Photo: Swampyank · CC BY-SA 4.0Even on the area’s higher pay, Maynard costs more to live in than 85% of U.S. towns
It ranks #143 of 282 in Massachusetts for affordability. Up 1.2% in a year, 8% below the Massachusetts typical home.
Census 2020–24 home values, rents, tax bills and cost burden, measured against the median household income of the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area ($116K). How TownRatings grades cost of living
The grade measures what housing costs against what households in the area earn. Maynard’s area earns well above the typical U.S. town ($116K against $74K), but homes, rent and taxes here run higher still. Owners keep up better than renters: 26% of owners pay 30% or more of income for housing (typical U.S. town: 20%), against 45% of renters.
In dollars
- $600Ktypical home, 8% below the Massachusetts typical homeZillow, September 2026
- $2,560a month for a two-bedroom, utilities includedHUD Fair Market Rent, 2026
- 108prices across the Boston metro, where the U.S. is 100 (housing 148)BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024
In paychecks the grade
- 4.6 yrsof area income buys the typical home; the typical U.S. town: 3.3$116K, Boston-area income
- 19%of area income goes to the median rent; the typical U.S. town: 18%Census 2020–24
- 45%of renters pay 30%+ of income for housing; across Massachusetts: 52%Census 2020–24
- 26%of owners do; the typical U.S. town: 20%Census 2020–24
Housing in Maynard, in brief
A high property tax rate
Owners pay about 1.57% of a home’s value a year in property tax, against 1.07% across Massachusetts. The median bill is $8,266 (Massachusetts: $5,992). On the typical home, that’s about $780 a month. Property taxes ↓
Most new homes are apartments and condos
Of the 426 homes permitted in Maynard’s past 10 years, 87% were in buildings with two or more homes, not single-family houses. New homes ↓
Written from the data on this page. Home values are the Zillow Home Value Index, through September 2026; sales and supply are Redfin’s for September 2026; permits are Census figures through 2025; incomes, rents paid, taxes and ownership come from the Census American Community Survey.
What’s behind Maynard’s grade
Measured against what households in the area earn, Maynard is more affordable than 15% of U.S. towns, #143 of 282 in Massachusetts. Property tax pulls the grade down most; rent holds it up.
Prices here have kept pace with Massachusetts: up 24.8% in five years, against 25.7% statewide (Zillow).
Up 24.8% in five years
About the same pace as Massachusetts (25.7%).
Show as a table
| January | Maynard | Massachusetts |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | $346,000 | $378,000 |
| 2018 | $373,000 | $402,000 |
| 2019 | $385,000 | $421,000 |
| 2020 | $405,000 | $433,000 |
| 2021 | $444,000 | $479,000 |
| 2022 | $483,000 | $529,000 |
| 2023 | $519,000 | $565,000 |
| 2024 | $569,000 | $609,000 |
| 2025 | $597,000 | $640,000 |
| 2026 | $598,000 | $650,000 |
| September 2026 | $600,000 | $655,000 |
A typical Maynard home worth $342K in October 2016 is worth about $600K today.
Zillow Home Value Index: the typical value of all homes (middle third), smoothed and seasonally adjusted, through September 2026.
Too few sales to read the market
Only 12 homes sold in September 2026, the latest month in Redfin’s figures: too few to describe the market or quote a median sale price.
A typical home costs 4.6 years of area income
The calculator starts from the area income the grade uses. Switch to Maynard’s own median, or type yours.
That’s $187K short of a typical Maynard home.
A two-bedroom rents for about $2,560 a month here, $1,370 less than owning.
An estimate, not a loan offer: payments of up to 28% of income, a 30-year fixed loan, Maynard’s typical property tax (1.57% of value a year, from the Census) and insurance of about 0.35%. Mortgage insurance, HOA fees and other debts aren’t included.
A two-bedroom rents for about $2,560
Renters already here pay a median of $1,800, so moving in tends to cost more than staying put.
Fair Market Rent a month, utilities included
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Fair Market Rents by ZIP code (Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH HUD Metro FMR Area): the 40th-percentile rent plus utilities for a standard unit. Median rent and renters: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey.
10 new homes permitted in 2025
Builders were permitted 10 new homes in Maynard in 2025, all in buildings with two or more homes. That's 0.9 per 1,000 residents, slower than across Massachusetts (1.8). Over the past 10 years, Maynard has permitted 426 homes in all.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses, Maynard gained 640 residents while 495 new homes were permitted: about 1.3 new residents per new home. Building outpaced population growth, which usually means smaller households or homes used part of the year. Across Massachusetts: 3.4 new residents per new home.
