Town Pricing Anatomy: See Exactly What You're Paying For in Every Boston-Area Town
We broke down median prices for 116 Greater Boston towns into five transparent components: land, structure, schools, access, and prestige. No black-box algorithms. No double-counting. Just clear math that shows why Dover costs $2.4M, Brockton costs $450K, and what you're actually buying.
Why does Dover cost $2.4M while Brockton costs $450K? It's not just 'location' or 'prestige'—it's a precise combination of land scarcity, structure quality, school premiums, commute access, and brand value. We built Town Pricing Anatomy to break down every town's median price into these five components, showing exactly what percentage of your purchase goes to each factor. The result: transparent, explainable pricing that helps you understand value, identify arbitrage opportunities, and make smarter buying decisions. No ML black boxes. No double-counting. Just clear math.
The Question Every Buyer Asks (But Never Gets Answered)
• Dover: $2.4M, 4BR, 3,200 sqft, 0.75 acres, 9.2/10 schools, 25 min to Boston
• Brockton: $450K, 4BR, 2,800 sqft, 0.25 acres, 7.5/10 schools, 35 min to Boston
Why does Dover cost 5.3x more?
Most agents will say: "It's just more expensive. Better schools. Better location. More prestige."
That's not an answer. That's a description.
We built Town Pricing Anatomy to give you the actual answer: exactly what percentage of Dover's $2.4M goes to land, structure, schools, access, and prestige—and how that compares to Brockton's $450K.
No black-box algorithms. No "it's complicated" hand-waving. Just transparent math that shows you what you're actually buying.
🎯What Is Town Pricing Anatomy?
Town Pricing Anatomy is a transparent pricing model that breaks down every Greater Boston town's median price into five distinct, non-overlapping components:
- •🏠 Land Market (11-18%): Base lot value based on scarcity, zoning, and typical lot sizes
- •🏗️ Structure Market (35-55%): Building cost based on construction quality, age, and renovation expectations
- •🎓 School Magnet (5-22%): Premium for school quality—why families stretch budgets
- •🚂 Access (7-13%): Commute value—proximity to Boston, transit access, walkability
- •👑 Prestige & Stability (-11% to +20%): Brand value—reputation, stability, long-term desirability
The key insight: These components are additive and multiplicative, not just blended together. The formula is:
Final Price = (Land + Structure) × School Multiplier × Access Multiplier × Prestige Multiplier
This means each component is counted exactly once—no double-counting, no hidden factors, no "it's just expensive" explanations.
Why This Matters
• Dover: 13.3% land + 37.9% structure + 21.5% schools + 7.3% access + 20% prestige = $2.4M
• Brockton: 16.5% land + 80.6% structure + 5.8% schools + 8.2% access - 11.1% prestige = $450K
Now you can see: Dover's premium comes from land scarcity (13.3% vs 16.5%), school quality (21.5% vs 5.8%), and prestige (20% vs -11.1%). Brockton actually has a prestige penalty that reduces price.
This transparency helps you:
- Understand value: Is that school premium worth it?
- Identify arbitrage: Towns with high schools but low prestige
- Negotiate smarter: Know what you're actually paying for
- Compare apples-to-apples: Same structure cost, different premiums
📊Real Examples: What the Data Shows
Let's look at three real examples from Greater Boston:
1️⃣Dover: The Prestige Premium
Median Price: $2.4M
- Breakdown:
- Land: 13.3% ($319K)
- Structure: 37.9% ($910K)
- Schools: +21.5% ($516K premium)
- Access: +7.3% ($175K premium)
- Prestige: +20% ($480K premium)
What this tells you: Dover's $2.4M price is driven by land scarcity (small lots, strict zoning), elite schools (9.8/10 rating), and maximum prestige (established wealth, brand value). The structure itself ($910K) is only 38% of the total—the rest is premiums.
Value insight: If you don't need prestige or elite schools, you're paying $996K in premiums ($516K + $480K) that you might not value.
2️⃣Brockton: The Prestige Penalty
Median Price: $450K
- Breakdown:
- Land: 16.5% ($74K)
- Structure: 80.6% ($363K)
- Schools: +5.8% ($26K premium)
- Access: +8.2% ($37K premium)
- Prestige: -11.1% ($50K penalty)
What this tells you: Brockton's low price isn't just about "cheap"—it's about a prestige penalty that actually reduces the price. The structure cost ($363K) is 81% of total price, meaning you're getting more house per dollar, but paying a penalty for location reputation.
