Dorchester Center West median real estate price is $657,758, which is more expensive than 45.2% of the neighborhoods in Massachusetts and 77.4% of the neighborhoods in the U.S.
The average rental price in Dorchester Center West is currently $2,133, based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. Rents here are currently lower in price than 85.5% of Massachusetts neighborhoods.
Dorchester Center West is a densely urban neighborhood (based on population density) located in Boston, Massachusetts.
Dorchester Center West 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 small apartment buildings. Most of the residential real estate is renter occupied. Many of the residences in the Dorchester Center West 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 1970 and 1999.
Real estate vacancies in Dorchester Center West are 3.4%, which is lower than one will find in 75.3% of American neighborhoods. Demand for real estate in Dorchester Center West is above average for the U.S., and may signal some demand for either price increases or new construction of residential product for this neighborhood.
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 Center West neighborhood, has some outstanding things about the way it looks and its way of life that are worth highlighting.
Whether by choice, divorce, or unplanned pregnancy, single moms may have the toughest job in the book. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that the Dorchester Center West neighborhood has more single mother households than 99.7% of the neighborhoods in the U.S. Often high concentrations of single mother homes can be a strong indicator of family and social issues such as poverty, high rates of school dropouts, crime, and other societal problems.
More people ride the bus in this neighborhood each day to get to work than 98.2% of U.S. neighborhoods.
Also, more people in Dorchester Center West choose to walk to work each day (11.5%) than almost any neighborhood in America. If you are attracted to the idea of being able to walk to work, this neighborhood could be a good choice.
Finally, in the Dorchester Center West neighborhood, 9.6% 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 95.6% of the neighborhoods in America.
From major sales accounts to fast-food workers, sales and service employees are often the backbone of the local economy. In the Dorchester Center West neighborhood, they truly stand out. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis identifies this neighborhood as having a higher percentage of sales and service workers than 98.1% of all American neighborhoods.
If you like crowded places, then you will probably enjoy the the Dorchester Center West neighborhood. According to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive data analysis, this neighborhood is more densely populated than 96.3% of neighborhoods in the U.S., with 26,432 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 Center West neighborhood is one of the most walkable neighborhoods in America.
In addition, 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 Center West 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, 41.2% of the real estate here are small 2, 3, or 4 unit apartment buildings, which is a higher proportion than found in 97.4% of America's neighborhoods.
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 Center West neighborhood has a highly unusual pattern of car ownership. 28.2% of the households in this neighborhood don't own a car at all. This is more carless households than NeighborhoodScout found in 96.8% of U.S. neighborhoods.
Did you know that the Dorchester Center West neighborhood has more Dominican and Jamaican ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 28.1% of this neighborhood's residents have Dominican ancestry and 12.2% have Jamaican ancestry.
Dorchester Center West is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 0.6% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Native American languages at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 95.4% 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 Center West neighborhood in Boston are lower-middle income, making it a below average income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's research shows that this neighborhood has an income lower than 83.6% of U.S. neighborhoods. With 33.4% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 85.0% 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 Center West neighborhood, 42.1% 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 22.9% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in manufacturing and laborer occupations (17.9%), and 17.0% in clerical, assistant, and tech support 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 Center West neighborhood is English, spoken by 62.2% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish 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 Center West neighborhood in Boston, MA, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Dominican (28.1%). There are also a number of people of Jamaican ancestry (12.2%), and residents who report Puerto Rican roots (6.6%), and some of the residents are also of Sub-Saharan African ancestry (6.6%). In addition, 30.0% 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 Center West neighborhood spend between 15 and 30 minutes commuting one-way to work (36.6% of working residents), which is shorter than the time spent commuting to work for most Americans.
Here most residents (41.4%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also ride the bus to get to work (16.7%) and 11.5% of residents also hop out the door and walk to work 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.
