All Things Boston

Key Finding: Veterans Services flatlined at $2.5M–$3.3M since FY2019 while combined DEI/equity departments went from $548K to $28.5M — a 52× increase. Veterans is budgeted ~$4.7M yearly then slashed in half. All figures are General Fund actual expenditures verified page-by-page from the city's own ACFRs.

$3.3M

Veterans FY25
Budget $4.85M

$28.5M

DEI/Equity FY25
Up from $548K

$3.6M

New Bostonians
Up 785%

$4.74B

Total City FY25

52×

DEI Growth

+41%

Budget Growth

Veterans Services vs. Combined DEI/Equity (FY2019–FY2025)

General Fund actual expenditures, budgetary basis — $thousands. Verified against ACFR expenditure schedules.

Veterans: Original Budget vs Final Budget vs Actual

Systematically cut every year before spending begins

Office of New Bostonians — Growth

Total City Expenditures ($B)

DEI vs Veterans as % of Budget

Year-by-Year (Corrected, ACFR-Verified)

FY	Mayor	Veterans Actual	DEI/Equity Combined	New Bostonians	City Total
2019	Walsh	$2,937K	$548K	$412K	$3.35B
2020	Walsh	$2,901K	$567K	$673K	$3.45B
2021	Walsh→Wu	$2,608K	$658K	$1,121K	$3.58B
2022	Wu	$2,556K	$7,969K	$1,692K	$3.78B
2023	Wu	$2,463K	$10,296K	$2,954K	$4.09B
2024	Wu	$2,725K	$13,413K	$2,840K	$4.37B
2025	Wu	$3,298K	$28,475K	$3,646K	$4.74B

Source: City of Boston ACFRs FY2020–FY2025, Schedule of Expenditures Compared to Budget (Budgetary Basis). FY2019 from prior-year columns. DEI combined = Tier 1 + Tier 2 departments (see DEI Depts tab for breakdown).

Methodology: Every department name and dollar amount below is copied verbatim from the City of Boston ACFR expenditure schedules. Departments are presented in two tiers: Tier 1 (equity & identity offices with no operational service-delivery mission) and Tier 2 (equity-adjacent departments with operational missions but explicit DEI framing). Readers can evaluate each tier independently.

Combined DEI/Equity Departments — Stacked by Year

Each color = one department. Tier 1 (solid) + Tier 2 (hatched). Veterans red line for reference.

FY2025 — Where the $28.5M Goes

Top Department Growth (FY2022–FY2025)

TIER 1 — Equity & Identity Offices ($thousands, actual expenditures)

Exact department names from ACFR expenditure schedules

Department (ACFR Name)	FY19	FY20	FY21	FY22	FY23	FY24	FY25
Office of Equity	—	—	—	3,290	881	2,415	3,212
Office of Civil Rights (→ Fair Housing & Equity in FY25)	291	227	192	501	405	391	671
Office of Diversity	—	—	—	254	—	—	—
Office of Resiliency & Racial Equity	—	—	—	1,740	896	—	—
Language & Community Access	—	—	—	717	1,748	2,178	2,160
Participatory Budgeting	—	—	—	—	2,000	1,951	2,130
Black Male Advancement	—	—	—	—	1,397	1,763	1,900
Office of Food Justice	—	—	—	—	1,003	1,272	1,327
LGBTQ+ Advancement	—	—	—	—	477	721	745
Supplier Diversity	—	—	—	—	—	1,113	1,563
Women's Commission	257	340	466	749	355	527	639
Tier 1 Subtotal	548	567	658	7,251	9,162	12,331	14,347

TIER 2 — Equity-Adjacent / Operational Mission ($thousands)

Departments with equity framing but also perform operational functions

Department (ACFR Name)	FY19	FY20	FY21	FY22	FY23	FY24	FY25
Police Accountability & Transparancy [sic — ACFR spelling]	—	—	—	718	1,134	1,082	1,151
Office of Workforce Development	—	—	—	—	—	—	6,496
Office of Eco Opp & Inclusion	—	—	—	—	—	—	6,481
Tier 2 Subtotal	0	0	0	718	1,134	1,082	14,128

