Boston Metrolist: how to apply for income-restricted housing

To apply for a home on Boston Metrolist, the city's search site for income-restricted homes, open the listing and read its ad. Send one application to the agent the ad names, the company that handles applications for that building. Most listings are lotteries, which are random drawings, so applying early doesn't help, but missing the deadline rules you out.

What is Metrolist, and what isn't on it?

Metrolist lists income-restricted rentals and homes for sale in Boston and the Greater Boston area. An income-restricted home has a lower rent or price, and only households earning under its income limit, the most a household can earn in a year, can live there. A deed restriction, a rule written into the property's legal papers, keeps it that way for every tenant or buyer after you.

The city says Metrolist doesn't list:

• subsidized housing, where the government pays part of the rent;
• public housing, the apartments a housing office owns and rents out;
• homes outside the Boston metro area;
• apartments at full market rent, even ones meant for people with a voucher, which pays part of your rent to a private landlord.

For Section 8, the federal voucher program, and for public housing, apply to the Boston Housing Authority instead.

How do you check your income for a Metrolist home?

Each listing sets its income limit as a share of the area median income, the middle income in the area. The city's example: if the median is $100,000 and your household earns $70,000, you are at 70%. Add up the income of everyone who will live with you, then compare it with the listing.

The city's chart, updated September 28, 2026, which its estimator uses:

The city's chart sets 100% at $171,400 for four people, twice its 50% figure, so it is not the area's actual middle income. Go by the limit on each listing, because that is the one the building uses. The city says the estimator is only a guide, and if you aren't sure whether you qualify, you should apply.

Example. A household of three earning $90,000 a year is under the 60% limit of $92,580 for three people, so it fits listings set at 60% and above. It is over the 50% limit of $77,150, so it can't rent a home set at 50%.

How does a Metrolist lottery work?

1. Find the ad. Click "more info" on a listing, then "apply." You reach the lottery's ad, with a link to the online application, paper applications in 11 languages and an online information session.
2. Apply once. The form asks for your contact details and the income of everyone in your household. Send one application per building, because more than one can get you disqualified.
3. Get the lottery date. The agent emails or mails you the date. If it finds a problem with your application, it contacts you so you can fix it.
4. Get your number. The drawing is held online and recorded. Your number arrives by email within 10 days, or by mail if you applied that way. The results are posted on the city's fair housing marketing page.
5. Wait for ranking. Your number isn't your rank. Agents sort applicants by the apartment size and income level they applied for. They rank each group by preferences, the groups a lottery moves up the list, and then by lottery number.
6. Get called. After the city's Boston Fair Housing Commission approves the list, the agent invites people in rank order to view the homes. Everyone else goes on the building's waitlist, the line for apartments that come free later.

How do preferences and requirements change your rank?

A preference moves you up the list; a requirement decides whether you can apply at all. A requirement might be that you are a veteran, a first-time buyer, a certified artist or an older adult. People without a preference can still apply.

The same status can be a requirement in one listing and a preference in another, and the ad says which. The city's guide lists these preferences: a disability that needs an accessible home, Boston resident, first-time buyer, artist, older adult and veteran. Another, "directly displaced and severely rent burdened", covers people forced out of their homes or paying a very large share of their income in rent. Each lottery picks its own, so read the ad.

Example. This is an illustration, not a real lottery. One group is the 1-bedroom homes at 70% of the median, and the only preference is for Boston residents.

Cal drew the best number but ranks last, because the preference counts before the number. If the group has two homes, Ana and Ben are invited to view them, and Cal goes on the waitlist.

What about waitlist and first-come listings?

Some Metrolist listings work differently. A waitlist listing is for a building that expects apartments to come free soon: you join the list, and the building contacts the people at the top when one opens. A first-come listing goes to the first applicant who qualifies, so apply early and have your documents ready. Lotteries stay open only until their deadline, so check Metrolist often, or sign up on the Metrolist page for its weekly email of new listings.

What happens after you are picked?

Each property manager runs it a little differently, but expect three steps:

• Screening. You show proof of income, and proof of any requirement, such as veteran status or first-time buyer status.
• Viewing. You view the available homes and decide whether to go ahead.
• Final check. You send full financial information, and compliance officers, who check that buyers and tenants meet the rules, approve you before you sign a lease or buy.

Expect to show proof of income and residency for everyone in your household, such as tax returns, pay stubs, bank statements and proof of other assets. Gather your documents now, so you can answer fast.

Where do Section 8 and public housing fit?

The Boston Housing Authority, the city's housing authority (the local housing office), runs Section 8 and public housing separately from Metrolist. It keeps two online portals: one for state public housing and one for its federal and city programs. Its page says only applicants in its Priority 1 group can apply for its Section 8 vouchers for people under 62. Priority 1 covers people who are homeless, or forced out of their homes by causes such as government action, a disaster, domestic violence or a no-fault eviction.

The Boston Housing Authority also says waits can top 10 years, and each building's list holds 1,200 to 13,000 applicants. Join the lists you qualify for and apply on Metrolist at the same time.

What should you do first?

Check your household's income against the estimator, then pick the listings whose limits fit. Read each ad, note the deadline and send one application per building.

Browse the Boston listings you can apply for now and the Massachusetts listings, or use our qualify check to see which ones fit your household. Before your lottery date, learn what happens after a lottery drawing so you can answer the agent fast.