Dorchester median real estate price is $838,000, which is more expensive than 65.2% of the neighborhoods in Massachusetts and 85.7% of the neighborhoods in the U.S.
The average rental price in Dorchester is currently $3,821, based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. The average rental cost in this neighborhood is higher than 71.9% of the neighborhoods in Massachusetts.
Dorchester is a densely urban neighborhood (based on population density) located in Boston, Massachusetts.
Dorchester real estate is primarily made up of medium sized (three or four bedroom) to small (studio to two bedroom) small apartment buildings and single-family homes. Most of the residential real estate is occupied by a mixture of owners and renters. Many of the residences in the Dorchester neighborhood are relatively historic, built no later than 1939, and in some cases, quite a bit earlier. A number of residences were also built between 1940 and 1969.
Home and apartment vacancy rates are 9.2% in Dorchester. NeighborhoodScout analysis shows that this rate is lower than 40.8% of the neighborhoods in the nation, approximately near the middle range for vacancies.
Many things matter about a neighborhood, but the first thing most people notice is the way a neighborhood looks and its particular character. For example, one might notice whether the buildings all date from a certain time period or whether shop signs are in multiple languages. This particular neighborhood in Boston, the Dorchester neighborhood, has some outstanding things about the way it looks and its way of life that are worth highlighting.
Three-deckers, duplexes, old Victorian homes cut up into apartments. Independent stores on the corner selling pizza. These are some of the hallmarks of neighborhoods with lots of small 2, 3, and 4 unit apartment buildings. The Dorchester neighborhood really stands out in this regard, however, as it is dominated by such small apartment buildings more than nearly any other neighborhood in America. This is a stunning visual and lifestyle example of this type of neighborhood. In fact, 89.1% of the real estate here are small 2, 3, or 4 unit apartment buildings, which is a higher proportion than found in 100.0% of America's neighborhoods.
In addition, if you like crowded places, then you will probably enjoy the the Dorchester neighborhood. According to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive data analysis, this neighborhood is more densely populated than 96.7% of neighborhoods in the U.S., with 28,718 people per square mile living here. Even if you drive or take transit to your place of employment, many people enjoy being able to walk in their neighborhood. What many people don't realize is that most of America's premier vacation locations are also very walkable. The Dorchester neighborhood is among the top 5% of American neighborhoods in terms of walkability.
Furthermore, do you watch 'This Old House' on Public Television? Do you love the idea of fixing up a Colonial or Victorian era home, complete with the charm of yesteryear? Do you like to stroll or drive streets lined with gracious older residences? If you found yourself nodding yes to any of these questions, you are going to be interested in this unique neighborhood. The Dorchester neighborhood stands out on a national scale for the sheer concentration of historic residences it contains: 55.0% of the residential real estate here was built from 1939 or earlier, some much earlier. This is a greater concentration of historic homes than 95.3% of the neighborhoods in the United States.
Single parenting is hard. But you don't have to tell the Dorchester neighborhood about it; they already know. 27.2% of this neighborhood's households are run by single mothers, which is a higher concentration than NeighborhoodScout found in 99.2% of American neighborhoods. Further NeighborhoodScout research showed strong statistical correlations among high rates of children living in single parent households, and neighborhood crime, particularly violent crime, neighborhood poverty, and, importantly, the percentage of low weight births and rates of infant mortality.
Our research revealed that more commuters here take the bus to work (18.2% ride the bus) than 98.4% of all American neighborhoods. If you like the idea of leaving your car and home and hopping the bus to work, this might be a good neighborhood for you to consider.
Also, in the Dorchester neighborhood, 24.1% of people ride the train to work each day. This is a very high percentage compared to most places. In fact, NeighborhoodScout's analysis reveals that this is a higher level of train ridership than in 97.8% of the neighborhoods in America.
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 Dorchester neighborhood has a highly unusual pattern of car ownership. 23.5% of the households in this neighborhood don't own a car at all. This is more carless households than NeighborhoodScout found in 96.0% of U.S. neighborhoods.
Did you know that the Dorchester neighborhood has more Dominican and Jamaican ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 18.4% of this neighborhood's residents have Dominican ancestry and 9.5% have Jamaican ancestry.
Dorchester is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 17.0% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Portuguese at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 99.9% of the neighborhoods in America.
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 Dorchester neighborhood in Boston are middle-income, making it a moderate income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 46.9% of the neighborhoods in America. With 46.9% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 92.9% 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 Dorchester neighborhood, 35.4% 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 executive, management, and professional occupations, with 30.7% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations (18.9%), and 15.0% in manufacturing and laborer 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 Dorchester neighborhood is English, spoken by 64.1% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish, Portuguese, French and African languages.
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 Dorchester neighborhood in Boston, MA, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Dominican (18.4%). There are also a number of people of Sub-Saharan African ancestry (16.0%), and residents who report Jamaican roots (9.5%), and some of the residents are also of Puerto Rican ancestry (8.2%), along with some Irish ancestry residents (2.5%), among others. In addition, 32.5% of the residents of this neighborhood were born in another country.
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 Dorchester neighborhood spend between 45 minutes and one hour commuting one-way to work (34.3% of working residents), longer and tougher than most commutes in America.
Here most residents (43.1%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also take the train to get to work (24.1%) and 18.2% 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.
