Benjamin Realty is a family-run real estate brokerage in Brookline that helps renters find and lease apartments in Dorchester, Boston, from search to signed lease. Right now 305 Dorchester apartments are listed for rent, at a median of $3,028 a month. Tell us what you need and we send you the ones that fit, set up showings, help with the application and go through the lease with you.
To rent an apartment in Dorchester, call Benjamin Realty at (617) 734-5050, email [email protected], or use the form on this page.
305 apartments are listed for rent in Dorchester, Boston, at a median asking rent of $3,028 a month. Rents by size:
| Size | Listed now | Median rent | Middle half of rents |
|---|---|---|---|
| Studio | 9 | $2,526/mo | $2,352–$2,561 |
| 1 bedroom | 44 | $2,909/mo | $2,500–$2,993 |
| 2 bedrooms | 92 | $2,813/mo | $2,600–$3,400 |
| 3 bedrooms | 103 | $3,250/mo | $2,900–$3,500 |
| 4+ bedrooms | 57 | $3,744/mo | $3,400–$4,000 |
Counted from today’s listings (November 3, 2026): 209 from MLS PIN, 96 from other rental listing services.
Dorchester homes for sale and rent · Search every rental
Listing information from MLS Property Information Network (MLS PIN), deemed reliable but not guaranteed. The apartment advertised may no longer be available for rental.
Of the 91 Dorchester rentals that give a move-in date, 57 are available now, 18 within 30 days, 11 in one to three months and 5 later. The most common future date is December 1, 2026, with 3 listings. MLS listings don’t give a date here; ask us about any of them.
4 of the 305 Dorchester listings (1%) say no broker fee in their own words. Under the 2025 law you also owe nothing to a broker the landlord hired.
Since August 1, 2025, a broker’s fee on a Massachusetts apartment is paid only by the party who hired the broker: the landlord or the renter.
When you answer an ad from a broker the landlord hired, the landlord pays that broker. A landlord can’t make paying their broker a condition of renting, add a surcharge to the rent to cover the fee, or charge it under another name such as an admin, leasing or finder’s fee.
A renter pays a broker only when the renter chose to hire that broker to work for them. A broker must tell you in writing, before a lease is signed, who hired them, who pays their fee and how much it is.
Sources: G.L. c. 112, § 87DDD½, as amended by St. 2025, c. 9, § 43; Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities: Frequently asked questions about residential rental broker’s fees. Checked November 3, 2026.
At or before the start of a tenancy, a Massachusetts landlord or their agent may ask for no more than the first month’s rent, the last month’s rent, a security deposit no larger than one month’s rent, and the cost of a new lock and key.
At the median two-bedroom rent in Dorchester, $2,813, that is up to $8,439 before you move in: first month, last month and a security deposit, plus the lock.
Source: G.L. c. 186, § 15B(1)(b).
Walkability: the middle Dorchester rental scores 88 out of 100 on our estimate of how close groceries, restaurants, parks, schools and other everyday places are (from OpenStreetMap; 102 listings sampled).
Public schools near Dorchester: Community Academy of Science and Health, UP Academy Charter School of Dorchester, Helen Y. Davis Leadership Academy Charter Public School, Mather Elementary School, UP Academy Holland, Henderson K-12 Inclusion School Lower, Holmes Elementary School, Conservatory Lab Charter School. The district decides which school serves an address.
Of the 123 Dorchester rentals that list a year built, 108 (88%) were built before 1978; the middle one was built in 1910.
Massachusetts’ Lead Law requires the removal or covering of lead paint hazards in homes built before 1978 where a child under six lives. Older homes commonly contain lead paint unless they have been deleaded. Sellers must give buyers the state Property Transfer Lead Paint Notification; landlords must give tenants the Tenant Lead Law Notification, which both sign with the Tenant Certification Form.
Look up an address in the state’s Lead Safe Homes records. A missing record doesn’t mean a home has lead paint, or that it doesn’t.
How to apply, waitlists and income limits: Boston Housing Authority.
The party who hired the broker. Since August 1, 2025, Massachusetts law says a rental broker’s fee is paid only by whoever engaged the broker: if you answer an ad from a broker the landlord hired, the landlord pays; you pay a broker only if you hired that broker to work for you (G.L. c. 112, § 87DDD½).
The median asking rent of the 305 apartments listed in Dorchester is $3,028 a month (by size: studio $2,526, 1 bedroom $2,909, 2 bedrooms $2,813, 3 bedrooms $3,250, 4+ bedrooms $3,744).
At most the first month’s rent, the last month’s rent, a security deposit of no more than one month’s rent, and the cost of a new lock and key (G.L. c. 186, § 15B). At the median two-bedroom rent here, $2,813, that is up to $8,439 plus the lock.
4 listings of 305 (1%) say no broker fee in the listing itself. Under the 2025 law you also owe nothing to a broker the landlord hired; you pay a broker only if you hire one yourself.
Of the 91 rentals here that give a move-in date, 57 are available now, 18 within 30 days, 11 in one to three months and 5 later. The most common future date is December 1, 2026 (3 listings).
Tell us the bedrooms, budget and move-in date you want, by phone, email or the form on this page. We send you apartments that fit, set up showings, help with the application and go through the lease and move-in costs with you. Before you sign, we tell you in writing who hired us and who pays our fee.
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To ask about an apartment or set up a showing, call Benjamin Realty at (617) 734-5050, email [email protected], or use the form on this page.