Southie. Dorchester. Charlestown. Hyde Park. Government Center. Boston is full of instantly-recognizable neighborhoods with distinct features. The Massachusetts capital is a mélange of backgrounds, cultures and temperaments. No wonder the city features nearly two dozen official neighborhoods with over 80 subdistricts.

If you're thinking of relocating to Boston, or to a new spot within it, you're going to need to know which neighborhood is for you. Are you a student looking for a place in Mission Hill? Or, is your young family ready for a new apartment in Roxbury? Maybe you're a financial whiz with eyes on a place Downtown near work and happy hour? What spots are in your budget? No matter what you're seeking, there's a Hub neighborhood to fit your style.

Which are the best neighborhoods in Boston? Glad you asked. Don your Bruins jersey, find your CharlieCard, grab a lobster roll and take a gander at the wicked list below. We looked at quality apartment living and residential architecture, proximity to amazing eats and plentiful parks, as well as cost of living and other factors. And this was the result, the 20 best neighborhoods in Boston.

1. North End

You will, of course, find Boston's North End at the north end of Boston's central Shawmut Peninsula. The historic neighborhood was once cut off from the rest of Boston. But thanks to the Big Dig, North End flows right into Downtown across the Central Artery. And it was all worth it. Today, North End is the best neighborhood in Boston.

Even older than Beacon or Bunker Hill, North End is the oldest residential neighborhood in Boston. The district is full of European-style streets and alleys along narrow, brick sidewalks. It's home to important historic sites like Old North Church, Paul Revere's House and Copp's Hill Burying Ground.

The neighborhood is also one of America's oldest Italian communities. But what North End is best known for is its slew of Old-World restaurants, pizzerias and bakeries. That includes iconic Pizzeria Regina, Boston's oldest pizzeria, and Caffe Vittoria, Boston's oldest Italian café. In just a third square mile, the district offers more than 100 shops, stores and eateries.

2. Beacon Hill

One of Boston's oldest and most famous residential neighborhoods is Beacon Hill. The riverside district is between Downtown and Back Bay. It sits north of Boston Common and south of Mass General. The affluent neighborhood has rowhomes, low-rise apartments and private backyard gardens. Many of the units carry high rents with limited square footage. But many find the location and charm worth the price.

Beacon Hill's historic blocks have brick sidewalks. Steep inclines and declines spur in every direction. The atmosphere is a step back into history. The neighborhood is full of gaslit cobblestone streets, hidden cellar entrances and narrow alleyways. While nearly entirely residential, fanciful boutiques and quaint cafés are found along Cambridge and Charles streets.

Beacon Hill is home of the State Capitol and the seat of the Commonwealth's government. And along the Boston Common side are historic Park Street Church and Granary Burying Ground. There you'll find the final resting place of Samuel Adams, Paul Revere, Crispus Attucks and John Hancock.

3. Back Bay

If Beacon Hill is the center of historic living in Boston, Back Bay is the business and nightlife center. Opposite Boston Common from Downtown, the neighborhood is split in two along its Boyleston Street thoroughfare.

North of Boyleston is a grid of big city upscale apartments on streets paralleling lengthy Commonwealth Avenue Greenway. Blocks of townhouses and rowhomes stretch to Storrow Avenue and the Charles River.

South of Boyleston is the High Spine of Boston's second downtown. The district has upscale shopping, business hotels and high-rise office towers. These include skyline-dominating Prudential Tower and 200 Clarendon Street, New England's tallest building. This all surrounds Boston's town square, Copley Square below Trinity Church and the Boston Marathon finish line.

The retail heart of Back Bay runs between the neighborhood's two main arteries along Newbury and Boyleston streets. This is Boston's most popular corridor of trendy bars, hip restaurants, upscale retail and local sources coffee shops.

4. Seaport District

Only recently could it claim so, but Seaport District has fully embraced its title as Boston's trendiest upscale neighborhood. At the top end of South Boston — Southie — Seaport is a gleaming, lively neighborhood for young professionals along the harbor.

