American households on average spent $10k on cars in 2021. So $833/month. $4000-$833=$3167, often shared by 2 young professionals at $1583.5 per person. Seems perfectly reasonable to be 15 min away from downtown (by T).

I lived in Medford/Malden on the range line for a couple years, at much cheaper rent tho. The commute to downtown office was 30min except a few bad days.