Gary is a tiny city located in the state of West Virginia. With a population of 703 people and just one neighborhood, Gary is the 169th largest community in West Virginia. Gary has a large stock of pre-World War II architecture, making it one of the older and more historic cities in the country.
Gary is a decidedly white-collar city, with fully 92.71% of the workforce employed in white-collar jobs, well above the national average. Overall, Gary is a city of service providers, professionals, and sales and office workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Gary who work in healthcare suport services (27.43%), architecture and engineering (15.28%), and food service (11.46%).
The overall crime rate in Gary is one of the lowest in the US. This makes it one of the safer places to live in the country in terms of crime.
Residents will find that the city is relatively quiet. This is because it is not over-populated, and it has fewer college students, renters, and young children - all of whom can be noisy at times. So, if you're looking for a relatively peaceful place to live, Gary is worth considering.
One downside of living in Gary is that it can take a long time to commute to work. In Gary, the average commute to work is 30.57 minutes, which is quite a bit higher than the national average.
Gary is a small city, and as is often the case with smaller towns, the population isn't large or dense enough to support much in the way of a public transportation system. In fact, there are many rural roads around Gary, which makes walking or biking to and from work a bit difficult. This makes for a very car-oriented town: 99.30% of residents commute to work by private automobile, and people often drive out of town for work, shopping, and other activities.
Being a small city, Gary does not have a public transit system used by locals to get to and from work.
In terms of college education, Gary ranks among the least educated cities in the nation, as only 3.37% of people over 25 have a bachelor's degree or advanced degree.
The per capita income in Gary in 2022 was $19,188, which is low income relative to West Virginia and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $76,752 for a family of four. However, Gary contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
Gary is a very ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Gary home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Gary residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Gary include Irish, Dutch, English, French, and German.
The most common language spoken in Gary is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and African languages.
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.
The neighborhood has a greater proportion of government workers living in it than 98.5% of the neighborhoods in America, according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. This is a unique feature of this neighborhood, and one that shapes its character.
The neighborhood has a greater percentage of children living in poverty (61.4%) than found in 97.3% of all U.S. neighborhoods. Children living in poverty is one of the challenges facing America, and the world, and in this neighborhood in particular, the problem can be considered acute.
In addition, the neighborhood is unique for having just 5.8% of adults here having earned a bachelor's degree. This is a lower rate of college graduates than NeighborhoodScout found in 96.7% of America's neighborhoods.
Also, the neighborhood stands out within West Virginia for its college student friendly environment. NeighborhoodScout's analysis reveals that this neighborhood is home to a number of college students, is relatively walkable, and above average in safety. In combination, this makes it stand out for a good place for college students to consider. Because a number of college students live here, this neighborhood may be close to a college campus and offer certain amenities nearby geared towards the student body. While it's not an environment for everyone, ambitious scholars can enjoy seasonal excitement between semesters and school breaks, and parents can rest easy knowing that the area has an above average safety rating. For each of these reasons, the neighborhood is rated among the top 7.0% of college-friendly places to live in WV.
Our research reveals that 89.1% of commuters who live in the neighborhood get to work each day by driving alone in their automobiles, which is a higher proportion than 96.3% of U.S. neighborhoods.
Vacant homes and apartments are a significant characteristic of this neighborhood. In fact, with 32.1% of the residential real estate vacant, the neighborhood claims the distinction of having a higher vacancy rate than 95.9% of the neighborhoods in America. This can either be because much of the property is seasonally occupied, like in many vacation areas, or that much of the real estate is more permanently abandoned.
In addition, uncrowded roads, rural America and space to be the individual you are. If you like these characteristics, this neighborhood may fit you. With just 28 residents per square mile, is less crowded than 93.2% of all U.S. neighborhoods.
Did you know that the neighborhood has more Irish ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 26.4% of this neighborhood's residents have Irish ancestry.
The freedom of moving to new places versus the comfort of home. How much and how often people move not only can create diverse and worldly neighborhoods, but simultaneously it can produce a loss of intimacy with one's surroundings and a lack of connectedness to one's neighbors. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive research has identified this neighborhood as unique with regard to the transience of its populace. More residents of the neighborhood live here today that also were living in this same neighborhood five years ago than is found in 97.3% of U.S. neighborhoods. This neighborhood is really made up of people who know each other, don't move often, and have lived here in this very neighborhood for quite a while.
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 in Gary are low income, making it among the lowest income neighborhoods in America. NeighborhoodScout's research shows that this neighborhood has an income lower than 94.9% of U.S. neighborhoods. With 61.4% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 97.3% 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 neighborhood, 37.1% 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 28.8% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in manufacturing and laborer occupations (21.6%), and 18.0% in government jobs, whether they are in local, state, or federal positions.
The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is English, spoken by 97.1% of households.
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 in Gary, WV, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Irish (26.4%). There are also a number of people of German ancestry (12.9%), and residents who report English roots (10.2%), and some of the residents are also of Italian ancestry (2.3%), along with some Scottish ancestry residents (2.2%), among others.
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 spend between 45 minutes and one hour commuting one-way to work (51.4% of working residents), longer and tougher than most commutes in America.
Here most residents (89.1%) 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 (5.5%) and 5.3% 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.