As of December 2015, the most expensive neighborhood for studio apartments was Beacon Hill, where the annual asking rent per square foot was just under $100. By contrast, a studio in Brighton could be found for under $47 per square foot.
Looking within several neighborhoods, we wanted to compare conventional studio apartments to micro-rentals.
In Fenway/Kenmore, the Burbank Apartments (18 Haviland St.) listed micros from $1778-2003/month (for 239-346 sq.ft.), or just over $84 per square foot. Meanwhile, conventional studios rented for under $55 per square foot, a premium of almost 53%.
The Seaport District is primarily new construction, and the floor plans of conventional buildings tend towards larger units. This skews the annual asking rent per square foot slightly lower (just under $43/sq.ft.) because of the large unit sizes. However, the micro-rentals in the neighborhood rent for over $67 per square foot, representing a premium of 56% over conventional units.