Salem, OR (Central Area / Willamette University)

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 Central Area / Willamette University neighborhood in Salem are lower-middle income, making it a below average income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's research shows that this neighborhood has an income lower than 82.0% of U.S. neighborhoods. 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.

The old saying "you are what you eat" is true. But it is also true that you are what you do for a living. The types of occupations your neighbors have shape their character, and together as a group, their collective occupations shape the culture of a place.

In the Central Area / Willamette University neighborhood, 52.1% of the working population is employed in executive, management, and professional occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants, with 26.7% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in government jobs, whether they are in local, state, or federal positions (17.7%), and 11.7% in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations.

Languages

The most common language spoken in the Central Area / Willamette University neighborhood is English, spoken by 85.7% of households. Some people also speak Spanish (8.6%).

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 Central Area / Willamette University neighborhood in Salem, OR, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as German (27.4%). There are also a number of people of English ancestry (17.3%), and residents who report Mexican roots (11.7%), and some of the residents are also of Irish ancestry (11.5%), along with some Asian ancestry residents (3.5%), among others.

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 Central Area / Willamette University neighborhood spend under 15 minutes commuting one-way to work (65.4% of working residents), one of the shortest commutes across America.

Here most residents (48.9%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also hop out the door and walk to work to get to work (29.6%) and 5.2% of residents also carpool with coworkers, friends, or neighbors 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.