A dozen or so years ago, the Big Dig tore down surface highways and opened up Seaport to development. And it sure did deliver. The formerly bland harbor-front is now one of Boston's hottest destinations for restaurants, nightlife, bars and clubs and fashionable living.

Seaport's chic entertainment spots share blocks with window-covered office buildings, modern highrise apartments and condo towers. It's also home to the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston Children's Museum, Boston Convention Center and the Seaport World Trade Center. Looking for more outdoor fun? Seaport offers Fan Pier, South Boston Maritime, Eastport, Martin's and Waterfront parks, as well as Seaport Common.

5. Fenway-Kenmore

Why yes, Fenway-Kenmore is where you'll find Fenway Park. But this ever-transforming neighborhood under the famed LED-lit Citgo sign is more than just the Green Monster and Lansdowne Street.

Sure, Cambridge has a couple of pretty good universities. But Fenway-Kenmore is Boston's real college neighborhood. It's here you can find comprehensive colleges like Boston University and Northeastern University. And it's also campus home to specialty schools like Massachusetts College of Art, Harvard Medical School and Berklee College of Music.

And central Boyleston Street corridor teems with students and city locals visiting pizza shops, cafés and takeout restaurants. Young professionals, grads and students inhabit Kenmore Square Brownstones, walkups and midrise apartment buildings alongside upscale locals.

Fenway-Kenmore is a unique neighborhood. The college crowd regularly mingles in eateries and sports bars with both after-workers and rowdy fans before Sox games.

6. Downtown

Boston's Downtown is unique among East Coast cities. That's primarily due to both the large area it covers and the personality of its neighbors. It runs north-south from the Charles to the Channel. It snakes around historic Beacon Hill and North End all the way to Southie.

The northern end of Downtown is home to the TD Garden district. The Celtics' and Bruins' arena surrounds a brand new living and entertainment complex. "The Hub" gleams with high-rise apartment and hotel towers, shopping and a giant food hall along the riverfront. And the southern end encapsulates a residential area of low and midrise apartment buildings. This is prominent along the Mass Pike surrounding Tufts Medical Center and adjacent to Chinatown.

Downtown is an office and commercial district of skyscrapers and classic restaurants rising above the Rose Kennedy Greenway. It's where you'll find some of Boston's most visited attractions. That includes Faneuil Hall, Quincy Market, New England Aquarium, Boston Tea Party Museum, Old State House and Government Center.

7. West End

Boston's West End lies west of the North End and north of Beacon Hill. It encompasses much of the mouth of the Charles riverfront.

The east end of West End houses TD Garden (shared with Downtown) and several new apartment towers surrounding the arena. The Bulfinch Triangle historic district sits directly across busy North Station. Its narrow streets have bars and pubs popular before and after games. And in the southwest corner is the extensive campus of Massachusetts General Hospital, one of the nation's most prestigious.

The center of West End is a hodgepodge of legacy apartment buildings, new construction towers and office centers. These wind around the green passageway of Thoreau Path. Several other parks line the riverfront from Nashua to Lederman. And Charles Hayden Planetarium lies along Charles River Dam Road to Cambridge and Bunker Hill.

8. South End

Do not mistake Boston's South End with South Boston. This is definitely not Southie. The charming South End is a unique neighborhood that sits south of Back Bay and Downtown along the Central Artery. The district is known for its grand, Victorian-style rowhouses, one of the largest such collections in the country.

South End is also dotted by many of Boston's smaller parks and green spaces. The neighborhood has nearly a dozen parks and 16 distinct community gardens. South End is mainly filled with bowfront rentals and five-story brick-and-sandstone rowhomes. And a number of posh restaurants and bistros, afterwork bars and wine shops line Tremont, Shawmut, Washington and Harrison streets.

