Dorchester median real estate price is $869,802, which is more expensive than 68.7% of the neighborhoods in Massachusetts and 86.8% of the neighborhoods in the U.S.
The average rental price in Dorchester is currently $3,893, based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. The average rental cost in this neighborhood is higher than 74.1% 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 small (studio to two bedroom) to medium sized (three or four 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 9.1% in Dorchester. NeighborhoodScout analysis shows that this rate is lower than 40.3% of the neighborhoods in the nation, approximately near the middle range for vacancies.
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.
Corner bodegas, stores on the first floor and apartments above, former grand Victorian residences converted into apartments, three-deckers built shoulder-to-shoulder, duplexes. Such building types define the real estate of neighborhoods dominated by small 2, 3, and 4 unit apartment buildings. Many are in older core neighborhoods of Eastern and Midwestern cities, or historic town centers in their hinterlands. If you wax romantic about the look and feel of such neighborhoods, with fresh pizza, falafel and an independent florist at the corner, then you might find the Dorchester neighborhood worth a close look. This neighborhood is an absolutely outstanding example of the dominance of small 2, 3, and 4 unit apartment buildings compared to neighborhoods across the nation, as they make up a substantial portion of this neighborhood's real estate stock. In fact, no less than 89.6% of the real estate here is made up of such dwellings, which is higher than 100.0% of all U.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. Being a walkable neighborhood can help increase property values for the simple reason that people enjoy it and value it. To put it plainly, despite our love affair with the automobile, American's enjoy taking to the streets, sidewalks, paths, and courtyards of a place to get a coffee, relax, and take in the sights and sounds. And, according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive and first quantitative walkable score index, the Dorchester neighborhood is one of the most walkable neighborhoods in America.
Furthermore, if you find historic homes and neighborhoods attractive, you love the details, the history, and the charm, then you are sure to be interested in this neighborhood. With 57.5% of the residential real estate in the Dorchester neighborhood built no later than 1939, and some built considerably earlier, this neighborhood has a greater concentration of historic residences than 96.0% of all neighborhoods in America. In this regard, this neighborhood truly stands out as special.
Single parenting is hard. But you don't have to tell the Dorchester neighborhood about it; they already know. 29.1% of this neighborhood's households are run by single mothers, which is a higher concentration than NeighborhoodScout found in 99.4% 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.
In the Dorchester neighborhood, 33.8% 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 98.6% of the neighborhoods in America.
Also, our research revealed that more commuters here take the bus to work (12.3% ride the bus) than 96.6% 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.
American households most often have a car, and regularly they have two or three. But households in the Dorchester neighborhood buck this trend. 36.7% of the households in this neighborhood don't own a car at all. This is more carless households than NeighborhoodScout found in 97.8% of U.S. neighborhoods.
There are more people living in the Dorchester neighborhood employed as sales and service workers (58.6%) than almost any neighborhood in the country. From fast-food service workers to major sales accounts, sales and service workers make up the largest proportion of our national employment picture. But despite that size and importance nationally, this neighborhood still stands out as unique due to the dominance of people living here who work in such occupations.
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, 19.9% of this neighborhood's residents have Dominican ancestry and 7.5% 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.
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 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 41.6% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 90.5% 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 Dorchester neighborhood, 41.4% 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 31.8% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations (15.9%), and 10.8% 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 57.4% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish, Portuguese, French and African languages.
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 Dorchester neighborhood in Boston, MA, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Dominican (19.9%). There are also a number of people of Sub-Saharan African ancestry (16.6%), and residents who report Puerto Rican roots (10.1%), and some of the residents are also of Jamaican ancestry (7.5%), along with some Irish ancestry residents (4.0%), among others. In addition, 37.2% 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 Dorchester neighborhood spend between 30 and 45 minutes commuting one-way to work (38.7% of working residents), which is at or a bit above the average length of a commute across all U.S. neighborhoods.
Here most residents (40.6%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also take the train to get to work (33.8%) and 12.3% 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.
