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Real Estate Prices & Overview

South Boston median real estate price is $1,111,845, which is more expensive than 88.7% of the neighborhoods in Massachusetts and 94.1% of the neighborhoods in the U.S.

The average rental price in South Boston is currently $5,014, based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. The average rental cost in this neighborhood is higher than 92.2% of the neighborhoods in Massachusetts.

South Boston is a densely urban neighborhood (based on population density) located in Boston, Massachusetts.

South Boston 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 occupied by a mixture of owners and renters. Many of the residences in the South Boston 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 2000 and the present.

Real estate vacancies in South Boston are 3.8%, which is lower than one will find in 74.8% of American neighborhoods. Demand for real estate in South Boston 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.

Notable & Unique Neighborhood Characteristics

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

If you come to know the people here, you will recognize that you're in the company of one of the wealthiest communities in the nation. In fact, a mere 4.8% of America's neighborhoods are wealthier than the South Boston neighborhood. Real estate here is exceedingly well-maintained, and similarly, tends to maintain its value over time. The cars driven are mostly luxury brands like Mercedes, Audi, BMW, and Lexus. If the public schools aren't up to snuff, the residents of this neighborhood preferentially send their children to private preparatory schools. Vacation to Disney? Yes, but equally popular are summers in Europe. As one would expect in a considerably wealthy neighborhood such as this, South Boston also has one of the lowest ratings of child poverty in the nation.

In addition, if you're a regular supporter of the arts and enjoy outings to the theatre, weekend boutique-ing, or even a finely aged wine with dinner, than you're in good company with the people of the South Boston neighborhood. This neighborhood is uniquely immersed with more "urban sophisticates" than 99.3% of neighborhoods across the country. The people here truly stand out as a class among their own. They are an exclusive community characterized by refined tastes, cultural inclinations, and the means to live well. Urban sophisticates live a big city lifestyle, whether or not they live in or near a big city. They are educated executives or managers by week, and serial patrons of the arts by weekend. If this lifestyle pertains to you, than you'll certainly feel right at home in the South Boston neighborhood. In addition to being an excellent choice for urban sophisticates, this neighborhood is also a very good choice for young, single professionals.

Also, the rate of college educated adults in the South Boston neighborhood is a unique characteristic of the neighborhood. 78.6% 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 97.4% of all U.S. neighborhoods.

Modes of Transportation

If you like to ride the train to work, this neighborhood may be for you. NeighborhoodScout's research revealed that 27.9% of the South Boston neighborhood's commuters ride the train to and from work each day, which is more than we found in 98.0% of America's neighborhoods.

Also, in the South Boston 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 18.8% of residents here. This is a higher proportion of walking commuters than we found in 98.0% of American neighborhoods. Get ready to put on your walking shoes if you move here!

Real Estate

The South Boston neighborhood is very densely populated compared to most U.S. neighborhoods. In fact, with 37,023 persons per square mile in the neighborhood, it is more packed with people than 97.7% of the nation's neighborhoods. 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 South Boston neighborhood is among the top 5% of American neighborhoods in terms of walkability.

In addition, the South Boston 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 89.5% 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.

Furthermore, 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 South Boston 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 35.6% of the real estate here is made up of such dwellings, which is higher than 96.1% of all U.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 Boston neighborhood have a highly unusual car ownership. 34.0% of the households in this neighborhood don't own a car at all. This is more carless households than NeighborhoodScout found in 97.6% of U.S. neighborhoods.

Occupations

The South Boston neighborhood has a higher proportion of its residents employed as executives, managers and professionals than 96.5% of the neighborhoods in America. In fact, 72.0% 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.

Diversity

Did you know that the South Boston neighborhood has more Lebanese and Finnish ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 3.7% of this neighborhood's residents have Lebanese ancestry and 2.0% have Finnish ancestry.

South Boston is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 25.9% 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 99.5% of the neighborhoods in America.

The Neighbors

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 Boston neighborhood in Boston 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 95.2% 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 Boston neighborhood, 72.0% 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 14.5% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations (8.4%), and 5.1% 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 South Boston neighborhood is English, spoken by 66.0% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Chinese, Langs. of India and Spanish.

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 South Boston neighborhood in Boston, MA, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Asian (27.9%). There are also a number of people of Irish ancestry (23.7%), and residents who report Italian roots (11.4%), and some of the residents are also of English ancestry (10.2%), along with some German ancestry residents (7.5%), among others. In addition, 18.9% of the residents of this neighborhood were born in another country.

Getting to Work

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 Boston neighborhood spend between 15 and 30 minutes commuting one-way to work (33.9% of working residents), which is shorter than the time spent commuting to work for most Americans.

Here most residents (27.9%) take the train to get to work. In addition, quite a number also drive alone in a private automobile to get to work (20.5%) and 18.8% of residents also hop out the door and walk to work for their daily commute. This neighborhood is distinguished by the high number of residents who take the train to work each day, which can be a very good way to get to work at a lower cost and with less pollution.


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