Living in Somerville, MA
A powder house, a hilltop castle,and five Green Line stops opened in 2022.
Somerville is a Middlesex County city of 81,045 people (2020 Census) on about 4.1 square miles of land just north of Cambridge and Boston, often described as the most densely populated municipality in New England. It is known for its triple-deckers, and since November 2023 three-unit buildings have been allowed citywide by right. The Warren Group counted only 72 single-family sales in 2025. Davis Square is on the Red Line, Assembly on the Orange Line, and five Green Line stations opened in 2022.
About Somerville
Somerville was settled in 1629 as part of Charlestown and became its own town in 1842 and a city in 1872. Its hills played a part in the Revolution: British troops emptied the Old Powder House of gunpowder on September 1, 1774, setting off the Powder Alarm, and Prospect Hill was a Continental Army position during the siege of Boston, where tradition says Washington raised a flag on January 1, 1776. The Boston and Lowell Railroad opened in the 1840s, and in 1843 George O. Brastow laid out one of Somerville's first residential subdivisions on the south side of Spring Hill. Brickmaking, meatpacking and a Ford assembly plant, open from 1926 to 1958, followed.
The city is organized around its squares. Davis Square, a six-point intersection named for grain dealer Person Davis, gained a Red Line station in 1984, and the Somerville Community Path runs from there on an old railroad right-of-way. Union Square, named for its Civil War recruiting role, and Ball Square have Green Line stations that opened in 2022, and Assembly Square on the Mystic River grew from the old Ford plant site into the Assembly Row development. On Spring Hill, most buildings are wood-frame Greek Revival and Victorian houses of one to three units, with triple-deckers filling the remaining land in the early 1900s. The 2020 Census counted 36,269 housing units in the city.
Somerville adopted an entirely new zoning ordinance on December 12, 2019, its first major overhaul since 1990. The code sets standards for 23 building types, allows backyard cottages, requires most new developments to make 20 percent of their units affordable, and removed minimum parking requirements for most of the city, with maximums near Red, Orange and Green Line stations. In November 2023 the City Council made three-unit buildings legal by right citywide. The state housing office (EOHLC) approved Somerville's multifamily zoning ordinance on October 1, 2024, and the state lists the city as compliant with the MBTA Communities law. The city has since opened a five-year review of the 2019 code.
Homes in Somerville
Somerville is known for its triple-deckers. In November 2023 the City Council made any three-unit building legal citywide by right, without zoning board approval, replacing 2019 rules that required a new triple-decker to sit next to an existing one and include an income-restricted unit. Single-family homes are a small part of the market: The Warren Group counted 72 single-family sales in 2025.
Where you mightlive in Somerville.
Davis Square
A six-point intersection in northwestern Somerville, named a square in 1883, with the 1914 Somerville Theatre and a Red Line station opened in December 1984.
Union Square
The southeastern square at Washington Street, Webster Avenue and Somerville Avenue, once called Sand Pit Square, with Prospect Hill nearby and a Green Line station opened March 21, 2022.
Ball Square
A square on the Somerville-Medford line with a Green Line Extension station opened December 12, 2022.
Assembly Square
Named for a Ford assembly plant that ran from 1926 to 1958, on the west bank of the Mystic River between I-93 and the river, now the 45-acre Assembly Row development with an Orange Line station.
Spring Hill
A drumlin ridge in central Somerville roughly between Highland Avenue, Somerville Avenue, Elm Street and Willow Avenue, with Summer Street along its crest and the Spring Hill Historic District, listed on the National Register in 1989.
Winter Hill
The hill roughly north of Medford Street, with Foss Park at its base beside I-93, a Revolutionary War fort site, restored houses and triple-deckers, and Green Line stations at Gilman Square and Magoun Square.
Getting around
Commuting from Somerville
Somerville has no commuter rail station of its own; passenger rail service in the city ended by 1958, and the nearest stop is Porter in Cambridge on the Fitchburg Line. Rapid transit has returned in stages: Davis on the Red Line in 1984, Assembly on the Orange Line, and the Green Line Extension in 2022, with Union Square on one branch and East Somerville, Gilman Square, Magoun Square and Ball Square on the branch to Medford/Tufts. I-93 crosses the city on an elevated highway, Route 28 runs as McGrath Highway and Route 38 as Mystic Avenue.
