Downtown Berkeley median real estate price is $1,039,097, which is more expensive than 64.1% of the neighborhoods in California and 91.5% of the neighborhoods in the U.S.
The average rental price in Downtown Berkeley is currently $2,833, based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. Rents here are currently lower in price than 63.7% of California neighborhoods.
Downtown Berkeley is a densely urban neighborhood (based on population density) located in Berkeley, California.
Downtown Berkeley real estate is primarily made up of small (studio to two bedroom) to medium sized (three or four bedroom) apartment complexes/high-rise apartments and single-family homes. Most of the residential real estate is renter occupied. Many of the residences in the Downtown Berkeley neighborhood are newer, built in 2000 or more recently. A number of residences were also built before 1940.
Vacant apartments or homes are a major fact of life in Downtown Berkeley. The current real estate vacancy rate here is 17.6%. This is higher than the rate of vacancies in 85.0% of all U.S. neighborhoods. In addition, most vacant housing here is vacant year round. This can sometimes be the case in neighborhoods dominated by new construction that is not yet occupied. But often neighborhoods with vacancy rates this high are places that can be plagued by a protracted vacancy problem. If you live here, you may find that a number of buildings in your neighborhood are actually empty.
When you see a neighborhood for the first time, the most important thing is often the way it looks, like its homes and its setting. Some places look the same, but they only reveal their true character after living in them for a while because they contain a unique mix of occupational or cultural groups. This neighborhood is very unique in some important ways, according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive exploration and analysis.
In the Downtown Berkeley neighborhood, many people's commute means walking from the bedroom to the home office. NeighborhoodScout's analysis found that 54.1% of residents worked from home. This may not seem like a large number, but Scout's research shows that this is a higher percentage of people working from home than 99.9% of the neighborhoods in America. Often people who work from home are engaged in the creative or technological economy, such as is found in areas around Boston, and in Silicon Valley. Other times, people may be engaged in other businesses like trading stocks from home, or running a small beauty salon.
Also, more people in Downtown Berkeley choose to walk to work each day (22.1%) than almost any neighborhood in America. If you are attracted to the idea of being able to walk to work, this neighborhood could be a good choice.
The government often provides some of the more stable jobs in the economy. From local, to state, to federal government workers, the government can also be a major employer. What NeighborhoodScout's analysis revealed, is that the Downtown Berkeley neighborhood in particular stands out when compared nationally for the proportion of its working residents who are employed by the government. At 21.3% of its workforce, this neighborhood has a greater concentration of government workers than 99.3% of U.S. neighborhoods.
Furthermore, the Downtown Berkeley neighborhood has a higher proportion of its residents employed as executives, managers and professionals than 98.9% of the neighborhoods in America. In fact, 80.2% of the employed people here make a living as an executive, a manager, or other professional. With such a high concentration, this truly shapes the character of this neighborhood, and to a large degree defines what this neighborhood is about.
100.0% of the real estate in the Downtown Berkeley neighborhood is occupied by renters, which is nearly the highest rate of renter occupancy of any neighborhood in America.
In addition, one of the really unique and interesting things about the look and setting of the Downtown Berkeley neighborhood is that it is almost entirely dominated by large apartment buildings, such as apartment complexes or high-rise apartments. 92.2% of the residential real estate here is classified as such. This puts this neighborhood on the map as having a higher proportion of large apartment buildings than 98.5% of all neighborhoods in America.
Furthermore, the Downtown Berkeley neighborhood is very unique in that it has one of the highest proportions of one, two, or no bedroom real estate of any neighborhood in America. Most neighborhoods have a mixture of home or apartment sizes from small to large, but here the concentration of studios and other small living spaces is at near-record heights. With 88.7% of the real estate here of this small size, this most assuredly is a notable feature that makes this neighborhood unique, along with just a handful of other neighborhoods in the U.S. that share this characteristic.
Also of note, if you like crowded places, then you will probably enjoy the the Downtown Berkeley neighborhood. According to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive data analysis, this neighborhood is more densely populated than 95.0% of neighborhoods in the U.S., with 20,380 people per square mile living here.
One of the most interesting things about the Downtown Berkeley neighborhood is that it has a greater concentration of residents who live alone than most all neighborhoods in America. With 62.4% of the households here made up of people living alone, NeighborhoodScout's research reveals that this is a larger proportion of people living alone than in 99.0% of the neighborhoods in America.
