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About Berkeley, CA (Kensington)


Real Estate Prices and Overview

Kensington median real estate price is $1,235,510, which is more expensive than 83.1% of the neighborhoods in California and 96.4% of the neighborhoods in the U.S.

The average rental price in Kensington is currently $4,866, based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. The average rental cost in this neighborhood is higher than 92.3% of the neighborhoods in California.

Kensington is an urban neighborhood (based on population density) located in Berkeley, California.

Kensington real estate is primarily made up of medium sized (three or four bedroom) to large (four, five or more bedroom) single-family homes and small apartment buildings. Most of the residential real estate is owner occupied. Many of the residences in the Kensington neighborhood are older, well-established, built between 1940 and 1969. A number of residences were also built before 1940.

In Kensington, the current vacancy rate is 2.7%, which is a lower rate of vacancies than 84.2% of all neighborhoods in the U.S. This means that the housing supply in Kensington is very tight compared to the demand for property here.

Notable & Unique Neighborhood Characteristics

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 Berkeley, the Kensington neighborhood, has some outstanding things about the way it looks and its way of life that are worth highlighting.

Notable & Unique: People

Think about the people you know personally. How many of them would purchase box seats to opening night at the symphony? How many of them regularly attend gallery openings, or are the first to reserve tickets to opening night at the ballet? If they're like most of us, they don't do any of these things. But if you're among an exclusive crowd of wealthy and refined patrons of the arts, then you'll feel right at home in the Kensington neighborhood: a neighborhood in which more "urban sophisticates" live than 99.7% of neighborhoods across the U.S. Here, your neighbors are defined as having urbane tastes in literature, music, live theatre and the arts. They are wealthy, educated, travel in style, and live a big city lifestyle whether or not they live in or near a big city. In addition to being an excellent choice for urban sophisticates, this neighborhood is also a very good choice for highly educated executives and active retirees.

In addition, some neighborhoods have residents that are more educated than others. But in this neighborhood there is a dramatic difference. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that 50.9% of the adults here have earned a Masters degree, medical degree, Ph.D. or law degree. This is a higher rate of people with a graduate degree than is found in 99.3% of U.S. neighborhoods, where the average American neighborhood has 12.7% of its adults with a graduate degree. If you are highly educated, you may have much in common with many of your neighbors here.

Also, 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 2.6% of America's neighborhoods are wealthier than the Kensington 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.

Finally, with more than 1.6% of residents living with a same sex partner, Kensington is truly a neighborhood that stands out from the rest in this regard. In fact, exclusive analysis by NeighborhoodScout reveals that this neighborhood has a greater concentration of same sex couples than 95.4% of U.S. neighborhoods.

Notable & Unique: Occupations

The Kensington neighborhood has a higher proportion of its residents employed as executives, managers and professionals than 98.9% of the neighborhoods in America. In fact, 78.0% 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.

Notable & Unique: Modes of Transportation

In the Kensington neighborhood, many people's commute means walking from the bedroom to the home office. NeighborhoodScout's analysis found that 22.0% of residents worked from home. This may not seem like a large number, but Scout's research shows that this is a higher percentage of people working from home than 97.7% of the neighborhoods in America. Often people who work from home are engaged in the creative or technological economy, such as is found in areas around Boston, and in Silicon Valley. Other times, people may be engaged in other businesses like trading stocks from home, or running a small beauty salon.

Also, if you like to ride the train to work, this neighborhood may be for you. NeighborhoodScout's research revealed that 15.1% of the Kensington neighborhood's commuters ride the train to and from work each day, which is more than we found in 96.3% of America's neighborhoods.

Notable & Unique: Diversity

Did you know that the Kensington neighborhood has more Finnish and Eastern European ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 2.6% of this neighborhood's residents have Finnish ancestry and 2.1% have Eastern European ancestry.

Kensington is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 0.8% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Japanese at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 96.7% of the neighborhoods in America.


The Neighbors

The Neighbors: Income

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 Kensington neighborhood in Berkeley 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 97.4% of the neighborhoods in America. In addition, 1.8% 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 76.9% of America's neighborhoods.

The Neighbors: Occupations

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 Kensington neighborhood, 78.0% 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 10.1% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in manufacturing and laborer occupations (7.1%), and 4.8% in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations.