Combined Total + Veterans Comparison

Category	FY19	FY20	FY21	FY22	FY23	FY24	FY25
Tier 1 + Tier 2 Combined	548	567	658	7,969	10,296	13,413	28,475
Veterans Services Department	2,937	2,901	2,608	2,556	2,463	2,725	3,298
Office of New Bostonians (separate — not included in DEI totals)	412	673	1,121	1,692	2,954	2,840	3,646

Source: City of Boston Annual Comprehensive Financial Reports (ACFRs), FY2020 through FY2025, Schedule of Expenditures Compared to Budget (Budgetary Basis). FY2019 figures from prior-year comparative columns. All department names exactly as printed. "—" = department did not exist or had zero General Fund expenditure. "Transparancy" [sic] is the city's own misspelling in the ACFR.

Key Finding: DEI-adjacent headcount: 46 → 429 employees (CY2019→CY2025). Police lost 177 officers (3,271→3,094). Veterans stuck at 12–17. BPS Inclusion positions alone (220 staff, $19.8M) exceed the entire Veterans department by 6×.

429

DEI Employees
CY2025

Veterans
Employees

3,094

Police
CY2025

$2.46B

Total Payroll

−177

Police Lost
Since '19

+383

DEI Added
Since '19

Interactive: Drag the Slider (2019 → 2025)

Each dot = 1 city employee

Headcount: DEI vs Police vs Veterans

Payroll ($M): DEI vs Police vs Veterans

DEI Headcount Breakdown (CY2025)

Total City Payroll

Staffing Summary

Year	Total Emp	Total Pay	Police	Police Pay	DEI Staff	DEI Pay	Vet Staff
CY2019	23,312	$1.80B	3,271	$416M	46	$2.0M	15
CY2020	21,858	$1.82B	3,142	$416M	47	$2.4M	13
CY2021	22,552	$1.87B	3,094	$409M	78	$5.0M	12
CY2022	23,204	$1.93B	3,040	$406M	86	$6.2M	16
CY2024	25,530	$2.42B	3,491	$578M	413	$29.1M	17
CY2025	25,397	$2.46B	3,094	$535M	429	$34.2M	15

Source: City of Boston Employee Earnings Reports CY2019–CY2025 (data.boston.gov).

80% of all Boston shootings (2018–2025) concentrated in 4 neighborhoods: Dorchester, Roxbury, Mattapan, and Jamaica Plain — predominantly non-white communities. 80% of victims are Black. The city spends $28.5M on equity offices while the actual violence is packed into these same neighborhoods.

80%

Shootings in
4 Neighborhoods

80%

Victims
Are Black

1.9

MA Homicide
/100K (#2)

Homicides
2025

−30%

Shootings vs
5yr Avg

19%

Boston Share
MA Crime

Shooting Victims by Neighborhood (2024)

BPD data. 4 neighborhoods = ~85% of all shootings.

Boston Homicide Trend (2019–2025)

2024 historic low (24), 2025 uptick (31, +36%)

Boston vs MA vs National — Rates/100K (2024)

National Violent Crime Trend (2016–2024)

Boston Homicide Victims vs Population

22% of pop, 80% of victims

MA Homicide Offenders vs Population

FBI SRS 2021–25, n=427

Boston Share of MA Crime by Type

9% of pop, 19% of violent crime

MA YoY Change (2024 vs 2023)

Crime Summary (2024)

Type	MA	Boston	Bos %	MA Rate	Bos Rate	Natl
Homicide	132	25	18.9%	1.9	3.8	5.0
Rape	1,920	202	10.5%	27.3	30.9	36.0
Robbery	2,406	762	31.7%	34.2	116.5	65.0
Agg Assault	16,813	2,504	14.9%	239.1	382.9	253.0
Total	21,271	3,493	16.4%	302.5	534.1	359.1

Source: FBI UCR 2024, Mass.gov EOPSS, BPD, Vera Institute, Boston Globe

BPS earned 0/12 HS achievement points — every subject declined. Trails state by 11–20 pts. 26.3% chronic absenteeism. Grad rate fell to 79.7%. ~$27K per pupil.

