menu






Real Estate Prices & Overview

La Selva Beach / Pajaro Dunes median real estate price is $1,578,120, which is more expensive than 87.6% of the neighborhoods in California and 97.5% of the neighborhoods in the U.S.

The average rental price in La Selva Beach / Pajaro Dunes is currently $3,647, based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. The average rental cost in this neighborhood is higher than 68.2% of the neighborhoods in California.

La Selva Beach / Pajaro Dunes is a rural neighborhood (based on population density) located in Watsonville, California. This is a coastal neighborhood (i.e., is on the ocean, a bay, or inlet).

La Selva Beach / Pajaro Dunes real estate is primarily made up of medium sized (three or four bedroom) to small (studio to two bedroom) single-family homes and townhomes. Most of the residential real estate is occupied by a mixture of owners and renters. Many of the residences in the La Selva Beach / Pajaro Dunes neighborhood are established but not old, having been built between 1970 and 1999. A number of residences were also built between 1940 and 1969.

Vacant apartments or homes are a major fact of life in La Selva Beach / Pajaro Dunes. The current real estate vacancy rate here is 34.7%. This is higher than the rate of vacancies in 96.3% of all U.S. neighborhoods. A relatively large percentage of housing here is seasonally occupied (30.7%). This can occur in vacation areas, and occasionally it is also found in neighborhoods that are primarily filled with college students, as some apartments could be vacant when school is not in session. If you live here year round, you may find that a number of buildings in your neighborhood are actually empty.

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.

Real Estate

Do you like a coastal setting? If so, this neighborhood may be to your liking. The La Selva Beach / Pajaro Dunes neighborhood is on the ocean, a bay, or inlet. Often such coastal places have amenities and recreational activities on the waterfront that are attractive to residents and visitors alike. In addition to being coastal, La Selva Beach / Pajaro Dunes is a very nautical neighborhood, meaning that it is somewhat historic, walkable, densely populated and on the water. This gives the neighborhood a very nautical feel, with some seaside and shipping feel, which some may really enjoy the sights and sounds of.

In addition, despite all of the residential real estate here in the La Selva Beach / Pajaro Dunes neighborhood, NeighborhoodScout has discovered that much of it is vacant. In resort or second-home vacation areas, this naturally occurs because homes and apartments are seasonally occupied, and empty for a portion of the year. In non-vacation or resort areas, however, this can be an indicator of property abandonment or a weak real estate market. The vacancy rate here is 34.7%, which is higher than 96.3% of all U.S. neighborhoods.

Occupations

It used to be that most Americans lived on the farm, or otherwise made their living from the land, the forests, or the sea. With global trade and an economy increasingly based on providing services to one another, fewer people farm, fish or harvest timber now than at any time in American history. But according to NeighborhoodScout's leading analysis, the La Selva Beach / Pajaro Dunes neighborhood stands apart from most American neighborhood due to the proportion of its residents still working in these fields. With 16.8% of the workforce so employed, this neighborhood has a greater concentration of such workers than 99.5% of U.S. neighborhoods.

People

If you are planning to retire in California, this neighborhood should be on your must-see list. For many reasons, La Selva Beach / Pajaro Dunes may be considered a retiree's dream neighborhood. According to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis and metrics, it's peaceful and quiet, has above average safety from crime compared to other neighborhoods in California, while also offering a diverse range of housing options. This, along with the vibrant mix of very educated seniors and other age groups who choose to live here, makes the neighborhood more retiree-friendly than 97.4% of neighborhoods in CA. If a California retirement is in your future, this neighborhood should be one of the places you visit.

In addition, of particular note, 2.7% of the people in the La Selva Beach / Pajaro Dunes neighborhood currently reside in a correction facility, held due to punishment for a crime.

Diversity

Did you know that the La Selva Beach / Pajaro Dunes neighborhood has more English and Croatian ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 25.1% of this neighborhood's residents have English ancestry and 1.0% have Croatian ancestry.

La Selva Beach / Pajaro Dunes is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 1.1% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Greek at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 97.4% 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 La Selva Beach / Pajaro Dunes neighborhood in Watsonville are upper-middle income, making it an above average income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 80.8% of the neighborhoods in America. In addition, 2.0% 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 75.1% 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 La Selva Beach / Pajaro Dunes neighborhood, 34.3% 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 22.4% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in farming, forestry, or commercial fishing (16.8%), and 16.6% 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 La Selva Beach / Pajaro Dunes neighborhood is English, spoken by 66.9% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish, Italian and Polish.

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 La Selva Beach / Pajaro Dunes neighborhood in Watsonville, CA, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Mexican (33.4%). There are also a number of people of English ancestry (25.1%), and residents who report Irish roots (13.9%), and some of the residents are also of German ancestry (11.1%), along with some Scottish ancestry residents (4.6%), among others. In addition, 19.6% 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 La Selva Beach / Pajaro Dunes neighborhood spend between 15 and 30 minutes commuting one-way to work (39.4% of working residents), which is shorter than the time spent commuting to work for most Americans.

Here most residents (71.9%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also carpool with coworkers, friends, or neighbors to get to work (16.2%) . In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.


Real Estate includes:
Average Home Values
Rental Market
Housing Market Details
Neighborhood Setting
Economics & Demographics include:
Lifestyle & Special Character
Household Types
Commute To Work
Migration & Mobility
Race & Ethnic Diversity
Employment Industries & Occupations
Income & Unemployment Rate
Higher Education Attainment
Crime includes:
Neighborhood Crime Index
Crimes Per Square Mile
Property Crime Comparison
Violent Crime Comparison
Schools include:
School Ratings
Schools In District
Public School Test Scores
School District Enrollment
Educational Expenditures

comparable neighborhoods nearby