The Neighbors: 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 Kensington neighborhood is English, spoken by 85.5% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish, Polish and Langs. of India.

The Neighbors: 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 Kensington neighborhood in Berkeley, CA, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as German (21.6%). There are also a number of people of Irish ancestry (15.8%), and residents who report Mexican roots (11.6%), and some of the residents are also of French ancestry (9.0%), along with some English ancestry residents (8.8%), among others. In addition, 11.9% 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 Kensington neighborhood spend between 45 minutes and one hour commuting one-way to work (31.8% of working residents), longer and tougher than most commutes in America.

Here most residents (44.9%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also take the train to get to work (15.1%) and 7.1% 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.


Neighborhood Real Estate Data

Analytics built by:   Location, Inc.

Raw data sources:   National Agriculture Statistics Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Federal Housing Finance Agency, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, U.S. Bureau of the Census, U.S. Geological Service, American Community Survey.

Date(s) & Update Frequency:
  • Home Values, Rents: Reflects Q3 2022. Updated quarterly.
  • Setting, Housing Stock, Homeownership: 2020 (latest available). Updated annually.

Methodology:   NeighborhoodScout uses over 600 characteristics to build a neighborhood profile… Read more

Average Home Values

 

Median Home Value:
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Median Real Estate Taxes:
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Neighborhood Home Prices

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Rental Market

 

Average Market Rent:
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GROSS RENTAL YIELD:
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MEDIAN MONTHLY RENT BY NUMBER OF BEDROOMS

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Setting

 
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Neighborhood Look and Feel

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Housing Market Details

 

AGE OF Berkeley, CA (Kensington) HOMES

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TYPE OF Berkeley, CA (Kensington) HOMES

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SIZE OF Berkeley, CA (Kensington) HOMES

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SIZE OF Berkeley, CA (Kensington) HOMES

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homeownership

 
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Neighborhood Demographics Data

Analytics built by:   Location, Inc.

Raw data sources:   American Community Survey, U.S. Bureau of the Census, U.S. Department of Education, 50 state departments of education, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Federal Bureau of Investigation, 18,000+ local law enforcement agencies, Federal Housing Finance Agency, U.S. Geological Service, National Agricultural Statistics Service.

Date(s) & Update Frequency:   2020 (latest available). Updated annually. Please note: Unemployment data updated November 2022.

Methodology:   Unlike standardly available Census demographics, NeighborhoodScout uses dozens of custom models to transform 8.5 million raw demographic data elements from government sources into proprietary indices and insights…. Read more about Scout's Demographic Data

Lifestyle

 
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Special character

 
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Age / Marital Status

 

Gender Ratio

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Military & College Status

 
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Employment Industries in Kensington

 
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Commute to work

 

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Vehicles Per Household

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Migration & Mobility

 

Race & Ethnic Diversity

 

Diversity Index

(100 is the most diverse)


More diverse than of U.S. neighborhoods.

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Occupations

 

Ancestries & Languages Spoken

 

Ancestry (top 20)

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Languages Spoken (top 20)

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Unemployment Rate

 
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Average Income

 

Per Capita Income

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Median Household Income

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Education

 

Percent with College Degree

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Percent with Advanced Degree

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Income & Education

 
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Neighborhood Crime Data

Analytics built by:   Location, Inc.

Raw data sources:   18,000 local law enforcement agencies in the U.S.

Date(s) & Update Frequency:   Reflects 2021 calendar year; released from FBI in Oct. 2022 (latest available). Updated annually. Where is 2022 data?

Methodology:   Our nationwide meta-analysis overcomes the issues inherent in any crime database, including non-reporting and reporting errors. This is possible by associating the 9.4 million reported crimes in the U.S, including over 2 million geocoded point locations…. Read more about Scout's Crime Data

Neighborhood Crime Data

 

total Crime Index

(100 is safest)


Safer than of U.S. neighborhoods.

Neighborhood Annual Crimes
  Violent Property Total
Number of Crimes
Crime Rate
(per 1,000 residents)

Neighborhood Violent Crime

violent Crime Index

(100 is safest)


Safer than of U.S. neighborhoods.

