South Lake Union median real estate price is $911,496, which is more expensive than 79.3% of the neighborhoods in Washington and 89.1% of the neighborhoods in the U.S.
The average rental price in South Lake Union is currently $4,306, based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. The average rental cost in this neighborhood is higher than 95.3% of the neighborhoods in Washington.
South Lake Union is a densely urban neighborhood (based on population density) located in Seattle, Washington.
South Lake Union 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 South Lake Union neighborhood are newer, built in 2000 or more recently. A number of residences were also built between 1970 and 1999.
South Lake Union has a 11.3% vacancy rate, which is well above average compared to other U.S. neighborhoods (higher than 66.9% of American neighborhoods). Most vacant housing here is vacant year round. This could either signal that there is a weak demand for real estate in the neighborhood or that large amount of new housing has been built and not yet occupied. Either way, if you live here, you may find many of the homes or apartments are empty.
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.
People
Of note is NeighborhoodScout's research finding that the South Lake Union neighborhood has some of the lowest rates of children living in poverty of any neighborhood in the United States. In a nation where approximately 1 in 4 children are living in poverty, the South Lake Union community truly stands out from the rest in this regard.
In addition, the rate of college educated adults in the South Lake Union neighborhood is a unique characteristic of the neighborhood. 85.3% of adults here have received at least a 4-year bachelor's degree, compared to the average neighborhood in America, which has 34.3% of the adults with a bachelor's degree. The rate here is higher than NeighborhoodScout found in 99.1% of all U.S. neighborhoods.
Also, one of the most interesting things about the South Lake Union neighborhood is that it has a greater concentration of residents who live alone than most all neighborhoods in America. With 58.2% of the households here made up of people living alone, NeighborhoodScout's research reveals that this is a larger proportion of people living alone than in 98.5% of the neighborhoods in America.
Occupations
The South Lake Union neighborhood has a higher proportion of its residents employed as executives, managers and professionals than 99.9% of the neighborhoods in America. In fact, 90.3% of the employed people here make a living as an executive, a manager, or other professional. With such a high concentration, this truly shapes the character of this neighborhood, and to a large degree defines what this neighborhood is about.
Modes of Transportation
A unique way of commuting is simply not to. And in the South Lake Union neighborhood, analysis shows that 43.0% of the residents work from home, avoiding a commute altogether. This may not seem like a large number, but it is a higher proportion of people working from home than is found in 99.7% of the neighborhoods in the United States. One thing NeighborhoodScout's research reveals is that the wealthier and/or more isolated the neighborhood, the greater the proportion of residents who choose to work from home.
Also, in the South Lake Union neighborhood, walking to work is a real option for many. In fact, NeighborhoodScout's exclusive research reveals walking to and from work is the chosen way to commute for 40.3% of residents here. This is a higher proportion of walking commuters than we found in 99.6% of American neighborhoods. Get ready to put on your walking shoes if you move here!
Real Estate
The South Lake Union neighborhood is very unique in that it has one of the highest proportions of one, two, or no bedroom real estate of any neighborhood in America. Most neighborhoods have a mixture of home or apartment sizes from small to large, but here the concentration of studios and other small living spaces is at near-record heights. With 96.3% of the real estate here of this small size, this most assuredly is a notable feature that makes this neighborhood unique, along with just a handful of other neighborhoods in the U.S. that share this characteristic.
In addition, the real estate in the South Lake Union neighborhood really stands out in the way it looks for a unique reason: this neighborhood has a higher proportion of apartment complexes or high-rise apartments than nearly every neighborhood in the country. Most neighborhoods are a mixture of real estate and housing types, but here it is almost entirely dominated by big apartment buildings and complexes. In fact, 96.3% of the real estate here is classified as apartment complexes or high-rise apartments, which is more than is found in 99.3% of American neighborhoods.
Furthermore, homes built from 2000 through today make up a higher proportion of the South Lake Union neighborhood's real estate landscape than 98.8% of the neighborhoods in America. When you are driving around this neighborhood, you'll notice right away that it is one of the newest built of any, with the smell of fresh paint, and the look of young landscaping nearly everywhere you look. In fact, 90.3% of the residential real estate here is classified as newer. In fact, the concentration of newer homes here is so great that they completely dominate the landscape. In most neighborhoods, there is a mixture of ages of residential real estate, but here it is almost completely built during one time frame: 2000 through today.
Also of note, renter-occupied real estate is dominant in the South Lake Union neighborhood. The percentage of rental real estate here, according to exclusive NeighborhoodScout analysis, is 95.4%, which is higher than 98.1% of the neighborhoods in America. If you were to buy and live in the property you bought here, you would be almost alone in doing so.
Finally, the South Lake Union neighborhood is very densely populated compared to most U.S. neighborhoods. In fact, with 32,052 persons per square mile in the neighborhood, it is more packed with people than 97.2% of the nation's neighborhoods.
Car Ownership
Most American households own a car or other vehicle. Many own two cars or perhaps three. In the United States, it is useful to have an automobile not only for commuting, but also for shopping and getting to other services one needs. But NeighborhoodScout's analysis revealed that households in the South Lake Union neighborhood have a highly unusual car ownership. 44.6% of the households in this neighborhood don't own a car at all. This is more carless households than NeighborhoodScout found in 98.4% of U.S. neighborhoods.
Migration / Stability
The freedom of moving to new places versus the comfort of home. How much and how often people move not only can create diverse and worldly neighborhoods, but simultaneously it can produce a loss of intimacy with one's surroundings and a lack of connectedness to one's neighbors. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive research has identified this neighborhood as unique with regard to the transience of its populace. In the South Lake Union neighborhood, a greater proportion of the residents living here today did not live here five years ago than is found in 99.3% of U.S. Neighborhoods. This neighborhood, more than almost any other in America, has new residents from other areas. What is also interesting to note, is that the South Lake Union neighborhood has a greater percentage of residents born in another country (47.5%) than are found in 96.9% of all U.S. neighborhoods.
Diversity
Did you know that the South Lake Union neighborhood has more Asian and Belgian ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 47.7% of this neighborhood's residents have Asian ancestry and 0.8% have Belgian ancestry.
South Lake Union is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 20.3% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Chinese at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 99.3% 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 South Lake Union neighborhood in Seattle are wealthy, making it among the 15% highest income neighborhoods in America. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 92.4% of the neighborhoods in America. 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 South Lake Union neighborhood, 90.3% of the working population is employed in executive, management, and professional occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations, with 5.2% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants (4.1%).
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 South Lake Union neighborhood is English, spoken by 58.1% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Chinese, Langs. of India and Spanish.
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 South Lake Union neighborhood in Seattle, WA, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Asian (47.7%). There are also a number of people of Irish ancestry (7.7%), and residents who report German roots (7.0%), and some of the residents are also of English ancestry (6.1%), along with some Italian ancestry residents (4.3%), among others. In addition, 47.5% 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 South Lake Union neighborhood spend between 15 and 30 minutes commuting one-way to work (54.7% of working residents), which is shorter than the time spent commuting to work for most Americans.
Here most residents (40.3%) hop out the door and walk to work to get to work. In addition, quite a number also drive alone in a private automobile to get to work (9.6%) . This is a special neighborhood for the number of people who walk to work. Combining exercise, low cost, and reduced pollution, plus the chance to see your neighbors, walking to work is fairly uncommon in America but likely to increase as people try to reduce their dependence on automobiles, and this neighborhood offers that opportunity today.
