Dorchester West median real estate price is $963,108, which is more expensive than 73.3% of the neighborhoods in Massachusetts and 88.3% of the neighborhoods in the U.S.
The average rental price in Dorchester West is currently $2,235, based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. Rents here are currently lower in price than 78.9% of Massachusetts neighborhoods.
Dorchester West is a densely urban neighborhood (based on population density) located in Boston, Massachusetts.
Dorchester West 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 renter occupied. Many of the residences in the Dorchester West 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 Dorchester West are 5.3%, which is lower than one will find in 64.6% of American neighborhoods. Demand for real estate in Dorchester West 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.
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.
Length of Commute
Regardless of the means by which residents commute, this neighborhood has a length of commute that is notable. Long commutes can be brutal. They take time, money, and energy, leaving less of you for yourself and your family. The residents of the Dorchester West neighborhood unfortunately have the distinction of having, on average, a longer commute than most any neighborhood in America. 16.0% of commuters here travel more than one hour just one-way to work. That is more than two hours per day. This percentage with two-hour + round-trip commutes is higher than NeighborhoodScout found in 98.9% of all neighborhoods in America.
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 Dorchester West neighborhood have a highly unusual car ownership. 44.8% 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.
Modes of Transportation
If your dream is to be able to ride your bike to work each day, look no further than this unique neighborhood. With 5.1% of residents in the Dorchester West neighborhood commuting on a bicycle to and from work daily, this neighborhood has more bicycle commuters than 98.2% of all neighborhoods in the U.S., according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis.
Also, in the Dorchester West neighborhood, 30.3% 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 98.2% of the neighborhoods in America.
Finally, our research revealed that more commuters here take the bus to work (16.7% ride the bus) than 97.8% 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.
Real Estate
The Dorchester West neighborhood is very densely populated compared to most U.S. neighborhoods. In fact, with 36,511 persons per square mile in the neighborhood, it is more packed with people than 97.6% 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 Dorchester West neighborhood is one of the most walkable neighborhoods in America.
In addition, 87.7% of the real estate in the Dorchester West neighborhood is occupied by renters, which is nearly the highest rate of renter occupancy of any neighborhood in America.
Furthermore, 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 Dorchester West 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 31.0% of the real estate here is made up of such dwellings, which is higher than 95.0% of all U.S. neighborhoods.
People
The Dorchester West neighborhood stands out for having an average per capita income lower than 97.0% of the neighborhoods in the United States.
In addition, single parenting is hard. But you don't have to tell the Dorchester West neighborhood about it; they already know. 19.3% of this neighborhood's households are run by single mothers, which is a higher concentration than NeighborhoodScout found in 96.6% of American neighborhoods. Further NeighborhoodScout research showed strong statistical correlations among high rates of children living in single parent households, and neighborhood crime, particularly violent crime, neighborhood poverty, and, importantly, the percentage of low weight births and rates of infant mortality.
Diversity
Did you know that the Dorchester West neighborhood has more Dominican and Haitian ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 14.8% of this neighborhood's residents have Dominican ancestry and 9.7% have Haitian ancestry.
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 Dorchester West neighborhood in Boston are low income, making it among the lowest income neighborhoods in America. NeighborhoodScout's research shows that this neighborhood has an income lower than 97.0% of U.S. neighborhoods. With 29.2% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 80.3% of U.S. neighborhoods.
What we choose to do for a living reflects who we are. Each neighborhood has a different mix of occupations represented, and together these tell you about the neighborhood and help you understand if this neighborhood may fit your lifestyle.
In the Dorchester West neighborhood, 34.6% 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 34.0% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations (20.9%), and 10.5% 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 Dorchester West neighborhood is English, spoken by 64.0% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish, Italian and French.
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 Dorchester West neighborhood in Boston, MA, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Puerto Rican (15.3%). There are also a number of people of Dominican ancestry (14.8%), and residents who report Haitian roots (9.7%), and some of the residents are also of Jamaican ancestry (8.5%), along with some Irish ancestry residents (2.0%), among others. In addition, 32.2% of the residents of this neighborhood were born in another country.
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 Dorchester West neighborhood spend between 45 minutes and one hour commuting one-way to work (32.2% of working residents), longer and tougher than most commutes in America.
Here most residents (30.3%) take the train to get to work. In addition, quite a number also drive alone in a private automobile to get to work (29.1%) and 16.7% of residents also ride the bus for their daily commute. This neighborhood is distinguished by the high number of residents who take the train to work each day, which can be a very good way to get to work at a lower cost and with less pollution.
