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Real Estate Prices & Overview

West Cambridge median real estate price is $2,136,183, which is more expensive than 98.5% of the neighborhoods in Massachusetts and 99.0% of the neighborhoods in the U.S.

The average rental price in West Cambridge is currently $6,465, based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. The average rental cost in this neighborhood is higher than 97.7% of the neighborhoods in Massachusetts.

West Cambridge is an urban neighborhood (based on population density) located in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

West Cambridge 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 West Cambridge 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 1970 and 1999.

West Cambridge has a 10.0% vacancy rate, which is well above average compared to other U.S. neighborhoods (higher than 60.2% of American neighborhoods). Most vacant housing here is vacant year round. This could either signal that there is a weak demand for real estate in the neighborhood or that large amount of new housing has been built and not yet occupied. Either way, if you live here, you may find many of the homes or apartments are empty.

Notable & Unique Neighborhood Characteristics

When you see a neighborhood for the first time, the most important thing is often the way it looks, like its homes and its setting. Some places look the same, but they only reveal their true character after living in them for a while because they contain a unique mix of occupational or cultural groups. This neighborhood is very unique in some important ways, according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive exploration and analysis.

Occupations

The West Cambridge neighborhood has a higher proportion of its residents employed as executives, managers and professionals than 99.8% of the neighborhoods in America. In fact, 86.5% 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.

People

A majority of the adults in the West Cambridge neighborhood are wealthy and educated executives. They own stately homes that tend to maintain high real estate appreciation rates. Their upper-level careers keep them busy, but allow them to live comfortably. If you're an executive and want to keep similar company, consider settling in this neighborhood, rated as an executive lifestyle "best choice" neighborhood for Massachusetts by NeighborhoodScout's analysis, which rated it as better for executive lifestyles than 99.8% of the neighborhoods in Massachusetts. In addition to being an excellent choice for highly educated executives, this neighborhood is also a very good choice for urban sophisticates.

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 51.4% 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 99.4% of U.S. neighborhoods, where the average American neighborhood has 13.1% 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, 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 West Cambridge neighborhood is wealthier than 95.7% 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.

Modes of Transportation

In the West Cambridge 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 17.3% of residents here. This is a higher proportion of walking commuters than we found in 97.6% of American neighborhoods. Get ready to put on your walking shoes if you move here!

Real Estate

If you find historic homes and neighborhoods attractive, you love the details, the history, and the charm, then you are sure to be interested in this neighborhood. With 70.4% of the residential real estate in the West Cambridge neighborhood built no later than 1939, and some built considerably earlier, this neighborhood has a greater concentration of historic residences than 98.5% of all neighborhoods in America. In this regard, this neighborhood truly stands out as special.

Diversity

Did you know that the West Cambridge neighborhood has more Hungarian and Iranian ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 5.2% of this neighborhood's residents have Hungarian ancestry and 2.5% have Iranian ancestry.

West Cambridge is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 2.2% 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 99.2% of the neighborhoods in America.

The Neighbors

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 West Cambridge neighborhood in Cambridge 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 95.7% of the neighborhoods in America. In addition, 1.2% 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 78.2% 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 West Cambridge neighborhood, 86.5% 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 7.4% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations (6.1%).

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 West Cambridge neighborhood is English, spoken by 72.6% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish, Persian and Portuguese.

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 West Cambridge neighborhood in Cambridge, MA, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Irish (18.8%). There are also a number of people of English ancestry (12.8%), and residents who report Italian roots (10.7%), and some of the residents are also of German ancestry (9.4%), along with some South American ancestry residents (5.3%), among others. In addition, 19.5% 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 West Cambridge neighborhood spend under 15 minutes commuting one-way to work (36.1% of working residents), one of the shortest commutes across America.

Here most residents (38.5%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also hop out the door and walk to work to get to work (17.3%) and 15.9% of residents also carpool with coworkers, friends, or neighbors 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.


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