Launched in 2024, the Gateway Cities Housing Monitor is the MassINC Policy Center’s annual deep dive into the housing trends shaping opportunity and growth across Massachusetts. By tracking the forces that influence affordability, stability, and supply, the Monitor provides policymakers, advocates, and community leaders with the insight they need to respond to the Commonwealth’s most pressing housing challenges.
To allow for deeper exploration of each theme, the 2025 Gateway Cities Housing Monitor will be released in a series of chapters. Each installment will highlight a different dimension of the housing landscape—from production and affordability to equitable development and revitalization. The series will culminate in a special analysis on homeownership, presented live at the 13th Annual Gateway Cities Innovation Summit in Lowell.
Ben Forman
Director, MassINC Policy Center
Elise Rapoza
Senior Research Associate, MassINC Policy Center
Abigail Wilkes
Policy Intern
2025 Gateway Cities Housing Monitor Chapters
Chapter 1: Housing Production and Supply
September 17, 2025
Stay Tuned
Chapter 2: Affordability
Coming September 24, 2025
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Chapter 3: Conditions for Growth
Coming October 1, 2025
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Chapter 4: Revitalization
Coming October 15, 2025
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Chapter 5: Equitable Development
Coming October 15, 2025
Stay Tuned
Special Analysis: Homeownership
Coming October 28, 2025 at the Gateway Cities Innovation Summit
Stay tuned as each chapter is released, and mark your calendar for the Summit to take part in the unveiling of the final installment.
By the Numbers: Housing Production
12,000
new housing units added in Gateway Cities in 2023 and 2024
30%
of new housing in Gateway Cities was built within a half mile of a rail station in cities with train service
106
multifamily buildings permitted in 2024 — highest for Gateway Cities in over a decade
Gateway Cities added roughly 12,000 housing units in 2023 and 2024, while suburbs added 17,300. Growth surged in 2023, with cities quadrupling production relative to 2022, and remained strong in 2024. Relative to size, Gateway Cities outpaced suburbs, signaling that policy and funding interventions are helping—but sustained effort is still needed to meet housing demand.
This map highlights Massachusetts’ Gateway Cities and their surrounding suburbs — the focus of the Housing Monitor series. These mid-sized cities are key to understanding the state’s housing trends, from production and affordability to revitalization and equitable growth.
About the Gateway Cities Housing Monitor
The inaugural report highlighted the growing pressure on renters, the slow pace of housing production, and the unique challenges facing older industrial communities. Building on that foundation, the 2025 Monitor tracks new data and emerging trends to help policymakers, practitioners, and community leaders chart a path forward.
2024 Gateway Cities Housing Monitor
November 14, 2024