0/12

HS Achievement

26.3%

Chronic Absent

29%

ELA Prof 3-8

28%

Math Prof 3-8

79.7%

Grad Rate

~$27K

Per Pupil

BPS vs State — MCAS (2025)

HS ELA Decline by Group

Accountability Points

Grad Rate by Race

Chronic Absenteeism

Scaled Scores by Grade — ELA

Full 7-tab analysis → Education — Boston

Boston is a sanctuary city under Wu. ICE ERO Boston arrests ~3× YoY in 2025. AOR covers all 6 New England states.

5,100+

Arrests Jan–Oct

~3×

YoY Increase

1,500+

Peak Sep

Brazil

Top Nation 25%

Monthly Arrests (2025)

By Nationality

2024 vs 2025

AOR Coverage

Major Operations

Operation	Arrests	Date
March Enhanced	370	Mar 18–23
Op Patriot	1,461	May 2025
Op Patriot 2.0	1,400+	Sep 2025

Source: ICE ERO Boston, UC Berkeley, Globe, GBH

Office vacancy hit 18.5% in Q1 2026 (from <8% pre-COVID) — the H2 2025 stabilization proved fragile. Distressed sales at 31–62% below prior value. Commercial assessments declined FY2026 for first time in a decade. Full 7-section deep-dive below.

18.5%

Office Vacancy
Q1 2026 C&W

11.0%

CMBS Delinq
(Office)

−$0.8B

Comm Values
FY2026

62.4%

Comm Tax Share
↓ from 63.6%

−58%

Bank CRE
Lending

67.6mo

MLS Comm
Supply

Office Vacancy Trajectory (Boston)

C&W quarterly data 2019–Q1 2026

Vacancy by Source — Q1 2026

Different brokerages, different methodologies — same trend

Q1 2026 setback: After two quarters of stabilization in H2 2025, vacancy rose 30 bps QoQ. Downtown at 19.9%, suburbs at 20.5% — now exceeding the metro average. 1.6M SF of new leasing activity, with 1.0M+ SF in downtown. Class B inventory continues to struggle. Construction pipeline at 20-year low: only 750K SF under construction, all build-to-suit.

Class A vs. Class B Vacancy

Flight-to-quality gap widening

Boston vs. Peer Cities — Q1 2026

Boston faring better than SF, Austin, Seattle

Class A Vacancy

~16%

Pre-COVID: 7% · Trend: Stabilizing

Class B Vacancy

~22%

Pre-COVID: 8.3% · Rents off 15%+

Suburban Clusters

20.5%

Q1 2026 · Now exceeds metro avg

Downtown Boston Vacancy — Recovery Arc

From 28.5% pandemic peak, 6-quarter recovery, Q1 2026 uptick

Recovery Indicators

Mixed signals — leasing up, but vacancy ticking higher

Peak Vacancy (Mid-2024)

28.5%

Q4 2025

25.2%

−3.3 pp from peak

Q1 2026

19.9%

Downtown · +20 bps QoQ

Q1 New Leasing

1.6M SF

Downtown: 1.0M+ SF

CMBS Office Delinquency — Historic High

Office sector spiraling vs. overall CRE

CRE Loan Maturities ($B)

$950B matured in 2025 — refinancing at higher rates

Office CMBS Delinquency

11.01%

End of 2024 — up from 1.6% pre-COVID

All CRE CMBS

6.57%

Up from 4.51% end of 2023

Bank CRE Lending

−58%

vs pre-pandemic · Office: −65%

Distressed Sale Discounts

Major Boston office transactions, 2024–2025

Sale Price per SF — Peer Comparison

Boston sinking toward Philadelphia tier

Property	Sale Price	Prior Value	Discount	Notes
One Lincoln Street	$440M	$640M	−31%	State Street anchor
100 Federal Street	$230M	$415M	−45%	Post-pandemic distress
One Post Office Square	$200M	$395M	−49%	2024 transaction
One Boston Place	$112M	$293M	−62%	Winthrop Sq area

Assessed Values — FY2019–FY2026

Commercial peaked FY2025, now declining. Residential keeps climbing.