Value insight: If you don't care about prestige, Brockton offers 81% structure value—much higher than Dover's 38%. You're buying the house, not the address.
3️⃣Winchester: The School Premium
Median Price: $1.26M
- Breakdown:
- Land: 11.7% ($147K)
- Structure: 37.1% ($467K)
- Schools: +19% ($239K premium)
- Access: +12.2% ($154K premium)
- Prestige: +20% ($252K premium)
What this tells you: Winchester sits in the middle—not as expensive as Dover, but still commands significant premiums for schools (9.7/10) and prestige. The structure cost ($467K) is similar to Dover's, but total price is half because land is cheaper and premiums are smaller.
Value insight: Winchester offers Dover-level schools at half the price—better value if you prioritize education over prestige address.
🔍How We Calculate It: The Math Behind Transparency
Most pricing models are black boxes. Ours is transparent. Here's how it works:
📐Step 1: Calculate Multipliers (Independent of Price)
We calculate three multipliers based on observable data:
- School Multiplier (0.70-1.45): Based on GreatSchools ratings
- 9.5+ schools: 1.40-1.45 multiplier
- 8.0-9.0 schools: 1.10-1.25 multiplier
- 7.0-8.0 schools: 0.85-1.05 multiplier
- Access Multiplier (0.90-1.20): Based on commute time and transit
- <20 min to Boston: 1.20 multiplier
- 20-30 min: 1.15 multiplier
- 30-40 min: 1.10 multiplier
- 40-50 min: 1.05 multiplier
- 60+ min: 0.95 multiplier
- Commuter rail bonus: +0.03
- Prestige Multiplier (0.90-1.25): Based on income, stability, school correlation
- Elite (income >$200K, schools >9.0): 1.25 multiplier
- Premier (income >$150K, schools >8.5): 1.15 multiplier
- Established (income >$120K, schools >8.0): 1.10 multiplier
- Functional (income <$80K or schools <6.5): 0.90 multiplier
🧮Step 2: Work Backwards to Find Base Value
We know the final median price. We know the multipliers. So we work backwards:
Base Value = Median Price ÷ (School Multiplier × Access Multiplier × Prestige Multiplier)
This base value represents what the property would cost without school, access, and prestige premiums.
🏗️Step 3: Split Base into Land and Structure
The base value is split between land and structure based on:
- Land Ratio (20-35% of base): Based on land scarcity index
- High scarcity (Dover, Weston): 30-35% land ratio
- Medium scarcity: 25-30% land ratio
- Low scarcity (Brockton, Lynn): 20-25% land ratio
Structure = Base - Land
This gives us the actual building cost, independent of location premiums.
➕Step 4: Calculate Premiums Sequentially
Premiums are calculated as each multiplier is applied:
- After Schools: Base × School Multiplier
- School Premium = (After Schools - Base)
- After Access: (After Schools) × Access Multiplier
- Access Premium = (After Access - After Schools)
- After Prestige: (After Access) × Prestige Multiplier
- Prestige Premium = (After Prestige - After Access)
Final Price = After Prestige
Each premium shows its contribution to the final price, and all percentages sum to 100%.
Why This Math Matters
• How much is schools vs location vs prestige?
• Are you overpaying for one component?
• Where's the value arbitrage?
Our model answers these questions by separating each component and showing its exact contribution. No guessing. No "it's complicated." Just clear math.
💡What You Can Do With This Information
Subscribe to Market Pulse
Get weekly Boston suburban real estate insights delivered to your inbox.
Town Pricing Anatomy isn't just interesting data—it's actionable intelligence. Here's how to use it:
🎯1. Understand Value
Question: Is Dover's $2.4M worth it?
- Answer: Look at the breakdown:
- Structure: $910K (38%)
- Land: $319K (13%)
- Schools premium: $516K (22%)
- Prestige premium: $480K (20%)
If you don't value prestige or elite schools, you're paying $996K in premiums you might not need. Consider Winchester ($1.26M) or Lexington ($1.49M) for similar schools at lower prestige premiums.
