Commonwealth / Forest Hills median real estate price is $860,888, which is more expensive than 95.5% of the neighborhoods in Illinois and 85.8% of the neighborhoods in the U.S.
The average rental price in Commonwealth / Forest Hills is currently $3,391, based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. The average rental cost in this neighborhood is higher than 91.0% of the neighborhoods in Illinois.
Commonwealth / Forest Hills is a suburban neighborhood (based on population density) located in Western Springs, Illinois.
Commonwealth / Forest Hills real estate is primarily made up of medium sized (three or four bedroom) to large (four, five or more bedroom) single-family homes and townhomes. Most of the residential real estate is owner occupied. Many of the residences in the Commonwealth / Forest Hills neighborhood are older, well-established, built between 1940 and 1969. A number of residences were also built before 1940.
In Commonwealth / Forest Hills, the current vacancy rate is 0.0%, which is a lower rate of vacancies than 100.0% of all neighborhoods in the U.S. This means that the housing supply in Commonwealth / Forest Hills is very tight compared to the demand for property here.
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 in the Commonwealth / Forest Hills neighborhood is almost exclusively owner-occupied. NeighborhoodScout's analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher rate of owner-occupied housing than is found in 99.7% of U.S. neighborhoods. If you are seeking to rent, this neighborhood may not have many options, but high rates of ownership often indicate stability in a neighborhood. With a real estate vacancy rate of only 0.0%, the Commonwealth / Forest Hills neighborhood has a lower vacancy rate than 100.0% of U.S. neighborhoods, a very elite group. Such a low vacancy rate may indicate very strong real estate demand in the neighborhood combined with some impediments to increasing supply, such as zoning or existing density of development, among other potential reasons.
In addition, one way that the Commonwealth / Forest Hills neighborhood really stands out, is that it has more large 4, 5, or additional bedroom homes and real estate than 96.2% of the neighborhoods in America. When you walk or drive around this neighborhood, you'll instantly notice the size of the homes here which definitely makes a strong visual statement.
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 Commonwealth / Forest Hills neighborhood. This neighborhood is uniquely immersed with more "urban sophisticates" than 99.9% 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 Commonwealth / Forest Hills neighborhood. In addition to being an excellent choice for urban sophisticates, this neighborhood is also a very good choice for families with school-aged children and highly educated executives.
In addition, astoundingly, NeighborhoodScout's research reveals that this single neighborhood has a higher concentration of married couples living here than 99.4% of all U.S. neighborhoods. Whether they have school-aged children or not, married couples are the rule in the Commonwealth / Forest Hills neighborhood. If you are a married couple, you may find many people here with a similar lifestyle, and perhaps common interests. But if you are single, you might not find many other singles here.
Also, wealth makes most things in life easier, and a few things harder. If you are wealthy and enjoy keeping up with the Jones', this neighborhood will interest you. In fact, according to NeighborhoodScout's research, the Commonwealth / Forest Hills neighborhood is wealthier than 99.2% of the neighborhoods in the United States. Residents here are truly in a unique situation even when compared to other Americans, based on the sheer amount of wealth concentrated here. Even in times of economic downturn, residents of this neighborhood, as a group, suffered less and recovered more quickly. This is indeed a stand-out characteristic of this neighborhood.
Finally, the rate of college educated adults in the Commonwealth / Forest Hills neighborhood is a unique characteristic of the neighborhood. 78.5% of adults here have received at least a 4-year bachelor's degree, compared to the average neighborhood in America, which has 35.0% of the adults with a bachelor's degree. The rate here is higher than NeighborhoodScout found in 97.2% of all U.S. neighborhoods.
In the Commonwealth / Forest Hills neighborhood, 11.3% of people ride the train to work each day. This is a very high percentage compared to most places. In fact, NeighborhoodScout's analysis reveals that this is a higher level of train ridership than in 95.8% of the neighborhoods in America.
The Commonwealth / Forest Hills neighborhood has a higher proportion of its residents employed as executives, managers and professionals than 95.1% of the neighborhoods in America. In fact, 70.1% 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.
Did you know that the Commonwealth / Forest Hills neighborhood has more Irish and Polish ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 31.9% of this neighborhood's residents have Irish ancestry and 18.8% have Polish ancestry.
Commonwealth / Forest Hills is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 16.4% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Italian at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 99.3% of the neighborhoods in America.
There are two complementary measures for understanding the income of a neighborhood's residents: the average and the extremes. While a neighborhood may be relatively wealthy overall, it is equally important to understand the rate of people - particularly children - who are living at or below the federal poverty line, which is extremely low income. Some neighborhoods with a lower average income may actually have a lower childhood poverty rate than another with a higher average income, and this helps us understand the conditions and character of a neighborhood.
The neighbors in the Commonwealth / Forest Hills neighborhood in Western Springs 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 99.2% of the neighborhoods in America. In addition, 1.4% 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 77.0% of America's neighborhoods.
A neighborhood is far different if it is dominated by enlisted military personnel rather than people who earn their living by farming. It is also different if most of the neighbors are clerical support or managers. What is wonderful is the sheer diversity of neighborhoods, allowing you to find the type that fits your lifestyle and aspirations.
In the Commonwealth / Forest Hills neighborhood, 70.1% 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 17.6% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations (8.4%), and 4.6% in government jobs, whether they are in local, state, or federal positions.
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 Commonwealth / Forest Hills neighborhood is English, spoken by 91.9% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Italian, Polish 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 Commonwealth / Forest Hills neighborhood in Western Springs, IL, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Irish (31.9%). There are also a number of people of German ancestry (26.8%), and residents who report Polish roots (18.8%), and some of the residents are also of Italian ancestry (15.4%), along with some English ancestry residents (7.3%), among others.
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 Commonwealth / Forest Hills neighborhood spend between 45 minutes and one hour commuting one-way to work (31.4% of working residents), longer and tougher than most commutes in America.
Here most residents (64.1%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also take the train to get to work (11.3%) . In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.
