Here’s an unexpected rule of thumb: the more likely a tourist is to visit a Boston neighborhood, the less likely the residents of that neighborhood are to own their own homes.

According to the city’s 2012 assessment data, the five neighborhoods with the highest rate of home ownership—West Roxbury, Roslindale, Hyde Park, Mattapan and the portion of Boston near Boston College—all cluster toward the city’s southwestern border, where convention-goers and out-of-towners infrequently visit.

The city’s neighborhoods with the lowest rate of owner-occupancy? They’re a bit scattered, but you’ve probably visited at least one of them within the last year: Kenmore/Fenway, Allston, the Downtown waterfront, the North End and Mission Hill.

So what does this mean? Jennifer Raitt, a housing planner with the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, said owner-occupancy rates have long been seen as a benchmark for community stability, but the burst of the housing bubble has shattered some old assumptions. But, she said, there are a few trends worth noting.

First, Raitt said, planners have recently seen an increase in owner occupancy rates among residents between 55 and 85 years of age—a trend we may see reflected in the data. West Roxbury, an area known for its elderly population, boasts the city’s highest owner-occupancy rate at 73 percent.

Meanwhile, just a quarter of the people who live in zipcode 02215, better known as the Fenway/Kenmore area flooded with Boston University students, own the place they call home. Or, at least, their apartment.

Charlestown, with its stable of second, third and fourth-generation residents and influx of newcomers, ranked seventh among Boston neighborhoods, with an owner occupancy rate of 58 percent.

Overall, Boston resident’s are slightly more likely to own their home (52 percent) than not. While that number lags both the country (about 67 percent) and the state (about 66 percent, according to 2012 census data), it puts the city ahead of other comparable metropolitan areas.

Residents in New York/New Jersey/Long Island, for example, have a slightly lower than 50 percent owner occupancy rate.