🔍2. Identify Arbitrage Opportunities
- Look for towns with:
- High school quality but low prestige premium
- Good access but lower structure costs
- High land value but lower total price
Example: Reading has 8.5/10 schools (good quality) but lower prestige than Dover. You get 85% of Dover's school quality at 40% of the price.
- Use the efficiency scores in Town Pricing Anatomy to find:
- Best schools-per-dollar value
- Best access-per-dollar value
- Best overall quality-per-dollar value
💰3. Negotiate Smarter
When making offers, understand what you're paying for:
- High structure % (80%+): You're buying the house, not the address. Structure costs are harder to negotiate (materials, labor).
- High premium % (50%+): You're buying location/schools/prestige. These are more negotiable in slow markets.
- Negative prestige: The town has a reputation penalty. Use this as leverage if the property has been on market >60 days.
Example: A $1.5M house in a town with 20% prestige premium means $300K is "brand value." In a slow market, that premium is negotiable.
📊4. Compare Apples-to-Apples
Don't compare total prices. Compare components:
- Same structure cost, different premiums: Winchester ($467K structure) vs Dover ($910K structure) shows Dover's structure is 2x—why? Higher quality expectations, newer stock, renovation pressure.
- Same school quality, different prestige: Two towns with 9.0/10 schools but different prestige premiums show where you're paying for "address" vs education.
- Same access, different land costs: Two towns 25 min from Boston but different land % show zoning/scarcity differences.
Use Town Pricing Anatomy's comparison tool to see side-by-side breakdowns.
🚀How to Use Town Pricing Anatomy
We've built this into an interactive tool. Here's how to use it:
- •Browse all 116 towns: Visit Town Pricing Anatomy to see every Greater Boston town's breakdown
- •Search and filter: Find specific towns or sort by price, school premium, or value score
- •Click for details: Each town card links to a detailed page showing: - Complete component breakdown with dollar amounts - Efficiency scores (schools-per-dollar, access-per-dollar) - Rankings (where this town ranks for each component) - Methodology and data sources
- •Compare towns: Use the comparison feature to see side-by-side breakdowns of multiple towns
- •Use efficiency scores: Find best value by looking at quality-per-dollar or schools-per-dollar rankings
Free, No Signup Required
Explore Town Pricing Anatomy →
📚Data Sources & Methodology
All calculations use publicly available, verifiable data:
- •Median Prices: MLS sales data (rolling 12 months) from verified property transactions
- •School Ratings: GreatSchools.org ratings (7.5-9.9 scale) based on test scores, student progress, college readiness
- •Commute Times: Google Maps drive times to Boston (Kendall Square, Seaport, Longwood Medical Area)
- •Transit Access: MBTA commuter rail presence, verified against official schedules
- •Demographics: U.S. Census ACS 5-year estimates (median income, education levels, stability metrics)
- •Land/Zoning: MassGIS zoning layers, parcel data, typical lot sizes from assessor records
All calculations are transparent and reproducible. The formula, multipliers, and methodology are documented in each town's detail page. No black-box algorithms. No proprietary data. Just open, explainable math.
⚠️Important Limitations
Town Pricing Anatomy shows town-level pricing, not individual property pricing. Your specific house may vary based on:
- •Property-specific factors: Lot size, home age, renovation quality, condition
- •Neighborhood variations: Some neighborhoods within a town command premiums
- •Market timing: Prices fluctuate with market cycles (our data uses rolling 12-month medians)
- •Unique features: Waterfront, views, historic designation, special zoning
Use Town Pricing Anatomy to understand town-level value, then adjust for property-specific factors. It's a starting point, not the final answer.
🎓The Bottom Line
Most real estate pricing is opaque. Agents say "it's expensive" or "it's a good deal" without explaining why. Town Pricing Anatomy changes that.
- Now you can see exactly what you're paying for:
- How much is land vs structure?
- How much is school premium vs prestige premium?
- Where's the value arbitrage?
- What are you actually buying?
116 Greater Boston towns. Five transparent components. One clear answer.
Related Resources
- Town Comparison: Side-by-side town comparisons
- School Rankings: Complete school district analysis
- Market Analysis: Deep-dive town market reports
Need Custom Analysis?
Want deeper insights for a specific property or neighborhood? Get a custom research report tailored to your needs—from individual property analysis to comprehensive market overviews.
Request Custom Analysis