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Real Estate Prices & Overview

Median real estate price in the Borough Center of State College is $395,084, which is more expensive than 75.9% of the neighborhoods in Pennsylvania and 57.5% of the neighborhoods in the U.S.

The average rental price in State College Borough Center is currently $1,617, based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. Rents here are currently lower in price than 52.4% of Pennsylvania neighborhoods.

State College Borough Center is a densely urban neighborhood (based on population density) located in State College, Pennsylvania.

Real estate in the Borough Center of State College, PA 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 renter occupied. Many of the residences in the Borough Center neighborhood are established but not old, having been built between 1970 and 1999. A number of residences were also built between 1940 and 1969.

State College Borough Center has a 14.2% vacancy rate, which is well above average compared to other U.S. neighborhoods (higher than 76.1% 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.

Modes of Transportation

More people in State College Borough Center choose to walk to work each day (47.6%) than almost any neighborhood in America. If you are attracted to the idea of being able to walk to work, this neighborhood could be a good choice.

Also, our research revealed that more commuters here take the bus to work (12.3% ride the bus) than 96.1% 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.

Finally, if your dream is to be able to ride your bike to work each day, look no further than this unique neighborhood. With 2.7% of residents in the State College Borough Center neighborhood commuting on a bicycle to and from work daily, this neighborhood has more bicycle commuters than 95.1% of all neighborhoods in the U.S., according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis.

People

An extraordinary 71.3% of the residents of the State College Borough Center neighborhood are currently enrolled in college. This is such a large part of life in this neighborhood that the neighborhood changes a great deal with the change of semesters and is far quieter during the summer when many students are away.

In addition, the State College Borough Center neighborhood stands out for having an average per capita income lower than 99.5% of the neighborhoods in the United States. Also of note, 65.4% of the children in this area live in poverty; an extraordinarily high percentage compared to other neighborhoods in the nation. In a nation where approximately one in four children grows up in poverty, this neighborhood stands out for the depth of the problem manifested here.

Also, one of the really interesting characteristics about the State College Borough Center neighborhood is that, according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive research, it is an excellent choice in which to reside for college students. Due to its popularity among college students who already choose to live here, its walkability, and its above average safety from crime, the neighborhood is ideal for prospective or already-enrolled college students. Between semesters and during school breaks, you'll notice that the excitement here fluctuates with the college seasons. Despite the excitement however, parents of college-age children can rest easy knowing that this neighborhood has an above average safety rating. For each of these reasons, the neighborhood is rated among the top 0.6% of college-friendly places to live in the state of Pennsylvania.

Finally, one of the most interesting things about the State College Borough Center neighborhood is that it has a greater concentration of residents who live alone than most all neighborhoods in America. With 50.9% of the households here made up of people living alone, NeighborhoodScout's research reveals that this is a larger proportion of people living alone than in 96.1% of the neighborhoods in America.

Car Ownership

We Americans love our cars. Not only are they a necessity for most Americans due to the shape of our neighborhoods and the distances between where we live, work, shop, and go to school, but we also fancy them. As a result, most households in America have one, two, or three cars. But NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis shows that the State College Borough Center neighborhood has a highly unusual pattern of car ownership. 45.5% of the households in this neighborhood don't own a car at all. This is more carless households than NeighborhoodScout found in 98.5% of U.S. neighborhoods.

Real Estate

One of the really unique and interesting things about the look and setting of the State College Borough Center neighborhood is that it is almost entirely dominated by large apartment buildings, such as apartment complexes or high-rise apartments. 91.0% of the residential real estate here is classified as such. This puts this neighborhood on the map as having a higher proportion of large apartment buildings than 98.4% of all neighborhoods in America.

In addition, renter-occupied real estate is dominant in the State College Borough Center neighborhood. The percentage of rental real estate here, according to exclusive NeighborhoodScout analysis, is 96.1%, which is higher than 98.3% of the neighborhoods in America. If you were to buy and live in the property you bought here, you would be almost alone in doing so.

Furthermore, the State College Borough Center neighborhood is very densely populated compared to most U.S. neighborhoods. In fact, with 32,145 persons per square mile in the neighborhood, it is more packed with people than 97.2% of the nation's neighborhoods.

Also of note, the State College Borough Center 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 86.0% 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.

Occupations

With 2.7% of employed workers living in the State College Borough Center neighborhood active in the military, this neighborhood has the distinction of having a higher proportion of people in the military than 97.3% of American neighborhoods. This is a major shaper of the neighborhood's culture and character.

Migration / Stability

Some neighborhoods have more internal cohesiveness than others. While other neighborhoods feel like a collection of strangers who just happen to live near each other. Sometimes this comes down to not only the personalities of the people in a place, but how long people have been together in that neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's research has revealed some interesting things about the rootedness of people in the State College Borough Center neighborhood. In the State College Borough Center neighborhood, a greater proportion of the residents living here today did not live here five years ago than is found in 99.4% of U.S. Neighborhoods. This neighborhood, more than almost any other in America, has new residents from other areas.

Diversity

Did you know that the State College Borough Center neighborhood has more Irish and Russian ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 23.9% of this neighborhood's residents have Irish ancestry and 3.3% have Russian ancestry.

State College Borough Center is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 3.1% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Korean at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 97.8% 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 Borough Center neighborhood in State College are low income, making it among the lowest income neighborhoods in America. NeighborhoodScout's research shows that this neighborhood has an income lower than 99.5% of U.S. neighborhoods. With 65.4% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 97.9% of U.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 State College Borough Center neighborhood, 46.5% 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 26.3% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations (20.8%), and 6.3% in manufacturing and laborer occupations.

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 State College Borough Center neighborhood is English, spoken by 84.2% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Korean and Spanish.

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 Borough Center neighborhood in State College, PA, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Irish (23.9%). There are also a number of people of German ancestry (15.4%), and residents who report Italian roots (12.5%), and some of the residents are also of Polish ancestry (7.6%), along with some Asian ancestry residents (5.5%), among others. In addition, 10.9% 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 State College Borough Center neighborhood spend under 15 minutes commuting one-way to work (48.6% of working residents), one of the shortest commutes across America.

Here most residents (47.6%) 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 (24.5%) and 12.3% of residents also ride the bus 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.


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