Our Community Need

Dorchester and Roxbury are two of the Boston neighborhoods that have had the “sharpest increases” in rent over the past few years. The average rent in these areas in 2025 is almost $3,500 a month. (Source: The Boston Foundation, 2025)

In the first 10 months of 2025, 40% of the executions issued by landlords to evict tenants in Suffolk County have been from Dorchester and Roxbury. (Source: MA Trial Court, Department of Research and Planning, 2025)

5.4% of Dorchester inhabitants and 9.5% of Roxbury inhabitants have low or no English proficiency. (Source: City of Boston Planning Department Research Division, 2025)

17% of Dorchester inhabitants and 17.3% of Roxbury inhabitants have less than a high school education. (Source: City of Boston Planning Department Research Division, 2025)

Only 3 out of 10 infants and toddlers can be cared for in a formal child care setting in Boston. (Source: City of Boston Early Childhood, 2025)

The neighborhood with the highest number of children in Boston is Dorchester, where 22% of all the children in Boston ages 0 - 5 reside. (Source: City of Boston Early Childhood, 2025)

The median household incomes for Dorchester ($73,213) and Roxbury ($42,045) are both below the median household income for Boston as a whole ($94,734). (Source: City of Boston Planning Department Research Division, 2025)​

The labor force participation rates for Dorchester (68.6%) and Roxbury (61.6%) are both below the labor force participation rate for Boston as a whole (69.4%). (Source: City of Boston Planning Department Research Division, 2025)​