return window. The short version: the deposit stays your money, and the landlord has real obligations attached to holding it. Section 15B treats different failures differently. Certain specified failures, including not holding the deposit in a compliant account and not returning the deposit or its balance within thirty days after the tenancy ends, can expose a landlord to treble damages plus costs and reasonable attorney's fees. Other defects can cost a landlord the right to retain any part of the deposit without automatically triggering treble damages. At the end of a tenancy, a landlord generally must return the deposit or provide a compliant, sworn, itemized deduction statement with supporting documentation within thirty days.
Do renters still have to pay broker fees in Massachusetts?
Usually no, unless the renter actually hired a broker to represent the renter. Since August 1, 2025, a residential rental broker's fee must be paid by the party that engaged the broker or salesperson. If a landlord hired the broker to market or lease the unit, the landlord pays that fee.
This is the single biggest change to Quincy move in costs in years. A broker fee was commonly a full month's rent, which on a $2,777 apartment is $2,777 that used to sit on top of the $8,331 in the table above.
What the law actually requires, drawing on the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities guidance and the Attorney General's advisory on landlord tenant broker fees:
- A renter may owe a fee only for a true tenant side brokerage relationship. It is not enough that you picked up the phone or signed a disclosure form. The broker has to represent your interests exclusively and provide the statutory services of helping you find residential property, presenting an offer to lease, and negotiating on your behalf.
- A landlord may use a listing broker to market a unit and communicate with applicants. A broker should not state or imply that you must hire or work with that broker in order to rent a particular apartment.
- A broker may represent the landlord or the tenant on a given rental, but not both.
- A landlord or property manager may not require a broker fee, application fee, move in fee, background check fee, credit check fee, or another mandatory upfront charge beyond the section 15B list. Calling a prohibited charge something else does not change its legal character.
- The state's own FAQ on this law, asked whether there are exceptions, answers with one word: no. That same FAQ states that including a broker's fee in the rent is not allowed where it is structured to reimburse a broker's fee. I am repeating that as the state's published position rather than as settled case law, because the practical enforcement line here is the upfront charge.
- A broker must give you written disclosure before a lease is signed stating who hired them, who is paying their fee, and the amount.
- The law covers residential leases only. It does not apply to commercial leases or to home purchases.
One timing detail that still comes up: if a lease was actually executed before August 1, 2025, a broker engaged by that landlord could properly collect the fee from the tenant, because the terms were agreed to before the law took effect. That window is long closed for any lease you are signing this fall.
Enforcement is live, not theoretical. In a press release dated May 21, 2026, Governor Healey and Attorney General Campbell warned that brokers and landlords were still attempting to charge these fees, and described cases the Attorney General's office had resolved, including a renter who got a refund of nearly $1,000 and a tenant whose $400 fee was waived after the office intervened.
On consequences, be precise rather than dramatic. An unlawful broker fee demand may violate the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act, G.L. chapter 93A. Depending on the facts and on the statute's own prerequisites, including its demand letter requirement and its standard for willful or knowing violations, a consumer may seek actual or multiple damages, costs, and reasonable attorney's fees. A broker or salesperson separately risks fines, suspension, or loss of license.
If you think you were charged improperly, the Attorney General's Consumer Advocacy and Response Division can be reached at 617-727-8400, and complaints against a licensee go to the Division of Occupational Licensure, whose Office of Investigations is at 617-701-8756.
Is rent going up or down in Quincy?
Over the past twelve months, two of the three sources above say Quincy rent is slightly down and one says it is up about 4.7%. Over 2026 so far, Apartment List's data says something more interesting: rents in Quincy rose 4.8% from January through August, at a pace similar to the 5.2% over the same stretch in 2025, even though its year over year figure is negative.
Those two facts fit together once you look at the window. A year over year comparison and an eight month comparison are measuring different things, and a flat or slightly negative annual number can sit alongside meaningful growth inside the current year if the prior year's peak was higher. I would not treat either figure as a forecast.
What I would take from it: Quincy rent is not obviously running away from renters right now, and it is not obviously falling either. If you are a renter, that argues against panic and against waiting for a bargain. If you own a unit, it argues for pricing off actual recent leases in buildings like yours rather than off last year's number plus an increase.
How does Quincy rent compare to Boston?
In RentCafe's August 2026 snapshot, which applies the same method to every city listed, Quincy's $2,777 average was about $933 a month below Boston's $3,710. That is roughly $11,196 a year.
