Fair Market Rent in Massachusetts by county (FY 2026)

Massachusetts sets Fair Market Rents by town, not by county, so the number you see for a county is really an average across its towns. The two-bedroom median lands at $2,283, and the range around it is steep. Nantucket County stands alone at the top, at $3,138, a standalone housing area with no metro tied to it. Berkshire County, out in the Pittsfield metro area, anchors the bottom at $1,657. Eleven of the state's 14 counties share a metro rate, most tied to the Boston-Cambridge-Quincy area. That's a lot of towns pricing off one shared number. Look at individual ZIP codes and Middlesex County shows the widest spread you'll find, with Small Area FMRs running from $2,160 to $4,410 depending on the block. Suffolk isn't far behind, at $2,560 to $4,410.

11 of the 14 counties sit inside a HUD metro area and share that metro's rate. The other 3 get a county rate built from their own rents. The Massachusetts median of $2,283 is about 124% above the national median county ($1,018). HUD also publishes ZIP-level Small Area FMRs covering 14 of the 14 counties, which is where the real variation shows up. Pick a county below for the full studio-to-four-bedroom table, payment standard ranges and ZIP rates.

Massachusetts is one of the six New England states where HUD publishes rates by town rather than county. The county figures here fold those towns together. Open a county to see every town listed with its own rate.

The median two-bedroom held flat from FY 2025. 13 counties went up, 1 went down, and the rest held.

HUD has already published FY 2027, effective October 1, 2026. Two-bedroom rates go up in 13 counties, down in 1, and hold in the rest. The table shows both years.