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About Cambridge, MA (Neighborhood Nine / Observatory Hill)


Real Estate Prices and Overview

Neighborhood Nine / Observatory Hill median real estate price is $1,085,339, which is more expensive than 89.4% of the neighborhoods in Massachusetts and 94.2% of the neighborhoods in the U.S.

The average rental price in Neighborhood Nine / Observatory Hill is currently $4,340, based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. The average rental cost in this neighborhood is higher than 91.1% of the neighborhoods in Massachusetts.

Neighborhood Nine / Observatory Hill is a densely urban neighborhood (based on population density) located in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Neighborhood Nine / Observatory Hill real estate is primarily made up of small (studio to two bedroom) to medium sized (three or four bedroom) small apartment buildings and apartment complexes/high-rise apartments. Most of the residential real estate is occupied by a mixture of owners and renters. Many of the residences in the Neighborhood Nine / Observatory 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.

Real estate vacancies in Neighborhood Nine / Observatory Hill are 5.2%, which is lower than one will find in 68.1% of American neighborhoods. Demand for real estate in Neighborhood Nine / Observatory Hill is above average for the U.S., and may signal some demand for either price increases or new construction of residential product for this neighborhood.

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.

Notable & Unique: People

If knowledge is power, then imagine the cumulative power of one neighborhood where many of the adults have earned an advanced degree, such as a Masters, law degree, medical degree, or even a Ph.D. This is certainly the case in the Neighborhood Nine / Observatory Hill neighborhood, where 49.8% have earned an advanced degree. Compare that to the average neighborhood in America, where just 12.7% of adults have completed a post-graduate degree, and you can see why this neighborhood is a stand out. In fact, this neighborhood has a higher rate of adults with an advanced degree than 99.2% of the neighborhoods in America.

In addition, think about the people you know personally. How many of them would purchase box seats to opening night at the symphony? How many of them regularly attend gallery openings, or are the first to reserve tickets to opening night at the ballet? If they're like most of us, they don't do any of these things. But if you're among an exclusive crowd of wealthy and refined patrons of the arts, then you'll feel right at home in the Neighborhood Nine / Observatory Hill neighborhood: a neighborhood in which more "urban sophisticates" live than 96.6% of neighborhoods across the U.S. Here, your neighbors are defined as having urbane tastes in literature, music, live theatre and the arts. They are wealthy, educated, travel in style, and live a big city lifestyle whether or not they live in or near a big city. In addition to being an excellent choice for urban sophisticates, this neighborhood is also a very good choice for young, single professionals.

Notable & Unique: Modes of Transportation

A unique way of commuting is simply not to. And in the Neighborhood Nine / Observatory Hill neighborhood, analysis shows that 24.0% of the residents work from home, avoiding a commute altogether. This may not seem like a large number, but it is a higher proportion of people working from home than is found in 98.5% of the neighborhoods in the United States. One thing NeighborhoodScout's research reveals is that the wealthier and/or more isolated the neighborhood, the greater the proportion of residents who choose to work from home.

Also, would you like to be able to ride your bike to work? If you are attracted to the idea of getting a little exercise of the two-wheeled type while reducing your carbon footprint, bicycling to work might be the answer. But which neighborhood you live in can make this either impossible, or alternatively, a great and realistic option. NeighborhoodScout's analysis revealed that the Neighborhood Nine / Observatory Hill neighborhood is a fantastic option for bicycle commuters, as 4.8% of commuters here do ride their bikes to and from work on a daily basis. This is a higher amount than we found in 98.3% of the neighborhoods in America.

Finally, if you like to ride the train to work, this neighborhood may be for you. NeighborhoodScout's research revealed that 17.8% of the Neighborhood Nine / Observatory Hill neighborhood's commuters ride the train to and from work each day, which is more than we found in 96.9% of America's neighborhoods.

Notable & Unique: Occupations

The Neighborhood Nine / Observatory Hill neighborhood has a higher proportion of its residents employed as executives, managers and professionals than 97.5% of the neighborhoods in America. In fact, 73.1% 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.

Notable & Unique: Real Estate

Corner bodegas, stores on the first floor and apartments above, former grand Victorian residences converted into apartments, three-deckers built shoulder-to-shoulder, duplexes. Such building types define the real estate of neighborhoods dominated by small 2, 3, and 4 unit apartment buildings. Many are in older core neighborhoods of Eastern and Midwestern cities, or historic town centers in their hinterlands. If you wax romantic about the look and feel of such neighborhoods, with fresh pizza, falafel and an independent florist at the corner, then you might find the Neighborhood Nine / Observatory Hill neighborhood worth a close look. This neighborhood is an absolutely outstanding example of the dominance of small 2, 3, and 4 unit apartment buildings compared to neighborhoods across the nation, as they make up a substantial portion of this neighborhood's real estate stock. In fact, no less than 42.7% of the real estate here is made up of such dwellings, which is higher than 97.3% of all U.S. neighborhoods.