In the northern area near the Mass Pike is one of Boston's premier dining and theater districts. The Tremont arts corridor features a number of pre- and post-show options for late-night snacks and nightcaps. These spots are just steps away from Boston Center for the Arts and its multiple performance stages. The southern end of South End is known as SoWa (South of Washington), home to Boston University Medical Campus.

9. D Street-West Broadway

While it sounds like a contrived real estate marketing designation, D Street-West Broadway is a well-known micro-hood. It covers most of the northeast portion of South Boston, including the highly-gentrified Seaport District. D Street-West Broadway is a culturally- and ethnically-diverse region of Boston. It encompasses the best of both residential-industrial Southie and the newly-hip harborfront.

What makes D Street-West Broadway different is its particular mix of lifestyles. It combines generational blue collar residents and the relatively newcoming young professionals and young families seamlessly. The Seaport section features some of Boston's trendiest cafés and breweries alongside gleaming office towers and residential highrises.

D Street-West Broadway is home to a number of parks, including riverside Far Pier Park and South Boston Maritime Park. That's in addition to a number of museums and galleries. Central to the neighborhood is the massive Boston Convention and Exhibition Center and its adjacent Lawn On D urban playground. Much of the neighborhood's south side is old school Southie. It features blocks of rowhomes, traditional restaurants and pre-redevelopment channel front industrial complexes.

10. Commonwealth

Commonwealth Avenue is a popular street as it wraps through Back Bay and Fenway-Kenmore. But if you follow Commonwealth Ave. past where it diverges from Brighton, you'll find the residential neighborhood of Commonwealth.

Even many Bostonians aren't familiar with the Commonwealth neighborhood. It serves as the southern border of the Brighton neighborhood. East-west, it runs south of Brighton Avenue along Commonwealth Avenue down to Chestnut Hill. In fact, Chestnut Hill shares about half of Boston College with Commonwealth. BC's eastern campus, including Conte Forum, Alumni Stadium and Robsham Theater, lies in Commonwealth. As does Chestnut Hill Reservoir and its recreational amenities.

The residential heart of Commonwealth lies along its namesake thoroughfare. Swirling blocks of single-family homes share the district with apartment complexes in its central and northern regions.

11. Financial District

Boston's Downtown is a vast and diverse place (see above). But its beating economic heart lies in the Financial District. It's a destination for suited white-collar workers during the day and loosened ties in the evening.

Financial District lies between Faneuil Hall and South Station along the Greenway. As the center of Boston's trade economy, the neighborhood is home to many finance and investment companies, including Fidelity Investments, Eastern Bank and BBDO. And while Back Bay may have Boston's two tallest skyscrapers, the Financial District has Boston's densest concentration of skyscrapers.

As with many downtown financial hubs, Financial District has plenty of amenities for the afterwork crowd. There are a number of high-star restaurants and happy hour bars throughout the district. As well, several condo and apartment towers dot the neighborhood for those enjoying a short walk home after quitting time.

12. Shawmut

Each region in Boston, like West End or Downtown, has its own personality. But it's the neighborhoods within the neighborhoods that define the populace more concisely. Such is Shawmut, which lies at the heart of South End.

Appropriately enough, Shawmut lies at the neck of the Shawmut Peninsula. It runs from the Mass Pike to Mass Ave., along Shawmut Avenue and Tremont Street. The majority of the neighborhood is residential, with blocks of Boston rowhomes and two-story townhomes. At the district's north end is stunning Castle Square, with its park-like apartments shaded by tall old-growth trees.

Shawmut's north hook offers many neighborhood amenities, including a Whole Foods, bakeries, hotels and cafés. Along Tremont is the Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts. This theater complex includes the Huntington Theater Company, SpeakEasy Stage Company and Company One.

13. North Allston

Don't get confused. Despite conflicting names, North Allston and Lower Allston are essentially the same district. Lower Allston is north of the rest of Allston, perhaps why many prefer the moniker North Allston.

