menu






Real Estate Prices & Overview

Beacon Hill median real estate price is $2,245,802, which is more expensive than 98.0% of the neighborhoods in Massachusetts and 98.8% of the neighborhoods in the U.S.

The average rental price in Beacon Hill is currently $4,899, based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. The average rental cost in this neighborhood is higher than 90.6% of the neighborhoods in Massachusetts.

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

Beacon Hill 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 Beacon Hill 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 1940 and 1969.

Vacant apartments or homes are a major fact of life in Beacon Hill. The current real estate vacancy rate here is 18.4%. This is higher than the rate of vacancies in 84.5% of all U.S. neighborhoods. In addition, most vacant housing here is vacant year round. This can sometimes be the case in neighborhoods dominated by new construction that is not yet occupied. But often neighborhoods with vacancy rates this high are places that can be plagued by a protracted vacancy problem. If you live here, 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.

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 2.3% of America's neighborhoods are wealthier than the Beacon Hill 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, Beacon Hill 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 Beacon Hill neighborhood. This neighborhood is uniquely immersed with more "urban sophisticates" than 99.7% 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 Beacon Hill neighborhood. In addition to being an excellent choice for urban sophisticates, this neighborhood is also a very good choice for active retirees, young, single professionals and highly educated executives.

Also, do you like to read, write, and learn? Are you curious about the world? If so, this neighborhood may be a good fit for you. NeighborhoodScout's research revealed that a full 89.5% of the adults living in the Beacon Hill neighborhood have earned at least a bachelor's degree. This is a higher rate than NeighborhoodScout found in 99.7% of U.S. neighborhoods. In this way, this neighborhood truly stands out.

Finally, the types of households in a neighborhood can tell a lot about the character and lifestyle of those living here. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood, above nearly every neighborhood in America, has a greater percentage of its residents living alone: 53.2%. This is a higher percent living alone than we found in 97.1% of all U.S. neighborhoods. Often residents who live alone are new arrivals to an area who are single, and often senior citizens who have lost a spouse.

Real Estate

The Beacon Hill neighborhood is very densely populated compared to most U.S. neighborhoods. In fact, with 49,999 persons per square mile in the neighborhood, it is more packed with people than 98.4% of the nation's neighborhoods. Being a walkable neighborhood can help increase property values for the simple reason that people enjoy it and value it. To put it plainly, despite our love affair with the automobile, American's enjoy taking to the streets, sidewalks, paths, and courtyards of a place to get a coffee, relax, and take in the sights and sounds. And, according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive and first quantitative walkable score index, the Beacon Hill neighborhood is one of the most walkable neighborhoods in America.

In addition, the Beacon Hill 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 82.8% 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, do you watch 'This Old House' on Public Television? Do you love the idea of fixing up a Colonial or Victorian era home, complete with the charm of yesteryear? Do you like to stroll or drive streets lined with gracious older residences? If you found yourself nodding yes to any of these questions, you are going to be interested in this unique neighborhood. The Beacon Hill neighborhood stands out on a national scale for the sheer concentration of historic residences it contains: 90.0% of the residential real estate here was built from 1939 or earlier, some much earlier. This is a greater concentration of historic homes than 99.9% of the neighborhoods in the United States.

Occupations

Executives, managers and professionals make up 82.8% of the workforce in the Beacon Hill neighborhood which, according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis, is a higher proportion of such high-level people than is found in 99.5% of the neighborhoods in America. For this reason, this neighborhood really stands out as unique.

Modes of Transportation

In the Beacon Hill 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 38.2% of residents here. This is a higher proportion of walking commuters than we found in 99.5% of American neighborhoods. Get ready to put on your walking shoes if you move here!

Also, in the Beacon Hill neighborhood, many people's commute means walking from the bedroom to the home office. NeighborhoodScout's analysis found that 32.8% 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 98.1% 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.

Finally, if your dream is to be able to ride your bike to work each day, look no further than this unique neighborhood. With 2.8% of residents in the Beacon Hill neighborhood commuting on a bicycle to and from work daily, this neighborhood has more bicycle commuters than 95.3% of all neighborhoods in the U.S., according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis.

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 Beacon Hill neighborhood have a highly unusual car ownership. 38.4% 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.

Diversity

Did you know that the Beacon Hill neighborhood has more Iranian and Armenian ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 2.6% of this neighborhood's residents have Iranian ancestry and 1.1% have Armenian ancestry.

Beacon Hill is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 1.3% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Persian at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 98.3% 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 Beacon Hill 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 97.7% 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.

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 Beacon Hill neighborhood, 82.8% 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 11.4% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations (3.8%).

Languages

The most common language spoken in the Beacon Hill neighborhood is English, spoken by 91.3% of households.

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 Beacon Hill neighborhood in Boston, MA, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Irish (22.9%). There are also a number of people of English ancestry (18.9%), and residents who report German roots (14.3%), and some of the residents are also of Italian ancestry (7.3%), along with some French ancestry residents (7.0%), among others. In addition, 11.0% of the residents of this neighborhood were born in another country.

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 Beacon Hill neighborhood spend between 15 and 30 minutes commuting one-way to work (47.0% of working residents), which is shorter than the time spent commuting to work for most Americans.

Here most residents (38.2%) hop out the door and walk to work to get to work. In addition, quite a number also drive alone in a private automobile to get to work (15.5%) and 7.7% of residents also take the train for their daily commute. This is a special neighborhood for the number of people who walk to work. Combining exercise, low cost, and reduced pollution, plus the chance to see your neighbors, walking to work is fairly uncommon in America but likely to increase as people try to reduce their dependence on automobiles, and this neighborhood offers that opportunity today.


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