- Red Line (subway): Davis
- Orange Line (subway): Assembly
- Green Line (subway, Union Square and Medford branches): Union Square, East Somerville, Gilman Square, Magoun Square, Ball Square
- Fitchburg Line (commuter rail, in neighboring Cambridge): Porter
Check current schedules with the MBTA; compare the trip from each address before you buy.
Schools
Public schools
Somerville is served by Somerville Public Schools. Review the district's profile with the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, and confirm school assignment for any address with the district.
DESE district profilePlaces to knowin Somerville.
Old Powder House
Built as a windmill around 1703 or 1704 and later a powder magazine, it overlooks Powder House Square from Nathan Tufts Park; both were listed on the National Register in 1975.
Prospect Hill Monument
A castle-like tower dedicated in 1903 atop Prospect Hill, a Continental Army position during the siege of Boston.
Somerville Community Path
A walking and biking path on a former Boston and Maine right-of-way from Davis Square, extended 1.9 miles beside the Green Line to North Point in Cambridge in June 2023.
Somerville Theatre
A Davis Square theater opened in 1914 that shows films and live performances.
Assembly Row
A 45-acre mixed-use development on the Mystic River, opened in 2014, with shops, restaurants, a 12-screen cinema and a hotel.
Mystic River Reservation (Draw Seven Park)
A DCR reservation of 329 acres along the Mystic River in Winchester, Arlington, Medford, Somerville, Everett and Chelsea, with field sports, picnicking, cycling and sailing at four riverside parks; Draw Seven Park is in Somerville, and its reconstruction was expected to last from late summer 2024 to 2026.
Somerville Museum
Run by the Somerville Historical Society in a 1920s Federal Revival building at One Westwood Road, at Central Street, with exhibits of local and historical significance and music and lecture series.
History
First European settlement, as part of Charlestown.
British regulars removed gunpowder from the Old Powder House on September 1, setting off the Powder Alarm.
Somerville separated from Charlestown and was incorporated as a town.
Home prices
The Somerville housing market
| Calendar year | 2024 | 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single-family median sale price | $1,160,000 | $1,287,500 | +11.0% |
| Single-family sales | 93 | 72 | -22.6% |
| Condominium median sale price | $900,000 | $875,000 | -2.8% |
Source: The Warren Group, MA December 2025 Sales, Prices by Town. Geography: town of Somerville. Year-to-date figures through December, so calendar years 2024 and 2025. Not live data and not a valuation of any home.
Read it for your own home
A townwide median is a starting point. Your best comparisons are recent closed sales that resemble your home in location, size, condition and style.
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Nearby guides
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What is the median home price in Somerville, MA?
According to The Warren Group's MA December 2025 Sales, Prices by Town table, the median single-family sale price in Somerville for calendar year 2025 was $1,287,500, across 72 sales. In 2024 it was $1,160,000, across 93 sales. With so few single-family sales, these figures describe a small part of the city's market.
Does Somerville have commuter rail?
No station is located in Somerville itself; the nearest is Porter in Cambridge on the Fitchburg Line. Somerville has Davis on the Red Line, Assembly on the Orange Line, and five Green Line stations: Union Square, East Somerville, Gilman Square, Magoun Square and Ball Square.
Which school district serves Somerville?
Somerville Public Schools. Review its profile with DESE.
What is the property tax rate in Somerville, MA?
According to the Massachusetts Division of Local Services, Somerville's FY2026 residential property tax rate is $10.98 per $1,000 of assessed value, and commercial, industrial and personal property pay $18.94. Somerville's 35% residential exemption for owner-occupants is worth savings of up to $4,578 in FY2026, according to the city's FY26 property tax mailer.
What are Somerville's zoning rules for new housing?
Somerville adopted a new zoning ordinance on December 12, 2019, which requires most new developments to make 20 percent of their units affordable and removed minimum parking requirements for most of the city. Since November 2023, three-unit buildings have been allowed by right citywide, and the state lists Somerville as compliant with the MBTA Communities law.
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406-250-7620Sources for this guide
- Town of Somerville
- 2020 Census population
- MBTA commuter rail
- Massachusetts DESE district profile
- The Warren Group, 2025 sales by town
- Housing
- Property tax rates, FY2026
- Davis Square
- Union Square
- Assembly Square
- Spring Hill
- Winter Hill
- Old Powder House
- Prospect Hill Monument
- Mystic River Reservation (Draw Seven Park)
- Somerville Museum
Researched by The Oberdorfer Team. Updated . Places and facts can change; check with the source before you rely on them.