What do we mean by a neighborhood?
NeighborhoodScout® uses the official government designation for neighborhoods - the census tract.
Census tracts are small, relatively permanent subdivisions of a county that are defined by the U.S. Census Bureau in conjunction with local authorities all across the country to define real neighborhoods that are bounded to contain areas with homogeneous population characteristics (including economic status, lifestyle, and living conditions). Census tracts usually have 4,000 persons, but can range between 1,500 and 8,000 persons. This is the most fine-grained area for which detailed information is made available from the government, to protect the individual privacy of each of us. Because census tracts are based on population, they vary in size depending on the density of settlement. In urban areas, they are small, and in rural areas they can cover an entire small town or even a few small towns in very rural areas.
Since census tracts are subdivisions of a county, we did a spatial overlay of the census tracts onto city and town boundaries using a geographic information system to properly assign each census tract to its appropriate city or town. Then we named each census tract to the local colloquially recognized neighborhood name for that spot (e.g., Boston, MA (Dorchester). If there was not a name available, we named the census tract by the largest street intersection in the census tract (e.g., Worcester, MA (Lincoln St/Plantation St)
Why we don't use Zip Codes as neighborhoods
Zip codes were developed by the Postal Service for the purpose of delivering mail, but were never intended to define coherent neighborhoods. In addition, Zip Codes can have as many as 10 distinctly different census tracts contained within them. When distinct census tracts are blended together in a single Zip Code, the data reflects their average conditions and often gives a false sense of the area. The result is that potentially great matching neighborhoods can be missed, and erroneous matches can also be produced and delivered to you.
Using census tracts makes great matches possible, and helps people find the areas that are best for them and their families. Because we are committed to providing the highest possible quality and finding the neighborhoods that best meet your criteria, we use census tracts. And, as always, we show you the actual street map of the neighborhood so you know exactly where your best matching neighborhood is located.
What is a Condition Alert?
A condition alert is a condition in the neighborhood that triggers an alert. NeighborhoodScout contains condition alerts to highlight conditions that are extreme, whether good or bad. This helps answer crucial questions about the state of the neighborhood being evaluated, such as:
What are the risks of violent crime here?
Is the risk of home break-ins or other property crimes increasing?
Does real estate here hold its value?
Are the trends in local vacancies or unemployment concerning?
...and dozens more.
Information at a glance that you need to know to invest, appraise or finance a property.
Fairlawn South median real estate price is $524,870, which is less expensive than 80.8% of District Of Columbia neighborhoods and 32.7% of all U.S. neighborhoods.
The average rental price in Fairlawn South is currently $1,797, based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. Rents here are currently lower in price than 88.8% of District Of Columbia neighborhoods.
Fairlawn South is a densely urban neighborhood (based on population density) located in Washington, District Of Columbia.
Fairlawn South 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 townhomes. Most of the residential real estate is renter occupied. Many of the residences in the Fairlawn South neighborhood are older, well-established, built between 1940 and 1969. A number of residences were also built between 1970 and 1999.
Home and apartment vacancy rates are 8.7% in Fairlawn South. NeighborhoodScout analysis shows that this rate is lower than 43.0% of the neighborhoods in the nation, approximately near the middle range for vacancies.
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 Washington, the Fairlawn South neighborhood, has some outstanding things about the way it looks and its way of life that are worth highlighting.
People
Of note is NeighborhoodScout's research finding that the Fairlawn South 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 Fairlawn South community truly stands out from the rest in this regard.
Modes of Transportation
Our research revealed that more commuters here take the bus to work (24.8% ride the bus) than 99.4% of all American neighborhoods. If you like the idea of leaving your car and home and hopping the bus to work, this might be a good neighborhood for you to consider.
Also, if you like to ride the train to work, this neighborhood may be for you. NeighborhoodScout's research revealed that 13.2% of the Fairlawn South 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.
Car Ownership
American households most often have a car, and regularly they have two or three. But households in the Fairlawn South neighborhood buck this trend. 38.8% of the households in this neighborhood don't own a car at all. This is more carless households than NeighborhoodScout found in 98.0% of U.S. neighborhoods.
Real Estate
If you love row houses and attached homes, you will probably really like the Fairlawn South neighborhood. The ambiance, the charm, of row houses is something special. And in sheer abundance of row houses, this neighborhood truly stands out. The real estate here has a higher proportion of row houses and attached homes than nearly any neighborhood in America. In fact, 29.1% of the residential real estate here is classified as row houses and attached homes.
In addition, if you like crowded places, then you will probably enjoy the the Fairlawn South neighborhood. According to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive data analysis, this neighborhood is more densely populated than 95.1% of neighborhoods in the U.S., with 20,906 people per square mile living here.
Diversity
Did you know that the Fairlawn South neighborhood has more Jamaican and Sub-Saharan African ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 8.7% of this neighborhood's residents have Jamaican ancestry and 17.6% have Sub-Saharan African ancestry.
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 Fairlawn South neighborhood in Washington are lower-middle income, making it a below average income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's research shows that this neighborhood has an income lower than 78.2% 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.
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 Fairlawn South neighborhood, 36.2% 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 31.2% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in manufacturing and laborer occupations (16.9%), and 15.6% in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations.
Languages
The most common language spoken in the Fairlawn South neighborhood is English, spoken by 95.5% of households.
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 Fairlawn South neighborhood in Washington, DC, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Sub-Saharan African (17.6%). There are also a number of people of Jamaican ancestry (8.7%), and residents who report Haitian roots (2.6%), and some of the residents are also of African ancestry (2.6%), along with some German ancestry residents (1.3%), among others.
Getting to Work
Even if your neighborhood is walkable, you may still have to drive to your place of work. Some neighborhoods are located where many can get to work in just a few minutes, while others are located such that most residents have a long and arduous commute. The greatest number of commuters in Fairlawn South neighborhood spend between 45 minutes and one hour commuting one-way to work (36.3% of working residents), longer and tougher than most commutes in America.
Here most residents (39.6%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also ride the bus to get to work (24.8%) and 13.2% of residents also take the train 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.
SCOUT’s patented match algorithm identifies the most similar neighborhoods to a subject location, and quantifies the similarity to the subject location. This allows analysts to identify the most similar neighborhoods in a local market area for appraisals, investments, and research.
The algorithm uses 273 neighborhood conditions, identifies the dominant dimensions underlying the conditions and calculates the similarity. This captures the true culture and character of locations, economic conditions, and trends.
The closer to 100% means the locations are nearly identical. 80% is a very good, but not excellent match, and so forth.