In addition, 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 Neighborhood Nine / Observatory Hill neighborhood is one of the most walkable neighborhoods in America.

Notable & Unique: Diversity

Did you know that the Neighborhood Nine / Observatory Hill neighborhood has more Arab and Armenian ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 5.0% of this neighborhood's residents have Arab ancestry and 0.9% have Armenian ancestry.

Neighborhood Nine / Observatory Hill is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 6.5% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Arabic at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 99.1% of the neighborhoods in America.


The Neighbors

The Neighbors: Income

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 Neighborhood Nine / Observatory Hill 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 88.8% of the neighborhoods in America. In addition, 2.7% 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 73.6% of America's neighborhoods.

The Neighbors: Occupations

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 Neighborhood Nine / Observatory Hill neighborhood, 73.1% 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 15.0% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations (6.4%), and 5.5% in manufacturing and laborer occupations.

The Neighbors: 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 Neighborhood Nine / Observatory Hill neighborhood is English, spoken by 73.3% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish, Arabic, French and African languages.

The Neighbors: 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 Neighborhood Nine / Observatory Hill neighborhood in Cambridge, MA, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Puerto Rican (9.8%). There are also a number of people of Irish ancestry (9.3%), and residents who report Asian roots (8.5%), and some of the residents are also of German ancestry (7.7%), along with some English ancestry residents (7.5%), among others. In addition, 27.3% 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 Neighborhood Nine / Observatory Hill neighborhood spend between 30 and 45 minutes commuting one-way to work (35.9% of working residents), which is at or a bit above the average length of a commute across all U.S. neighborhoods.

Here most residents (37.5%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also take the train to get to work (17.8%) and 8.1% of residents also hop out the door and walk to work 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.


Neighborhood Real Estate Data

Analytics built by:   Location, Inc.

Raw data sources:   National Agriculture Statistics Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Federal Housing Finance Agency, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, U.S. Bureau of the Census, U.S. Geological Service, American Community Survey.

Date(s) & Update Frequency:
  • Home Values, Rents: Reflects Q3 2022. Updated quarterly.
  • Setting, Housing Stock, Homeownership: 2020 (latest available). Updated annually.

Methodology:   NeighborhoodScout uses over 600 characteristics to build a neighborhood profile… Read more

Average Home Values

 

Median Home Value:
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Median Real Estate Taxes:
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Neighborhood Home Prices

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Rental Market

 

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MEDIAN MONTHLY RENT BY NUMBER OF BEDROOMS

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Setting

 
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Neighborhood Look and Feel

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Housing Market Details

 

AGE OF Cambridge, MA (Neighborhood Nine / Observatory Hill) HOMES

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TYPE OF Cambridge, MA (Neighborhood Nine / Observatory Hill) HOMES

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SIZE OF Cambridge, MA (Neighborhood Nine / Observatory Hill) HOMES

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SIZE OF Cambridge, MA (Neighborhood Nine / Observatory Hill) HOMES

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homeownership

 
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Neighborhood Demographics Data

Analytics built by:   Location, Inc.

Raw data sources:   American Community Survey, U.S. Bureau of the Census, U.S. Department of Education, 50 state departments of education, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Federal Bureau of Investigation, 18,000+ local law enforcement agencies, Federal Housing Finance Agency, U.S. Geological Service, National Agricultural Statistics Service.

Date(s) & Update Frequency:   2020 (latest available). Updated annually. Please note: Unemployment data updated November 2022.

Methodology:   Unlike standardly available Census demographics, NeighborhoodScout uses dozens of custom models to transform 8.5 million raw demographic data elements from government sources into proprietary indices and insights…. Read more about Scout's Demographic Data

Lifestyle

 
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Special character

 
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Age / Marital Status

 

Gender Ratio

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Military & College Status

 
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Employment Industries in Neighborhood Nine / Observatory Hill

 
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Commute to work

 

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Vehicles Per Household

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Migration & Mobility

 

Race & Ethnic Diversity

 

Diversity Index

(100 is the most diverse)


More diverse than of U.S. neighborhoods.

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Occupations

 

Ancestries & Languages Spoken

 

Ancestry (top 20)

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Languages Spoken (top 20)

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Unemployment Rate

 
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Average Income

 

Per Capita Income

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Median Household Income

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Education

 

Percent with College Degree

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Percent with Advanced Degree

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Income & Education

 
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Neighborhood Crime Data

Analytics built by:   Location, Inc.

