menu






Real Estate Prices & Overview

Penn Quarter median real estate price is $838,520, which is more expensive than 52.3% of the neighborhoods in the District Of Columbia and 86.2% of the neighborhoods in the U.S.

The average rental price in Penn Quarter is currently $4,295, based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. The average rental cost in this neighborhood is higher than 94.0% of the neighborhoods in the District Of Columbia.

Penn Quarter is an urban neighborhood (based on population density) located in Washington, District Of Columbia.

Penn Quarter 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 townhomes. Most of the residential real estate is occupied by a mixture of owners and renters. Many of the residences in the Penn Quarter neighborhood are newer, built in 2000 or more recently. A number of residences were also built between 1970 and 1999.

Penn Quarter has a 13.5% vacancy rate, which is well above average compared to other U.S. neighborhoods (higher than 74.1% of American neighborhoods). Most vacant housing here is vacant year round. This could either signal that there is a weak demand for real estate in the neighborhood or that large amount of new housing has been built and not yet occupied. Either way, if you live here, you may find many of the homes or apartments are empty.

Notable & Unique Neighborhood Characteristics

The way a neighborhood looks and feels when you walk or drive around it, from its setting, its buildings, and its flavor, can make all the difference. This neighborhood has some really cool things about the way it looks and feels as revealed by NeighborhoodScout's exclusive research. This might include anything from the housing stock to the types of households living here to how people get around.

People

Wealth makes most things in life easier, and a few things harder. If you are wealthy and enjoy keeping up with the Jones', this neighborhood will interest you. In fact, according to NeighborhoodScout's research, the Penn Quarter neighborhood is wealthier than 97.2% of the neighborhoods in the United States. Residents here are truly in a unique situation even when compared to other Americans, based on the sheer amount of wealth concentrated here. Even in times of economic downturn, residents of this neighborhood, as a group, suffered less and recovered more quickly. This is indeed a stand-out characteristic of this neighborhood. As one would expect in a considerably wealthy neighborhood such as this, Penn Quarter also has one of the lowest ratings of child poverty in the nation.

In addition, some neighborhoods have residents that are more educated than others. But in this neighborhood there is a dramatic difference. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that 60.6% of the adults here have earned a Masters degree, medical degree, Ph.D. or law degree. This is a higher rate of people with a graduate degree than is found in 99.8% of U.S. neighborhoods, where the average American neighborhood has 13.4% of its adults with a graduate degree. If you are highly educated, you may have much in common with many of your neighbors here.

Also, one of the most interesting things about the Penn Quarter neighborhood is that it has a greater concentration of residents who live alone than most all neighborhoods in America. With 66.1% 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 99.5% of the neighborhoods in America.

Finally, if you're a regular supporter of the arts and enjoy outings to the theatre, weekend boutique-ing, or even a finely aged wine with dinner, than you're in good company with the people of the Penn Quarter neighborhood. This neighborhood is uniquely immersed with more "urban sophisticates" than 96.9% of neighborhoods across the country. The people here truly stand out as a class among their own. They are an exclusive community characterized by refined tastes, cultural inclinations, and the means to live well. Urban sophisticates live a big city lifestyle, whether or not they live in or near a big city. They are educated executives or managers by week, and serial patrons of the arts by weekend. If this lifestyle pertains to you, than you'll certainly feel right at home in the Penn Quarter neighborhood. In addition to being an excellent choice for urban sophisticates, this neighborhood is also a very good choice for young, single professionals.

Occupations

The Penn Quarter neighborhood has a higher proportion of its residents employed as executives, managers and professionals than 99.9% of the neighborhoods in America. In fact, 89.9% 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.

Furthermore, 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 Penn Quarter neighborhood in particular stands out when compared nationally for the proportion of its working residents who are employed by the government. At 30.6% of its workforce, this neighborhood has a greater concentration of government workers than 99.9% of U.S. neighborhoods.

In addition, with 4.3% of employed workers living in the Penn Quarter neighborhood active in the military, this neighborhood has the distinction of having a higher proportion of people in the military than 98.5% of American neighborhoods. This is a major shaper of the neighborhood's culture and character.

Modes of Transportation

In the Penn Quarter neighborhood, walking to work is a real option for many. In fact, NeighborhoodScout's exclusive research reveals walking to and from work is the chosen way to commute for 42.4% of residents here. This is a higher proportion of walking commuters than we found in 99.7% of American neighborhoods. Get ready to put on your walking shoes if you move here!

Also, if you like to ride the train to work, this neighborhood may be for you. NeighborhoodScout's research revealed that 20.1% of the Penn Quarter neighborhood's commuters ride the train to and from work each day, which is more than we found in 97.2% of America's neighborhoods.

Real Estate

The Penn Quarter 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 95.0% 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.

In addition, the real estate in the Penn Quarter neighborhood really stands out in the way it looks for a unique reason: this neighborhood has a higher proportion of apartment complexes or high-rise apartments than nearly every neighborhood in the country. Most neighborhoods are a mixture of real estate and housing types, but here it is almost entirely dominated by big apartment buildings and complexes. In fact, 93.6% of the real estate here is classified as apartment complexes or high-rise apartments, which is more than is found in 98.7% of American neighborhoods.

Car Ownership

American households most often have a car, and regularly they have two or three. But households in the Penn Quarter neighborhood buck this trend. 44.9% of the households in this neighborhood don't own a car at all. This is more carless households than NeighborhoodScout found in 98.5% of U.S. neighborhoods.

Diversity

Did you know that the Penn Quarter neighborhood has more South American and Cuban ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 7.6% of this neighborhood's residents have South American ancestry and 2.5% have Cuban ancestry.

Penn Quarter is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 5.4% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Korean at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 99.0% of the neighborhoods in America.

The Neighbors

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 Penn Quarter neighborhood in Washington are wealthy, making it among the 15% highest income neighborhoods in America. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 97.2% of the neighborhoods in America. In addition, 0.0% of the children seventeen and under living in this neighborhood are living below the federal poverty line, which is a lower rate of childhood poverty than is found in 100.0% of America'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 Penn Quarter neighborhood, 89.9% 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 30.6% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants (8.2%), and 4.3% in the military.

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 Penn Quarter neighborhood is English, spoken by 72.3% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish, Korean and French.

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 Penn Quarter neighborhood in Washington, DC, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Asian (14.3%). There are also a number of people of Irish ancestry (13.5%), and residents who report English roots (12.2%), and some of the residents are also of German ancestry (10.8%), along with some Italian ancestry residents (10.1%), among others. In addition, 21.2% of the residents of this neighborhood were born in another country.

Getting to Work

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 Penn Quarter neighborhood spend between 15 and 30 minutes commuting one-way to work (44.3% of working residents), which is shorter than the time spent commuting to work for most Americans.

Here most residents (42.4%) 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 (20.1%) and 10.4% 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.


Real Estate includes:
Average Home Values
Rental Market
Housing Market Details
Neighborhood Setting
Economics & Demographics include:
Lifestyle & Special Character
Household Types
Commute To Work
Migration & Mobility
Race & Ethnic Diversity
Employment Industries & Occupations
Income & Unemployment Rate
Higher Education Attainment
Crime includes:
Neighborhood Crime Index
Crimes Per Square Mile
Property Crime Comparison
Violent Crime Comparison
Schools include:
School Ratings
Schools In District
Public School Test Scores
School District Enrollment
Educational Expenditures

comparable neighborhoods nearby