In addition, neighborhoodScout's analysis shows that the Downtown Berkeley neighborhood has a greater concentration of residents currently enrolled in college than 99.0% of the neighborhoods in the U.S. With 39.7% of the population here attending college, this is very much a college-focused neighborhood.
We Americans love our cars. Not only are they a necessity for most Americans due to the shape of our neighborhoods and the distances between where we live, work, shop, and go to school, but we also fancy them. As a result, most households in America have one, two, or three cars. But NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis shows that the Downtown Berkeley neighborhood has a highly unusual pattern of car ownership. 49.2% of the households in this neighborhood don't own a car at all. This is more carless households than NeighborhoodScout found in 98.7% of U.S. neighborhoods.
Did you know that the Downtown Berkeley neighborhood has more Iranian and Asian ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 2.9% of this neighborhood's residents have Iranian ancestry and 40.9% have Asian ancestry.
Downtown Berkeley is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 20.1% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Chinese at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 99.2% of the neighborhoods in America.
The freedom of moving to new places versus the comfort of home. How much and how often people move not only can create diverse and worldly neighborhoods, but simultaneously it can produce a loss of intimacy with one's surroundings and a lack of connectedness to one's neighbors. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive research has identified this neighborhood as unique with regard to the transience of its populace. In the Downtown Berkeley neighborhood, a greater proportion of the residents living here today did not live here five years ago than is found in 98.0% of U.S. Neighborhoods. This neighborhood, more than almost any other in America, has new residents from other areas.
There are two complementary measures for understanding the income of a neighborhood's residents: the average and the extremes. While a neighborhood may be relatively wealthy overall, it is equally important to understand the rate of people - particularly children - who are living at or below the federal poverty line, which is extremely low income. Some neighborhoods with a lower average income may actually have a lower childhood poverty rate than another with a higher average income, and this helps us understand the conditions and character of a neighborhood.
The neighbors in the Downtown Berkeley neighborhood in Berkeley are lower-middle income, making it a below average income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's research shows that this neighborhood has an income lower than 72.6% of U.S. neighborhoods. With 36.5% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 87.2% of U.S. neighborhoods.
A neighborhood is far different if it is dominated by enlisted military personnel rather than people who earn their living by farming. It is also different if most of the neighbors are clerical support or managers. What is wonderful is the sheer diversity of neighborhoods, allowing you to find the type that fits your lifestyle and aspirations.
In the Downtown Berkeley neighborhood, 80.2% of the working population is employed in executive, management, and professional occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is government jobs, whether they are in local, state, or federal positions, with 21.3% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants (14.2%), and 4.6% in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations.
Languages
The languages spoken by people in this neighborhood are diverse. These are tabulated as the languages people preferentially speak when they are at home with their families. The most common language spoken in the Downtown Berkeley neighborhood is English, spoken by 54.0% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Chinese, Spanish, Langs. of India and Russian.
Ethnicity / Ancestry
Culture is the shared learned behavior of peoples. Undeniably, different ethnicities and ancestries have different cultural traditions, and as a result, neighborhoods with concentrations of residents of one or another ethnicities or ancestries will express those cultures. It is what makes the North End in Boston so fun to visit for the Italian restaurants, bakeries, culture, and charm, and similarly, why people enjoy visiting Chinatown in San Francisco.
In the Downtown Berkeley neighborhood in Berkeley, CA, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Asian (40.9%). There are also a number of people of Irish ancestry (16.7%), and residents who report English roots (14.0%), and some of the residents are also of German ancestry (8.2%), along with some Mexican ancestry residents (5.6%), among others. In addition, 36.8% of the residents of this neighborhood were born in another country.
How you get to work – car, bus, train or other means – and how much of your day it takes to do so is a large quality of life and financial issue. Especially with gasoline prices rising and expected to continue doing so, the length and means of one's commute can be a financial burden. Some neighborhoods are physically located so that many residents have to drive in their own car, others are set up so many walk to work, or can take a train, bus, or bike. The greatest number of commuters in Downtown Berkeley neighborhood spend under 15 minutes commuting one-way to work (42.7% of working residents), one of the shortest commutes across America.
Here most residents (22.1%) hop out the door and walk to work to get to work. In addition, quite a number also take the train to get to work (7.5%) and 6.7% of residents also drive alone in a private automobile for their daily commute. This is a special neighborhood for the number of people who walk to work. Combining exercise, low cost, and reduced pollution, plus the chance to see your neighbors, walking to work is fairly uncommon in America but likely to increase as people try to reduce their dependence on automobiles, and this neighborhood offers that opportunity today.
