San Rafael, CA (Canal West)

How wealthy a neighborhood is, from very wealthy, to middle income, to low income is very formative with regard to the personality and character of a neighborhood. Equally important is the rate of people, particularly children, who live below the federal poverty line. In some wealthy gated communities, the areas immediately surrounding can have high rates of childhood poverty, which indicates other social issues. NeighborhoodScout's analysis reveals both aspects of income and poverty for this neighborhood.

The neighbors in the Canal West neighborhood in San Rafael are upper-middle income, making it an above average income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 64.1% of the neighborhoods in America. With 41.9% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 90.7% of U.S. neighborhoods.

What we choose to do for a living reflects who we are. Each neighborhood has a different mix of occupations represented, and together these tell you about the neighborhood and help you understand if this neighborhood may fit your lifestyle.

In the Canal West neighborhood, 39.9% of the working population is employed in sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is manufacturing and laborer occupations, with 31.9% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations (18.1%), and 7.1% in executive, management, and professional occupations.

Languages

The most common language spoken in the Canal West neighborhood is Spanish, spoken by 87.8% of households. Some people also speak English (11.5%).

Ethnicity / Ancestry

Culture is shared learned behavior. We learn it from our parents, their parents, our houses of worship, and much of our culture – our learned behavior – comes from our ancestors. That is why ancestry and ethnicity can be so interesting and important to understand: places with concentrations of people of one or more ancestries often express those shared learned behaviors and this gives each neighborhood its own culture. Even different neighborhoods in the same city can have drastically different cultures.

In the Canal West neighborhood in San Rafael, CA, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Mexican (23.5%). There are also a number of people of German ancestry (3.3%), and residents who report Irish roots (1.2%). In addition, 62.0% 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 Canal West neighborhood spend between 15 and 30 minutes commuting one-way to work (38.6% of working residents), which is shorter than the time spent commuting to work for most Americans.

Here most residents (59.7%) carpool with coworkers, friends, or neighbors to get to work. In addition, quite a number also drive alone in a private automobile to get to work (19.7%) and 9.0% of residents also ride the bus for their daily commute. Despite relying on the automobile to get to work, residents of this neighborhood share the ride more than most neighborhoods, reducing traffic, pollution, and saving money.