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Real Estate Prices & Overview

Highlands South median real estate price is $365,071, which is more expensive than 62.7% of the neighborhoods in Pennsylvania and 47.1% of the neighborhoods in the U.S.

The average rental price in Highlands South is currently $1,648, based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. Rents here are currently lower in price than 56.3% of Pennsylvania neighborhoods.

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

Highlands South 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 single-family homes. Most of the residential real estate is renter occupied. Many of the residences in the Highlands South neighborhood are older, well-established, built between 1940 and 1969. A number of residences were also built between 1970 and 1999.

Vacant apartments or homes are a major fact of life in Highlands South. The current real estate vacancy rate here is 18.3%. This is higher than the rate of vacancies in 85.2% of all U.S. neighborhoods. In addition, most vacant housing here is vacant year round. This can sometimes be the case in neighborhoods dominated by new construction that is not yet occupied. But often neighborhoods with vacancy rates this high are places that can be plagued by a protracted vacancy problem. If you live here, you may find that a number of buildings in your neighborhood are actually empty.

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 State College, the Highlands South neighborhood, has some outstanding things about the way it looks and its way of life that are worth highlighting.

People

In a nation where 1 out of every 4 children lives in poverty, the Highlands South neighborhood stands out as being ranked among the lowest 0.0% of neighborhoods affected by this global issue.

In addition, neighborhoodScout's analysis shows that the Highlands South neighborhood has a greater concentration of residents currently enrolled in college than 99.5% of the neighborhoods in the U.S. With 67.2% of the population here attending college, this is very much a college-focused neighborhood.

Also, there is an especially high percentage of incarcerated people (1.1%) living in the Highlands South neighborhood.

Finally, the Highlands South neighborhood stands out within Pennsylvania 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 5.4% of college-friendly places to live in PA.

Modes of Transportation

More people in Highlands South choose to walk to work each day (37.1%) 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.

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 Highlands South neighborhood has a highly unusual pattern of car ownership. 22.5% of the households in this neighborhood don't own a car at all. This is more carless households than NeighborhoodScout found in 95.8% of U.S. neighborhoods.

Real Estate

84.9% of the real estate in the Highlands South neighborhood is occupied by renters, which is nearly the highest rate of renter occupancy of any neighborhood in America.

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 Highlands South neighborhood. In the Highlands South neighborhood, a greater proportion of the residents living here today did not live here five years ago than is found in 99.7% 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 Highlands South neighborhood has more Iranian and Eastern European ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 2.8% of this neighborhood's residents have Iranian ancestry and 1.7% have Eastern European ancestry.

Highlands South is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 1.0% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Persian at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 97.7% of the neighborhoods in America.

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 Highlands South 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 94.6% of U.S. neighborhoods. In addition, 0.0% 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 100.0% of America'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 Highlands South neighborhood, 54.1% 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 34.7% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in government jobs, whether they are in local, state, or federal positions (9.3%), and 6.6% 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 Highlands South neighborhood is English, spoken by 88.3% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Polish and Spanish.

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 Highlands South neighborhood in State College, PA, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Irish (16.4%). There are also a number of people of German ancestry (13.3%), and residents who report Italian roots (10.2%), and some of the residents are also of English ancestry (8.7%), along with some Polish ancestry residents (7.8%), among others. In addition, 10.4% 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 Highlands South neighborhood spend under 15 minutes commuting one-way to work (51.3% of working residents), one of the shortest commutes across America.

Here most residents (37.1%) 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 (34.3%) and 9.0% of residents also carpool with coworkers, friends, or neighbors 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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