Violent Crime Index By Type

Murder
Index
Rape
Index
Robbery
Index
Assault
Index

100 is safest

100 is safest

100 is safest

100 is safest

Violent Crime Comparison (per 1,000 residents)

20 15 10 5 0
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4.4
National Median: 4
    Kensington
    Berkeley
    California

My Chances of Becoming a Victim of a Violent Crime

1 in

in Kensington

1 in

in Berkeley

1 in 227

in California

Berkeley VIOLENT CRIMES

Population:
Murder Rape Robbery Assault
Report Total
Rate per 1,000

United States VIOLENT CRIMES

Population:
Murder Rape Robbery Assault
Report Total
Rate per 1,000

Neighborhood Property Crime

property Crime Index

(100 is safest)


Safer than of U.S. neighborhoods.

Property Crime Index By Type
Burglary
Index
Theft
Index
Motor Vehicle
Theft

100 is safest

100 is safest

100 is safest

Property Crime Comparison (per 1,000 residents)

100 75 50 25 0
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23.47
National Median: 19
    Kensington
    Berkeley
    California

My Chances of Becoming a Victim of a Property Crime

1 in

in Kensington

1 in

in Berkeley

1 in 43

in California

Berkeley Property CRIMES

Population:
burglary theft motor vehicle theft
Report Total
Rate per 1,000

United States Property CRIMES

Population:
burglary theft motor vehicle theft
Report Total
Rate per 1,000

Crimes Per Square Mile

200 150 100 50 0
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83
National Median: 26.8
    Kensington
    Berkeley
    California

Neighborhood Public School Data

Analytics built by:   Location, Inc.

Raw data sources:
  • Test Scores: Edfacts (U.S. Department of Education), State departments of education.
  • Expenditures: National Center for Education Statistics.
  • Educational Environment: American Community Survey (U.S. Census Bureau).
Date(s) & Update Frequency:
  • Due to Covid-19, complete standardized testing did not take place during the 2020-2021 academic school year. Test data: Reflects 2018 – 2019 school year.
  • Expenditures: 2019
  • Educational Environment: 2020 (latest available). Updated annually.
  • All data updated June 2022

Methodology:   Only NeighborhoodScout gives you nationally comparable school ranks based on test scores, so you can directly compare the quality of schools in any location. Read more about Scout's School Data

School Rating Information

 

School Quality

(100 is best)

Better than of U.S. schools.

Neighborhood School Quality Rating

Rates the quality of all K-12 public schools that serve this neighborhood. Info

Schools That Serve This Neighborhood

 
School Details Grades Quality Rating Compared to CA* Quality Rating Compared to Nation*
Elementary School Cerrito High
540 Ashbury Ave.
El Cerrito, CA 94530
09-12
Kensington Elementary School
90 Highland Blvd.
Kensington, CA 94708
KG-06
Fred T. Korematsu Middle School
7125 Donal Ave.
El Cerrito, CA 94530
07-08
Middle College High School
2600 Mission Bell Dr.
San Pablo, CA 94806
09-12
* 10 is highest

Neighborhood Educational Environment

Adults In Neighborhood With College Degree Or Higher
Children In The Neighborhood Living In Poverty

This neighborhood is served by 1 district:

WEST CONTRA COSTA UNIFIED


Students Enrolled in This District


Schools in District


Students Per Classroom

District Quality Compared to California

(10 is best)

Better than of CA school districts.

District Quality Compared to U.S. info

(10 is best)

Better than of US school districts.

GET FULL REPORTS FOR ANY SCHOOL IN THIS DISTRICT

SEE ALL SCHOOLS

Schools In This District

School District Enrollment By Group

Ethnic/racial Groups This District This State
White (non-hispanic)
Black
Hispanic
Asian Or Pacific Islander
American Indian Or Native Of Alaska
Economic Groups This District This State
ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED
FREE LUNCH ELIGIBLE
REDUCED LUNCH ELIGIBLE

Educational Expenditures

For This District Per Student Total % Of Total
Instructional Expenditures
Support Expenditures
Student
Staff
General Administration
School Administration
Operation
Transportation
Other
Total Support
Non-instructional Expenditures
Total Expenditures

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