Raw data sources:   18,000 local law enforcement agencies in the U.S.

Date(s) & Update Frequency:   Reflects 2021 calendar year; released from FBI in Oct. 2022 (latest available). Updated annually. Where is 2022 data?

Methodology:   Our nationwide meta-analysis overcomes the issues inherent in any crime database, including non-reporting and reporting errors. This is possible by associating the 9.4 million reported crimes in the U.S, including over 2 million geocoded point locations…. Read more about Scout's Crime Data

Neighborhood Crime Data

 

total Crime Index

(100 is safest)


Safer than of U.S. neighborhoods.

Neighborhood Annual Crimes
  Violent Property Total
Number of Crimes
Crime Rate
(per 1,000 residents)

Neighborhood Violent Crime

violent Crime Index

(100 is safest)


Safer than of U.S. neighborhoods.

Violent Crime Index By Type

Murder
Index
Rape
Index
Robbery
Index
Assault
Index

100 is safest

100 is safest

100 is safest

100 is safest

Violent Crime Comparison (per 1,000 residents)

20 15 10 5 0
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3.05
National Median: 4
    Neighborhood Nine / Observatory Hill
    Cambridge
    Massachusetts

My Chances of Becoming a Victim of a Violent Crime

1 in

in Neighborhood Nine / Observatory Hill

1 in

in Cambridge

1 in 328

in Massachusetts

Cambridge VIOLENT CRIMES

Population:
Murder Rape Robbery Assault
Report Total
Rate per 1,000

United States VIOLENT CRIMES

Population:
Murder Rape Robbery Assault
Report Total
Rate per 1,000

Neighborhood Property Crime

property Crime Index

(100 is safest)


Safer than of U.S. neighborhoods.

Property Crime Index By Type
Burglary
Index
Theft
Index
Motor Vehicle
Theft

100 is safest

100 is safest

100 is safest

Property Crime Comparison (per 1,000 residents)

100 75 50 25 0
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10.44
National Median: 19
    Neighborhood Nine / Observatory Hill
    Cambridge
    Massachusetts

My Chances of Becoming a Victim of a Property Crime

1 in

in Neighborhood Nine / Observatory Hill

1 in

in Cambridge

1 in 96

in Massachusetts

Cambridge Property CRIMES

Population:
burglary theft motor vehicle theft
Report Total
Rate per 1,000

United States Property CRIMES

Population:
burglary theft motor vehicle theft
Report Total
Rate per 1,000

Crimes Per Square Mile

200 150 100 50 0
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18
National Median: 26.8
    Neighborhood Nine / Observatory Hill
    Cambridge
    Massachusetts

Neighborhood Public School Data

Analytics built by:   Location, Inc.

Raw data sources:
  • Test Scores: Edfacts (U.S. Department of Education), State departments of education.
  • Expenditures: National Center for Education Statistics.
  • Educational Environment: American Community Survey (U.S. Census Bureau).
Date(s) & Update Frequency:
  • Due to Covid-19, complete standardized testing did not take place during the 2020-2021 academic school year. Test data: Reflects 2018 – 2019 school year.
  • Expenditures: 2019
  • Educational Environment: 2020 (latest available). Updated annually.
  • All data updated June 2022

Methodology:   Only NeighborhoodScout gives you nationally comparable school ranks based on test scores, so you can directly compare the quality of schools in any location. Read more about Scout's School Data

School Rating Information

 

School Quality

(100 is best)

Better than of U.S. schools.

Neighborhood School Quality Rating

Rates the quality of all K-12 public schools that your children would be exposed to if you lived in this neighborhood. Info

There are no schools physically located in this neighborhood.

Neighborhood Educational Environment

Adults In Neighborhood With College Degree Or Higher
Children In The Neighborhood Living In Poverty

This neighborhood is served by 1 district:

CAMBRIDGE


Students Enrolled in This District


Schools in District


Students Per Classroom

District Quality Compared to Massachusetts

(10 is best)

Better than of MA school districts.

District Quality Compared to U.S. info

(10 is best)

Better than of US school districts.

GET FULL REPORTS FOR ANY SCHOOL IN THIS DISTRICT

SEE ALL SCHOOLS

Schools In This District

School District Enrollment By Group

Ethnic/racial Groups This District This State
White (non-hispanic)
Black
Hispanic
Asian Or Pacific Islander
American Indian Or Native Of Alaska
Economic Groups This District This State
ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED
FREE LUNCH ELIGIBLE
REDUCED LUNCH ELIGIBLE

Educational Expenditures

For This District Per Student Total % Of Total
Instructional Expenditures
Support Expenditures
Student
Staff
General Administration
School Administration
Operation
Transportation
Other
Total Support
Non-instructional Expenditures
Total Expenditures

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