Allston, Massachusetts is a diverse Boston neighborhood with a population which includes Boston natives, students from neighboring Boston University and Boston College, and various ethnic groups such as Chinese, Vietnamese, Brazilian, and Irish. In the 1990s, census figures indicated that 52.6% of its population was aged 20-34 (as compared to 33% for the city of Boston as a whole), an indication of the strong student and twentysomething presence.

It is the only locale in the United States named for an artist, Washington Allston. The prevalence of musicians and music venues has given rise to the popular nicknames "Allston Rock City" and "Rock and Roll Allston." The busiest section of the neighborhood is the stretch of Harvard Avenue between Commonwealth Avenue and Cambridge Street, which houses many shops, bars and restaurants.

An adjoining neighborhood is named Brighton, Massachusetts but the boundaries between the two are fuzzy at best, which explains why the two neighborhoods are together known as Allston-Brighton . While the United States Postal Service makes no claims on the issue, ZIP code 02134 roughly expresses its borders. Allston borders the Charles River and Cambridge, Massachusetts to the north and is split by the Massachusetts Turnpike in the middle. The area north of the turnpike near the river is often referred to as "Lower Allston." A substantial part of the campus of Harvard University is in Lower Allston, including Harvard Business School and Harvard Stadium.