A worker needs to make nearly $127,000 a year to afford the typical monthly rent in greater Boston, according to a new report.

Why it matters: That's about 26.8% higher than what a Boston-area household would have needed to earn five years ago, per the analysis from Zillow.

• It's also about $10,000 more than the income needed to afford the typical rent nationwide, Zillow found.

The online real estate hub pegged its affordability standard for Boston at 32.5% of household income.

• They found the average observed rent in the Boston area was $3,175 in April 2025.
• The median household income in metro Boston was $110,697 in 2023.

Boston is one of eight U.S. metro markets where renters need to earn over $100,000 to afford rent, alongside New York, San Jose, San Francisco and San Diego.

• Los Angeles, Riverside, California, and Miami round out the top eight priciest markets.
• There were only four $100k-plus markets in 2020.
• The cheapest metro: Birmingham, Alabama, where rent is only $1,436 a month and you'd need to earn $57,428 to afford it comfortably.

The big picture: Nationally, workers need to earn more than $80,000 to comfortably afford the typical rental, up from $60,000 five years ago.

• Rent for a typical U.S. apartment went up by 28.7%, to $1,858 a month, since April 2020, according to Zillow.
• Rent for a single-family home increased 42.9% to $2,256.
• But the national median household income rose only 22.5% to about $82,000 in the same timeframe.

The bottom line: The median household income for Boston proper was $94,755 in 2023, while the per capita income was just over $60,000.

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President Trump's decision to prevent international students from studying at Harvard could hurt America's economy by reducing the number of startup founders.

• Why it matters: Trump is aiming at Harvard, but buckshot may hit the innovation engine that America needs to stay ahead of China.

🧮 By the numbers: Around 44% of U.S. unicorn companies — startups valued at $1 billion or more — are founded or cofounded by immigrants.

• Some of them moved to the U.S. as children, but many came for school, then stayed to build their businesses.
• An Axios analysis shows that around two dozen U.S. unicorns were founded or cofounded by international students who studied at Harvard. Under Trump's rule, none of them would have been allowed to enroll.
• Among those unicorns are payments giant Stripe, cybersecurity firm CloudFlare, crypto brokerage FalconX and generative AI startup Writer.

🔬 Zoom in: Harvard ranks as one of America's top schools for educating startup founders, ranking third for undergrads, second for grad students, and first for MBAs, according to PitchBook.

The big picture: Harvard is just one U.S. university out of thousands, but it has an outsized global reputation.

• Trump's move could discourage other foreign students from coming here at all, particularly after Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told Fox News that the Harvard halt "should be a warning to every other university."

For the more than 6,000 current Harvard students, some may seek to transfer — although it could be quite onerous, particularly for those in the midst of scientific graduate degrees that are tied to specific professors.

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🎓 President Trump threatened to redirect $3 billion in federal grant money from Harvard University to trade schools, the latest in his battle with the school over antisemitism concerns. (Boston Globe)

🎵 Boston Calling 2025 wrapped up its Memorial Day weekend festival with headliners Luke Combs, Fall Out Boy and Dave Matthews Band performing despite the rain Friday and Saturday. (Boston.com)

• More than 50 artists performed across multiple stages at Harvard Athletic Complex.

⚓ Former Patriots coach Bill Belichick renamed his boat from "VIII Rings" to "I + VIII Rings" — fueling speculation that he's engaged to 24-year-old girlfriend Jordon Hudson. (MassLive)

🌱 Two North Shore teenagers proposed legislation to make eelgrass the state's official state marine flora. (WBUR)

Red Line riders might have noticed the large tarps and scaffolding covering the south side of the Museum of Science, part of the museum's major renovation work.

The MoS is reallocating 10,000 square feet of space to add a 700-person capacity venue inside the building.

• The Cahners Theater is being replaced by a new "Public Science Common."
• Bloomberg Philanthropies is helping to fund the project by architect William Rawn Associates.
• The new space will look out onto the Charles.

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