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.
Wilkes Barre South median real estate price is $130,336, which is less expensive than 86.6% of Pennsylvania neighborhoods and 90.0% of all U.S. neighborhoods.
The average rental price in Wilkes Barre South is currently $1,366, based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. Rents here are currently lower in price than 68.4% of Pennsylvania neighborhoods.
Wilkes Barre South is an urban neighborhood (based on population density) located in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
Wilkes Barre South real estate is primarily made up of medium sized (three or four bedroom) to small (studio to two bedroom) single-family homes 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 Wilkes Barre South neighborhood are established but not old, having been built between 1970 and 1999. A number of residences were also built before 1940.
Wilkes Barre South has a 9.7% vacancy rate, which is well above average compared to other U.S. neighborhoods (higher than 60.5% 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
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 Wilkes-Barre, the Wilkes Barre South neighborhood, has some outstanding things about the way it looks and its way of life that are worth highlighting.
People
The Wilkes Barre South neighborhood has a greater percentage of children living in poverty (73.6%) than found in 98.9% 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, whether by choice, divorce, or unplanned pregnancy, single moms may have the toughest job in the book. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that the Wilkes Barre South neighborhood has more single mother households than 95.7% of the neighborhoods in the U.S. Often high concentrations of single mother homes can be a strong indicator of family and social issues such as poverty, high rates of school dropouts, crime, and other societal problems.
Also, the Wilkes Barre 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 8.9% of college-friendly places to live in PA.
Occupations
With 4.0% of employed workers living in the Wilkes Barre South neighborhood active in the military, this neighborhood has the distinction of having a higher proportion of people in the military than 98.3% of American neighborhoods. This is a major shaper of the neighborhood's culture and character.
Modes of Transportation
More people ride the bus in this neighborhood each day to get to work than 95.4% of U.S. neighborhoods.
Car Ownership
American households most often have a car, and regularly they have two or three. But households in the Wilkes Barre South neighborhood buck this trend. 20.1% of the households in this neighborhood don't own a car at all. This is more carless households than NeighborhoodScout found in 95.3% of U.S. neighborhoods.
Diversity
Did you know that the Wilkes Barre South neighborhood has more Puerto Rican and Slovak ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 13.9% of this neighborhood's residents have Puerto Rican ancestry and 1.7% have Slovak ancestry.
Wilkes Barre South is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 9.5% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Polish at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 97.9% 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 Wilkes Barre South neighborhood in Wilkes-Barre are low income, making it among the lowest income neighborhoods in America. NeighborhoodScout's research shows that this neighborhood has an income lower than 94.0% of U.S. neighborhoods. With 73.6% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 98.9% 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 Wilkes Barre South neighborhood, 31.3% 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 26.2% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in manufacturing and laborer occupations (25.4%), and 17.1% in clerical, assistant, and tech support 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 Wilkes Barre South neighborhood is English, spoken by 77.4% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Polish.
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 Wilkes Barre South neighborhood in Wilkes-Barre, PA, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Mexican (14.8%). There are also a number of people of Puerto Rican ancestry (13.9%), and residents who report Italian roots (12.9%), and some of the residents are also of Irish ancestry (9.8%), along with some Polish ancestry residents (7.8%), among others. In addition, 15.0% 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 Wilkes Barre South neighborhood spend between 15 and 30 minutes commuting one-way to work (64.5% of working residents), which is shorter than the time spent commuting to work for most Americans.
Here most residents (72.1%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also ride the bus to get to work (11.0%) and 7.0% 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.
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.
