Chicago, IL (W 118th St / S Lafayette Ave)

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 W 118th St / S Lafayette Ave neighborhood in Chicago are low income, making it among the lowest income neighborhoods in America. NeighborhoodScout's research shows that this neighborhood has an income lower than 90.2% of U.S. neighborhoods. With 12.4% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 56.1% 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 W 118th St / S Lafayette Ave neighborhood, 34.8% 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 33.6% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations (19.0%), and 12.6% in executive, management, and professional occupations.

Languages

The most common language spoken in the W 118th St / S Lafayette Ave neighborhood is English, spoken by 89.5% of households. Some people also speak Spanish (9.7%).

Ethnicity / Ancestry

Boston's Beacon Hill blue-blood streets, Brooklyn's Orthodox Jewish enclaves, Los Angeles' Persian neighborhoods. Each has its own culture derived primarily from the ancestries and culture of the residents who call these neighborhoods home. Likewise, each neighborhood in America has its own culture – some more unique than others – based on lifestyle, occupations, the types of households – and importantly – on the ethnicities and ancestries of the people who live in the neighborhood. Understanding where people came from, who their grandparents or great-grandparents were, can help you understand how a neighborhood is today.

In the W 118th St / S Lafayette Ave neighborhood in Chicago, IL, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Mexican (12.8%). There are also a number of people of Sub-Saharan African ancestry (9.1%), and residents who report African roots (9.1%), and some of the residents are also of Welsh ancestry (6.5%), along with some Haitian ancestry residents (4.8%), among others.

Even if your neighborhood is walkable, you may still have to drive to your place of work. Some neighborhoods are located where many can get to work in just a few minutes, while others are located such that most residents have a long and arduous commute. The greatest number of commuters in W 118th St / S Lafayette Ave neighborhood spend between 30 and 45 minutes commuting one-way to work (36.8% of working residents), which is at or a bit above the average length of a commute across all U.S. neighborhoods.

Here most residents (62.0%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also carpool with coworkers, friends, or neighbors to get to work (13.0%) and 8.6% of residents also ride the bus for their daily commute. In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.