Cambridge
Middlesex County · Pop. 117,962
B — Good
Composite housing grade
Data as of 2026-05-11
Grade breakdown
Zoning permissiveness
54.4% of residential land allows multifamily by right
Share of residential zoned land where 3-family or larger multifamily housing is permitted by right — no planning board hearing required. Derived from MA Zoning Atlas 2023 district data. For the 107 towns not yet covered by the Zoning Atlas, this reflects permit mix (share of permitted units that are multifamily) as a fallback.
Source: MA Zoning Atlas 2023
MBTA Communities Act
Compliant — zoning adopted
Deadline: Dec 31, 2023
Whether the municipality has complied with the MBTA Communities Act, which requires towns served by the MBTA to zone for multifamily housing by right near transit. Non-compliant towns lose access to certain state grant programs.
DHCD compliance statusHousing production
3.38 permits per 1,000 residents
Annual residential building permits per 1,000 residents, averaged over recent years. Measures whether the town is actually building housing relative to its existing population.
Affordability
42.1% of renters cost-burdened · $997,600 median home value
Weighted composite of rent burden and median home value, weighted by renter share. In high-renter towns, rent burden dominates. In low-renter towns, home value dominates. Captures both active cost burden on existing renters and passive exclusion via high prices.
Town meeting votes
Phase 4 — coming soonTrack record of the town meeting or city council voting in favor of pro-housing zoning articles. Measures democratic accountability.
State legislator record
4 reps, 3 senators
Strong pro-housing voting record at the State House
See methodology →State legislators
House
Dave Rogers
24th Middlesex
Steve Owens
29th Middlesex
Mike Connolly
26th Middlesex
Marjorie Decker
25th Middlesex
Senate
Sal DiDomenico
Middlesex and Suffolk
Pat Jehlen
Second Middlesex
Will Brownsberger
Suffolk and Middlesex
Raw metrics
Share of residential zoned land where 3-family or larger multifamily housing is permitted by right — no planning board hearing required. Derived from MA Zoning Atlas 2023 district data. For the 107 towns not yet covered by the Zoning Atlas, this reflects permit mix (share of permitted units that are multifamily) as a fallback.
Median value of owner-occupied housing units. A proxy for housing cost and affordability pressure.
Share of renter households paying more than 30% of income on gross rent. High cost burden indicates housing supply shortfall.
Annual residential building permits averaged over the most recent multi-year period, normalized by population. Measures actual housing production.
Share of occupied housing units that are renter-occupied (ACS B25003)
Statewide context
Cambridge's median home value ($997,600) is 2.3x the MA median of $442,800.
42.1% of Cambridge renters are cost-burdened — 2.7 percentage points below the MA median of 44.8%.
66.4% of Cambridge households rent — 47.8 percentage points above the MA median of 18.6%.
Cambridge issues 3.38 permits per 1,000 residents — 2.9x the MA median of 1.15.
Share this town's grades
Cambridge gets a B on housing from MA Housing Report Card. 3.4% permits per 1,000 residents. See the full breakdown: https://mahousingreportcard.org/town/2501711000