Treat the whole table below as a dated snapshot. RentCafe's city pages are live and update on their own schedule, so the same page may show you a different number by the time you read this.
| City | Average rent, RentCafe, August 2026 snapshot | Difference from Quincy |
|---|---|---|
| Newton | $3,828 | $1,051 more per month than Quincy |
| Boston | $3,710 | $933 more per month than Quincy |
| Cambridge | $3,602 | $825 more per month than Quincy |
| Watertown | $3,454 | $677 more per month than Quincy |
| Somerville | $3,288 | $511 more per month than Quincy |
| Medford | $3,236 | $459 more per month than Quincy |
| Waltham | $3,045 | $268 more per month than Quincy |
| Revere | $2,846 | $69 more per month than Quincy |
| Quincy | $2,777 | Baseline |
| Salem | $2,722 | $55 less per month than Quincy |
| Malden | $2,605 | $172 less per month than Quincy |
| Weymouth Town | $2,483 | $294 less per month than Quincy |
| Lynn | $2,449 | $328 less per month than Quincy |
| Brockton | $2,075 | $702 less per month than Quincy |
Apartment List's data tells a different comparative story, and it is worth knowing both. On its numbers, Quincy's median of $2,295 sits 1.1% above the Boston metro median of $2,269. In other words, measured against larger managed buildings, Quincy looks meaningfully cheaper than Boston. Measured across the whole metro on a modeled citywide basis, Quincy is right at the middle.
If you are moving from Boston to Quincy specifically to save money, the savings are real but they are not automatic, and they depend on whether you are trading a Boston three decker for a Quincy three decker or a Boston three decker for a new Quincy Center building. Factor in the commute cost as well, which I covered in a separate post on getting from Quincy to Boston.
What income do you need to rent in Quincy?
Using the common rule of thumb of spending no more than 30% of gross income on housing, you would need about $91,800 a year to carry Quincy's $2,295 median rent and about $111,080 a year to carry the $2,777 average.
| Monthly rent | Annual rent | Gross annual income at the 30% benchmark |
|---|---|---|
| $2,164, studio | $25,968 | About $86,560 |
| $2,295, Apartment List Quincy median | $27,540 | About $91,800 |
| $2,568, 1 bedroom | $30,816 | About $102,720 |
| $2,777, all rentals average | $33,324 | About $111,080 |
| $3,155, 2 bedrooms | $37,860 | About $126,200 |
For context, Quincy's median household income was $98,882 according to the Census Bureau's 2020 to 2024 American Community Survey estimate, expressed in 2024 dollars. Hold that up against the table and the squeeze is visible: the median Quincy household clears the bar for the median apartment and does not clear it for the average two bedroom.
Two honest caveats. The 30% figure is a widely used affordability and cost burden rule of thumb. It is not a Massachusetts law, not a lending rule, and not a universal landlord screening standard, and plenty of households reasonably spend more or less depending on their other costs. And a landlord's own income screening standards are a separate question from affordability, governed by Massachusetts rules on what a landlord may consider and require.
What this means if you own a Quincy rental
Renters are the larger group in Quincy. Census figures compiled by RentCafe show 24,794 renter occupied households against 20,491 owner occupied, which works out to a renter share of about 54.8%. That is the fact that shapes everything else in this post. Rental demand is not a niche in Quincy, it is the main event.
Three things I would pay attention to as an owner right now:
First, price off the right comparison set. If you own the second floor of a two family in Wollaston, the $2,777 average is not your comp, because that number is drawn from larger multifamily properties you are not competing with. Price against actual recent leases in buildings that look like yours.
Second, the broker fee change shifted a real cost onto owners. If you hire a broker to lease your unit, that fee is yours, and you cannot separately require the tenant to reimburse it as an upfront charge. For a new market rate tenancy, price from comparable current listings and signed leases, advertise the rent transparently, and comply with fair housing, notice, consumer protection, and lease disclosure requirements. If your property carries a subsidy or sits in a program with its own rent rules, those govern too.
Third, the upfront limit is a ceiling and a compliance risk at the same time. Collecting first, last, and a security deposit is legal. Holding that deposit incorrectly is where owners actually get hurt, and for certain specified failures the statute reaches treble damages plus costs and reasonable attorney's fees.
The Bottom Line
There is no single number for "rent in Quincy," and anyone who gives you one without telling you what it measures is handing you a guess dressed as a fact. The defensible answer this fall is a range: about $2,295 a month as a modeled citywide median, about $2,777 a month as an average in larger managed buildings, with one bedrooms around $2,568 and two bedrooms around $3,155 in that second category.
The bigger money question for most renters is not the monthly figure anyway. It is the move in bill. Massachusetts caps what a landlord may require to first month, last month, a security deposit no larger than the first month's rent, and the purchase and installation cost for a key and lock. Since August 1, 2025, the landlord's broker fee is not on that list and cannot be required under another name. On a typical Quincy apartment, that change is worth somewhere between $2,300 and $3,200 in cash you keep.
If you own here, the same change moved a real cost onto your side of the ledger, and the state has said plainly there are no exceptions. Price the unit accordingly, and hold the deposit exactly the way the statute requires.