Every year as a table
| Year | New homes | Single-family | 2+ per building | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 (Jan–Aug) | 4 | 4 | 0 | $640,000 |
| 2025 | 10 | 0 | 10 | $981,000 |
| 2024 | 3 | 1 | 2 | $855,000 |
| 2023 | 1 | 1 | 0 | $623,000 |
| 2022 | 2 | 2 | 0 | $842,000 |
| 2021 | 14 | 10 | 4 | $5.6 million |
| 2020 | 3 | 3 | 0 | $1.1 million |
| 2019 | 24 | 0 | 24 | $2.3 million |
| 2018 | 334 | 8 | 326 | $50.2 million |
| 2017 | 10 | 10 | 0 | $2.3 million |
| 2016 | 25 | 21 | 4 | $5.4 million |
| 2015 | 15 | 15 | 0 | $4.2 million |
| 2014 | 36 | 10 | 26 | $7.7 million |
| 2013 | 22 | 17 | 5 | $5 million |
| 2012 | 12 | 12 | 0 | $3 million |
| 2011 | 11 | 7 | 4 | $2.8 million |
| 2010 | 6 | 6 | 0 | $1.4 million |
| 2009 | 2 | 2 | 0 | $555,000 |
| 2008 | 38 | 5 | 33 | $5.1 million |
| 2007 | 31 | 23 | 8 | $6.4 million |
| 2006 | 4 | 4 | 0 | $701,000 |
| 2005 | 8 | 4 | 4 | $1.5 million |
| 2004 | 8 | 8 | 0 | $1.5 million |
| 2003 | 26 | 4 | 22 | $2.7 million |
| 2002 | 3 | 3 | 0 | $850,000 |
| 2001 | 22 | 22 | 0 | $4.9 million |
| 2000 | 10 | 10 | 0 | $2.2 million |
Homes authorized by building permits, counted in the year the permit was issued. U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey.
Property tax runs above the Massachusetts norm
The median bill is $8,266 (Massachusetts: $5,992), 1.57% of a home’s value a year, against 1.07% statewide.
Census American Community Survey 2020–24: the median real-estate tax bill homeowners report, and that bill ÷ the median home value. Bills include town, school and county taxes. The Census reports bills over $10,000 only as “$10,000+”.
The rest of a budget near Maynard
Only figures published free for the whole country, each labeled with the area it covers: the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area, or Massachusetts. Groceries follow the goods price level; nobody publishes them town by town.
| Cost | Here | Compared with | Area | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prices overall U.S. = 100 | 108 | MA 106 | metro | BEA, 2024 |
| Goods (groceries, clothing, cars…) U.S. = 100 | 100 | MA 99 | metro | BEA, 2024 |
| Utilities U.S. = 100 | 149 | MA 152 | metro | BEA, 2024 |
| Other services U.S. = 100 | 104 | MA 103 | metro | BEA, 2024 |
Price levels: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities 2024 (metro area and state). Electricity: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electric Power Monthly, table 5.6.A.
Maynard vs. its neighbors
Of the 3 towns here with a Zillow value, Maynard has the lowest.
Cost next door · one source per column
Questions about the cost of living in Maynard
Is Maynard expensive to live in?
Measured against what households in the area earn, Maynard costs more than 85% of U.S. towns: a C− for cost of living, #143 of 282 in Massachusetts. The typical home costs 4.6 years of the median household income of the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area ($116K).
How much does a house cost in Maynard?
About $600K, Zillow’s typical value for September 2026, up 1.2% in a year. The Massachusetts typical home is $655K.
What salary do you need to live in Maynard?
To buy the typical home with 20% down at 6.3%, about $169,000 a year, keeping the payment (about $3,930 a month with tax and insurance) at 28% of income. To rent a two-bedroom at 30% of income, about $102,000.
How much is rent in Maynard?
HUD puts a two-bedroom at about $2,560 a month with utilities, the going rate for someone moving in. Renters already here pay a median of $1,800 (Census 2020–24).
What are property taxes in Maynard?
The median bill is $8,266 a year, 1.57% of the median home value (Massachusetts: $5,992, 1.07%), from the Census 2020–24.
Are home prices in Maynard going up?
Yes: up 1.2% in the past year and 24.8% in five years, against 25.7% across Massachusetts (Zillow).
Neighbors talk housing
What Maynard buyers, sellers and renters are saying.
Home values: Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI), Zillow Research, September 2026. Sales, days on market and supply: Redfin Data Center, September 2026. Income, ownership, taxes and rent: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey. New homes: U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey. Fair Market Rents: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The calculator is an estimate, not a loan offer. Regional price levels: BEA; electricity: EIA. How TownRatings grades cost of living.