What do we mean by a neighborhood?
NeighborhoodScout® uses the official government designation for neighborhoods - the census tract.
Census tracts are small, relatively permanent subdivisions of a county that are defined by the U.S. Census Bureau in conjunction with local authorities all across the country to define real neighborhoods that are bounded to contain areas with homogeneous population characteristics (including economic status, lifestyle, and living conditions). Census tracts usually have 4,000 persons, but can range between 1,500 and 8,000 persons. This is the most fine-grained area for which detailed information is made available from the government, to protect the individual privacy of each of us. Because census tracts are based on population, they vary in size depending on the density of settlement. In urban areas, they are small, and in rural areas they can cover an entire small town or even a few small towns in very rural areas.
Since census tracts are subdivisions of a county, we did a spatial overlay of the census tracts onto city and town boundaries using a geographic information system to properly assign each census tract to its appropriate city or town. Then we named each census tract to the local colloquially recognized neighborhood name for that spot (e.g., Boston, MA (Dorchester). If there was not a name available, we named the census tract by the largest street intersection in the census tract (e.g., Worcester, MA (Lincoln St/Plantation St)
Why we don't use Zip Codes as neighborhoods
Zip codes were developed by the Postal Service for the purpose of delivering mail, but were never intended to define coherent neighborhoods. In addition, Zip Codes can have as many as 10 distinctly different census tracts contained within them. When distinct census tracts are blended together in a single Zip Code, the data reflects their average conditions and often gives a false sense of the area. The result is that potentially great matching neighborhoods can be missed, and erroneous matches can also be produced and delivered to you.
Using census tracts makes great matches possible, and helps people find the areas that are best for them and their families. Because we are committed to providing the highest possible quality and finding the neighborhoods that best meet your criteria, we use census tracts. And, as always, we show you the actual street map of the neighborhood so you know exactly where your best matching neighborhood is located.
What is a Condition Alert?
A condition alert is a condition in the neighborhood that triggers an alert. NeighborhoodScout contains condition alerts to highlight conditions that are extreme, whether good or bad. This helps answer crucial questions about the state of the neighborhood being evaluated, such as:
What are the risks of violent crime here?
Is the risk of home break-ins or other property crimes increasing?
Does real estate here hold its value?
Are the trends in local vacancies or unemployment concerning?
...and dozens more.
Information at a glance that you need to know to invest, appraise or finance a property.
Mount Vernon South median real estate price is $875,843, which is more expensive than 65.8% of the neighborhoods in New York and 87.2% of the neighborhoods in the U.S.
The average rental price in Mount Vernon South is currently $2,052, based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. Rents here are currently lower in price than 69.3% of New York neighborhoods.
Mount Vernon South is a densely urban neighborhood (based on population density) located in Mount Vernon, New York.
Mount Vernon South 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 Mount Vernon South 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.
Real estate vacancies in Mount Vernon South are 4.9%, which is lower than one will find in 65.9% of American neighborhoods. Demand for real estate in Mount Vernon South 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
Many things matter about a neighborhood, but the first thing most people notice is the way a neighborhood looks and its particular character. For example, one might notice whether the buildings all date from a certain time period or whether shop signs are in multiple languages. This particular neighborhood in Mount Vernon, the Mount Vernon South neighborhood, has some outstanding things about the way it looks and its way of life that are worth highlighting.
Real Estate
Three-deckers, duplexes, old Victorian homes cut up into apartments. Independent stores on the corner selling pizza. These are some of the hallmarks of neighborhoods with lots of small 2, 3, and 4 unit apartment buildings. The Mount Vernon South neighborhood really stands out in this regard, however, as it is dominated by such small apartment buildings more than nearly any other neighborhood in America. This is a stunning visual and lifestyle example of this type of neighborhood. In fact, 53.8% of the real estate here are small 2, 3, or 4 unit apartment buildings, which is a higher proportion than found in 98.8% of America's neighborhoods.
In addition, if you like crowded places, then you will probably enjoy the the Mount Vernon South neighborhood. According to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive data analysis, this neighborhood is more densely populated than 96.2% of neighborhoods in the U.S., with 25,480 people per square mile living here. Even if you drive or take transit to your place of employment, many people enjoy being able to walk in their neighborhood. What many people don't realize is that most of America's premier vacation locations are also very walkable. The Mount Vernon South neighborhood is among the top 5% of American neighborhoods in terms of walkability.
Modes of Transportation
More people ride the bus in this neighborhood each day to get to work than 98.0% of U.S. neighborhoods.
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 Mount Vernon South neighborhood is a fantastic option for bicycle commuters, as 3.8% of commuters here do ride their bikes to and from work on a daily basis. This is a higher amount than we found in 97.1% 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 12.9% of the Mount Vernon South neighborhood's commuters ride the train to and from work each day, which is more than we found in 96.2% of America's neighborhoods.
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 Mount Vernon South neighborhood have a highly unusual car ownership. 36.7% of the households in this neighborhood don't own a car at all. This is more carless households than NeighborhoodScout found in 97.8% of U.S. neighborhoods.
Diversity
Did you know that the Mount Vernon South neighborhood has more Jamaican and Dominican ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 28.7% of this neighborhood's residents have Jamaican ancestry and 8.5% have Dominican ancestry.
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 Mount Vernon South neighborhood in Mount Vernon are lower-middle income, making it a below average income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's research shows that this neighborhood has an income lower than 71.5% of U.S. neighborhoods. With 10.5% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 51.4% 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 Mount Vernon South neighborhood, 39.8% 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 22.3% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in manufacturing and laborer occupations (21.4%), and 16.5% in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations.
Languages
The most common language spoken in the Mount Vernon South neighborhood is English, spoken by 72.6% of households. Some people also speak Spanish (16.6%).
Ethnicity / Ancestry
Culture is the shared learned behavior of peoples. Undeniably, different ethnicities and ancestries have different cultural traditions, and as a result, neighborhoods with concentrations of residents of one or another ethnicities or ancestries will express those cultures. It is what makes the North End in Boston so fun to visit for the Italian restaurants, bakeries, culture, and charm, and similarly, why people enjoy visiting Chinatown in San Francisco.
In the Mount Vernon South neighborhood in Mount Vernon, NY, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Jamaican (28.7%). There are also a number of people of Puerto Rican ancestry (10.9%), and residents who report Dominican roots (8.5%), and some of the residents are also of Asian ancestry (3.0%), along with some Mexican ancestry residents (2.2%), among others. In addition, 20.9% of the residents of this neighborhood were born in another country.
Getting to Work
How you get to work – car, bus, train or other means – and how much of your day it takes to do so is a large quality of life and financial issue. Especially with gasoline prices rising and expected to continue doing so, the length and means of one's commute can be a financial burden. Some neighborhoods are physically located so that many residents have to drive in their own car, others are set up so many walk to work, or can take a train, bus, or bike. The greatest number of commuters in Mount Vernon South neighborhood spend between 15 and 30 minutes commuting one-way to work (37.7% of working residents), which is shorter than the time spent commuting to work for most Americans.
Here most residents (51.0%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also ride the bus to get to work (16.6%) and 12.9% of residents also take the train 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.
SCOUT’s patented match algorithm identifies the most similar neighborhoods to a subject location, and quantifies the similarity to the subject location. This allows analysts to identify the most similar neighborhoods in a local market area for appraisals, investments, and research.
The algorithm uses 273 neighborhood conditions, identifies the dominant dimensions underlying the conditions and calculates the similarity. This captures the true culture and character of locations, economic conditions, and trends.
The closer to 100% means the locations are nearly identical. 80% is a very good, but not excellent match, and so forth.