Commercial Share of Tax Base

Dropping from 63.6% peak — shifting burden to homeowners

Year	Commercial $B	Residential $B	Comm. Share	Comm. YoY
FY2019	$107.2B	$67.3B	61.4%	—
FY2020	$107.9B	$61.0B	63.9%	+0.7%
FY2022	$120.0B	$70.1B	63.1%	+3.7%
FY2024	$134.6B	$77.1B	63.6% ← peak	+4.4%
FY2025	$137.1B	$79.6B	63.3%	+1.9%
FY2026	$136.3B	$82.1B	62.4%	−0.6%

Source: Boston Assessing Dept FY2016–FY2026. Boston collects ~73% of revenue from property taxes. The 1.2pp shift in commercial share represents billions in burden moving to residential taxpayers.

Closed YTD 2026
vs 16 in 2025

$2.29M

Avg Sale Price
2026 YTD

214

Active Listings
2026

67.6mo

Months Supply
6–9 = balanced

12-Mo Sold
42 in 2022

Heavy oversupply: 214 active listings against 38 closed sales (trailing 12 months) = 68-month supply. Balanced commercial markets run 6–9 months. Average DOM has risen from 80 days in 2022 to 110 in 2026. Small sample — mix heavily weighted by individual large transactions.

Avg Sale Price (2022–2026)

Small sample — mix-weighted, not apples-to-apples

Active Listings vs. Closed Sales

The supply-demand gap

Metric	2022	2023	2024	2025	2026
Closed Sales YTD	14	12	15	16	9
Avg Sale Price	$726K	$1,957K	$623K	$1,387K	$2,292K
Avg DOM	80	77	101	131	110
Active Listings	175	232	236	230	214
Months Supply	50.0	71.4	60.3	58.7	67.6
12-Mo Sold	42	39	47	47	38

Source: MLS PIN Five-Year Sub-Report, Boston area, commercial-use property, as of May 3, 2026. Full standalone → commercial-re-dashboard.html

Boston residential market is shifting. Condo months supply hit 5.58 — approaching balanced market (6.0) for the first time since 2019. Condos now selling 1.4% below list price. Single family avg sale price up 55% since 2018 but volume down 19%. Average rent $3,781/mo, up 29% since 2018.

$1.26M

Avg SF Sale
2026 YTD

$1.25M

Avg Condo Sale
2026 YTD

$1.45M

Avg Multi Sale
2026 YTD

$3,781

Avg Rent/Mo
2026 YTD

5.58

Condo Months
Supply

−19%

SF Volume
Since 2018

Average Sale Price — All Types (2018–2026)

Boston MLS PIN YTD sold data

Condo Months Supply — Approaching Buyer's Market

6.0 = balanced market. Boston condos at 5.58.

Average Rent ($/Mo) — Boston

MLS PIN leased data. COVID dip 2021, then snap-back.

Days to Offer — Market Speed

Lower = hotter market. All types slowing.

Closed Units YTD — Volume Declining

Condo Listing Inventory (May 14 snapshot)

Inventory nearly doubled since 2022

Residential vs. Commercial Tax Rate ($/1,000 assessed value)

Residential climbing as commercial share erodes — diverging lines, converging burden

Annual Tax Bill — Owner at $800K Assessment

Rate × $800K constant basis. Pure rate impact, appreciation excluded. FY2026 estimated.

The homeowner number: At FY2019's rate of $10.56, an $800K home cost $8,448/year in property taxes. At FY2025's $11.58 rate it's $9,264 — a $816 increase on the same assessed value. The estimated FY2026 rate of $12.40 (driven by the $800M commercial assessment decline) pushes that to $9,920 — a ~$1,472 cumulative hike (+17.4%) since FY2019, purely from the rate, before any appreciation in your home's value. Source: Boston Assessing Dept.

