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.
Benning Ridge median real estate price is $507,902, which is less expensive than 79.2% of District Of Columbia neighborhoods and 32.8% of all U.S. neighborhoods.
The average rental price in Benning Ridge is currently $1,185, based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. Rents here are currently lower in price than 99.4% of District Of Columbia neighborhoods.
Benning Ridge is a densely urban neighborhood (based on population density) located in Washington, District Of Columbia.
Benning Ridge real estate is primarily made up of small (studio to two bedroom) to medium sized (three or four bedroom) small apartment buildings and townhomes. Most of the residential real estate is renter occupied. Many of the residences in the Benning Ridge neighborhood are older, well-established, built between 1940 and 1969. A number of residences were also built before 1940.
Vacant apartments or homes are a major fact of life in Benning Ridge. The current real estate vacancy rate here is 16.7%. This is higher than the rate of vacancies in 81.5% 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
When you see a neighborhood for the first time, the most important thing is often the way it looks, like its homes and its setting. Some places look the same, but they only reveal their true character after living in them for a while because they contain a unique mix of occupational or cultural groups. This neighborhood is very unique in some important ways, according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive exploration and analysis.
Real Estate
Most neighborhoods have a mixture of ages of homes in them, from new to old, but this neighborhood stands out due to its concentration of residential real estate built in one time frame: from 1940 through 1969, generally considered older, well-established homes. This was a busy time in America for home construction. After the end of World War II, as GIs came home, bought newly built homes on the edges of cities with the help of the GI Bill, and began their families. This housing era generally coincides with the 'Baby Boom' generation (1945 - 1964), and many baby boomers grew up in homes built in this era. But what is so interesting about the Benning Ridge neighborhood, is that an incredible 86.0% of the homes here were built in this era. So when you walk its streets or drive through, this neighborhood has a look and feel that harkens to that era in American life, a very important slice of Americana.
In addition, many people dream of living along a street lined with row houses or other attached homes. Such places do often have an abundance of charm. If you are one of these people, the Benning Ridge neighborhood could be your paradise. With 31.5% of the homes and real estate here classified as rowhouses or other attached homes, this neighborhood brims with opportunity to find the right place for you. Only 3.0% of U.S. neighborhoods have more row houses than this neighborhood, making it one of the most interesting things about this special neighborhood.
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 Benning Ridge neighborhood has a highly unusual pattern of car ownership. 50.3% of the households in this neighborhood don't own a car at all. This is more carless households than NeighborhoodScout found in 98.7% of U.S. neighborhoods.
Modes of Transportation
Our research revealed that more commuters here take the bus to work (20.6% ride the bus) than 98.7% 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.
Also, in the Benning Ridge neighborhood, 33.0% 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 98.4% of the neighborhoods in America.
Occupations
The Benning Ridge neighborhood has a greater proportion of government workers living in it than 97.9% 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.
People
Of note, 54.7% of the children in this area live in poverty; an extraordinarily high percentage compared to other neighborhoods in the nation. In a nation where approximately one in four children grows up in poverty, this neighborhood stands out for the depth of the problem manifested here.
Diversity
Did you know that the Benning Ridge neighborhood has more African and Dominican ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 18.3% of this neighborhood's residents have African ancestry and 9.3% have Dominican ancestry.
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 Benning Ridge neighborhood in Washington are middle-income, making it a moderate income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 43.1% of the neighborhoods in America. With 54.7% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 95.5% of U.S. neighborhoods.
The old saying "you are what you eat" is true. But it is also true that you are what you do for a living. The types of occupations your neighbors have shape their character, and together as a group, their collective occupations shape the culture of a place.
In the Benning Ridge neighborhood, 29.8% of the working population is employed in sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is executive, management, and professional occupations, with 28.9% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations (27.7%), and 16.5% in government jobs, whether they are in local, state, or federal positions.
Languages
The most common language spoken in the Benning Ridge neighborhood is English, spoken by 98.6% of households.
Ethnicity / Ancestry
Boston's Beacon Hill blue-blood streets, Brooklyn's Orthodox Jewish enclaves, Los Angeles' Persian neighborhoods. Each has its own culture derived primarily from the ancestries and culture of the residents who call these neighborhoods home. Likewise, each neighborhood in America has its own culture – some more unique than others – based on lifestyle, occupations, the types of households – and importantly – on the ethnicities and ancestries of the people who live in the neighborhood. Understanding where people came from, who their grandparents or great-grandparents were, can help you understand how a neighborhood is today.
In the Benning Ridge neighborhood in Washington, DC, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Sub-Saharan African (18.3%). There are also a number of people of African ancestry (18.3%), and residents who report Dominican roots (9.3%), and some of the residents are also of German ancestry (1.2%).
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 Benning Ridge neighborhood spend between 30 and 45 minutes commuting one-way to work (64.6% of working residents), which is at or a bit above the average length of a commute across all U.S. neighborhoods.
Here most residents (33.0%) take the train to get to work. In addition, quite a number also drive alone in a private automobile to get to work (26.5%) and 20.6% 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.
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.