North Allston is a clearly defined neighborhood, bounded on three sides by the Charles River. It's isolated north of the Mass Pike, separating it from south Allston. Its physical separation from the remainder of Boston has allowed it to bond with Cambridge to its north, primarily as it relates to Harvard University.

It's that connection to the Ivy League school across the river that makes North Allston so unique. Over the years, Harvard has expanded much of its campus into the neighborhood. North Allston is where you'll find Harvard Business School, its School of Engineering and buildings from several other departments. As well, the entire athletic complex including Harvard Stadium and Lavietes Pavilion inhabit the district.

North Allston is a diverse neighborhood, inhabited by a mix of long-term homeowners, blue-collar workers and young professionals. And, of course, it's home to numerous Harvard grads, as well as current staff and faculty. Students, however, are in short supply as they tend to prefer the rest of Allston to the south. The neighborhood's walkability, low crime rate and relative quiet make it in demand.

14. Telegraph Hill

Tucked away in Southie is a small but desirable diverse neighborhood known as Telegraph Hill. The quaint three-quarter by one-half mile district sweeps east down the Dorchester Peninsula from the neighborhood's eponymous bluff.

Telegraph Hill sits alongside the north shore of Old Harbor. That places it just steps from the South Boston Beaches, the longest stretch of beachfront in the city. The strand's L Street Beach sits inside the neighborhood borders.

The district's Dorchester Heights Monument lies atop elliptical Thomas Park. The park shares the space with Excel High School. The view from the hilltop east over the rest of the neighborhood shows Telegraph Hill's blocks of upscale rowhomes. That stretches towards the neighborhood's commercial center around the intersection of East Broadway and L Street.

15. Jeffries Point

East Boston's Jeffries Point is more than just the airport. Sort of. Yes, nearly all of Jeffries Point is Boston Logan International Airport. But the small section west of the Mass Pike is Eastie's most desirable neighborhood. Just ask the Kennedys, as Joseph — father of President John F. Kennedy — once lived here.

Jeffries Point lies on the north shore of Boston's Inner Harbor. It sits directly across the Harbor Channel from the trendy Seaport District in Southie. That view puts waterfront housing in Jeffries Point in high demand. But Jeffries Point, the first neighborhood ever settled in East Boston, is a destination all its own.

The district along the channel front has retail shops, seafood restaurants, marinas and parks. The most prominent of which being Piers Park, with its long manicured jetty stretching out into the water. Closer to the airport is airy East Boston Memorial Park, with its well-maintained athletic fields and stadium.

Sure, there are many great reasons to live in lovely Jeffries Point. But none is better than proximity to Santarpio's Pizza, arguably the best pizzeria in Boston. The legendary spot has been a stalwart along Chelsea Street in the neighborhood's northwest corner for 110 years.

16. Medical Center Area

If you're going to call your subdistrict Medical Center Area, it better be a top-notch destination for healthcare. Well, no worries. Medical Center has a deep concentration of top hospitals. Among these are Boston Children's Hospital, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women's Hospital. But the neighborhood isn't just a place for health care.

Medical Center is a part of the greater Fenway-Kenmore neighborhood, Boston's real college town neighborhood. And this is the part that embraces both avenues. It serves as the hub for medical education featuring Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences and Harvard Medical School.

For non-med students, this small region is also home to Wentworth Institute of Technology, Emmanuel College, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Simmons University and more. If that's not enough, it's also the campus of Boston Latin School, the oldest high school in the nation.

The Medical Center neighborhood lies in the portion of Fenway-Kenmore southwest of Back Bay Fens. Much of the district is conterminous with the Longwood Medical and Academic Area. The residential makeup is a mix of long-term residents along with college students and staff and medical professionals.

17. Waterfront

One might say the Downtown Boston waterfront is so special and unique, it should be its own neighborhood. Well, cartographers and neighborhoodologists agree. Waterfront is a subdistrict of the Financial District. It stretches along the harbor from Long Wharf to the Tea Party Museum east of the Kennedy Greenway.