Boston Property Tax Rates by Fiscal Year

Fiscal Year	Residential Rate $/1,000 AV	Commercial Rate $/1,000 AV	Est. Bill $800K home	Resi YoY
FY2019	$10.56	$25.36	$8,448	—
FY2020	$10.88	$25.69	$8,704	+3.0%
FY2021	$10.56	$24.92	$8,448	−2.9%
FY2022	$10.74	$25.21	$8,592	+1.7%
FY2023	$10.74	$24.68	$8,592	flat
FY2024	$10.88	$24.41	$8,704	+1.3%
FY2025	$11.58	$24.17	$9,264	+6.4%
FY2026 (est.)	~$12.40	~$23.80	~$9,920	~+7.1%

Source: Boston Assessing Department, annual tax rate classification hearings FY2019–FY2025. FY2026 estimated based on FY2026 assessment data and levy calculation. Residential exemption not applied — rates shown are gross class rates. Actual bills for owner-occupants who claim the exemption are lower.

Year	SF Avg Sale	SF Units	Condo Avg	Condo Units	Multi Avg	Rent/Mo
2018	$813K	242	$889K	1,361	$989K	$2,934
2019	$896K	265	$814K	1,254	$1.18M	$2,940
2020	$1.03M	206	$939K	1,318	$1.32M	$3,032
2021	$1.07M	310	$888K	1,909	$1.11M	$2,782
2022	$1.11M	286	$1.00M	1,679	$1.33M	$3,243
2023	$992K	225	$1.05M	1,141	$1.20M	$3,601
2024	$1.09M	217	$1.10M	1,047	$1.32M	$3,687
2025	$1.32M	210	$1.14M	1,131	$1.37M	$3,713
2026	$1.26M	195	$1.25M	1,040	$1.45M	$3,781

Source: MLS Property Information Network (MLS PIN), Boston MA Area Market Review. YTD as of May 14 each year.

Neighborhood	FY2024 Requests	Avg Resolution (Days)	Shootings 2024	Median HH Income
Dorchester	35,012	9.1	61	$52K
Roxbury	16,204	9.8	31	$40K
Mattapan	7,412	11.2	19	$48K
Jamaica Plain	9,518	5.6	12	$74K
South End	12,018	4.2	4	$91K
East Boston	10,892	7.1	6	$56K
Allston/Brighton	8,134	5.8	3	$68K
Hyde Park	4,521	7.8	4	$62K
West Roxbury	5,187	3.8	1	$98K
Back Bay	8,213	3.1	0	$116K
Beacon Hill	2,814	2.7	0	$134K

Fiscal Year	Actuarial Assets	Actu. Liability	Unfunded $B	Funded Ratio	Annual Payment
FY2019	$5.8B	$8.0B	$2.2B	74.4%	$390M
FY2020	$6.1B	$8.1B	$2.0B	76.8%	$405M
FY2021	$7.2B	$8.4B	$1.6B	82.3%	$420M
FY2022	$6.8B	$8.6B	$2.0B	76.5%	$438M
FY2023	$7.3B	$8.7B	$1.7B	79.2%	$455M
FY2024	$7.8B	$8.8B	$1.4B	83.1%	$470M
FY2025	$8.2B	$9.0B	$1.3B	85.8%	$484M

Item	Amount	Notes
Actuarial OPEB Liability	$2,100M	Health/life benefits for retirees — lifetime obligation
Trust Fund Assets	$0	No pre-funding. Boston operates pay-as-you-go.
OPEB Funded Ratio	0%	vs. pension at 85.8% — OPEB is entirely unfunded
Annual OPEB Payment (FY2025)	~$180M	Pay-as-you-go actual claims; rising as workforce ages
Total Unfunded (Pension + OPEB)	$3.4B	$1.3B pension + $2.1B OPEB
Compared to DEI Spending FY25	119× larger	$3.4B gap vs. $28.5M DEI budget
Compared to Veterans Dept FY25	1,030× larger	$3.4B gap vs. $3.3M Veterans actual