The small strip of land is like many highly-developed downtown riverfront districts elsewhere. Waterfront features a mix of pricey condos and apartment towers overlooking the water. Alongside sit hotels, seafood restaurants and trendy retail. It also offers the New England Aquarium, the main stretch of the Boston Harborwalk and access to several ferries.

18. West Fens

Fens, generally speaking, are marshy wetlands. In Boston, these lands that formed as landfills increased, eventually creating what is now the Back Bay Fens. The landscaped fens marsh then also gave name to Fenway, the ballpark and the neighborhood which it inhabits.

In the heart of Fenway-Kenmore is the district known as West Fens. Running from Mass Pike to the Fens, yes, West Fens is home to Fenway Park. The area immediately surrounding the stadium is home to gritty sports bars, pregame eats and increasing amounts of shopping. But the southern end of the region is highly residential. That area offers a mix of rowhomes and lowrise apartments along the Emerald Necklace.

Dividing Red Sox West Fens from residential West Fens is Boyleston Street. And the corridor caters to both crowds. It features takeout restaurants and café pubs alongside a tower mall, Target and Star Market at Fenway Triangle. That, and a short walk to the game.

19. Columbus

Located within South End, Columbus is a small district built along, appropriately, Columbus Avenue. Running from Mass Pike to Northeastern University, Columbus is nearly entirely residential. Each block of Columbus is a line of historic rowhomes above tree-canopy streets.

The green neighborhood is rife with parks and gardens. Southwest Corridor Park lines the entire northern border of Columbus. Titus Sparrow Park on Newtown Street offers shaded tennis and basketball courts. And Saranac/New Castle Garden at the bottom of the neighborhood is a woodsy spot for picnicking. Adjacent to Carter Playground, the Garden also offers a popular farmers' market.

A number of coffee shops, bakeries, pizzerias and restaurants popular with Columbus locals line Columbus Avenue. That's an easy walk towards the neighborhood's commercial center at Back Bay Station.

20. Fort Hill

On the night of April 18, 1775, two riders left Boston. Their mission was to warn Lexington and Concord residents the British Army was on its way. One was Paul Revere and the other William Dawes. Dawes held point, starting his ride from First Church of Roxbury in Fort Hill. That church, the oldest wooden frame church building in Boston, still stands today in this under-half-square-mile neighborhood in Roxbury.

The neighborhood grew through the years with the influx of freed Southern slaves, immigrants and streetcars. Today, it's one of Boston's most diverse, with pockets of residents of Irish, Puerto Rican, German, Dominican and African heritage. Fort Hill also has one of the city's highest concentrations of LGBTQ+ residents.

Central to Fort Hill is its observation tower on top of Highland Park, on the neighborhood's eponymous hill. The site overlooks circular blocks of single-family homes, rowhomes and townhouses. The community is a mix of families, service professionals and artists. And due to its proximity to schools like Northeastern University and MCAD, it's also a popular spot for student rentals.

Find the best Boston neighborhood for you

Boston is a lot of cities in one. And each neighborhood has a very distinct feel. When you're in Southie, you know you're in Southie. When you're in Back Bay, you know you're in Back Bay. Somewhere from East Boston to Jamaica Plain to Dorchester, there's a place just right for you. One of these best neighborhoods in Boston is for you.

The 20 neighborhoods above are just a slice of what's available in Beantown. So, which neighborhood is right for you and your budget? Before you move, or reconsider your own 'hood, check out all the apartments for rent in Boston right now.

The rent information included in this article is based on a median calculation of multifamily rental property inventory on Apartment Guide and Rent.com as of February 2022 and is for illustrative purposes only. This information does not constitute a pricing guarantee or financial advice related to the rental market.

The post The 20 Best Neighborhoods in Boston in 2022 appeared first on Apartment Living Tips - Apartment Tips from ApartmentGuide.com.