Boston University median real estate price is $922,981, which is more expensive than 75.3% of the neighborhoods in Massachusetts and 89.0% of the neighborhoods in the U.S.
The average rental price in Boston University is currently $4,459, based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. The average rental cost in this neighborhood is higher than 81.9% of the neighborhoods in Massachusetts.
Boston University is a densely urban neighborhood (based on population density) located in Boston, Massachusetts.
Boston University 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 small apartment buildings. Most of the residential real estate is renter occupied. Many of the residences in the Boston University neighborhood are newer, built in 2000 or more recently. A number of residences were also built between 1940 and 1969.
Vacant apartments or homes are a major fact of life in Boston University. The current real estate vacancy rate here is 33.1%. This is higher than the rate of vacancies in 95.9% 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.
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 Boston, the Boston University neighborhood, has some outstanding things about the way it looks and its way of life that are worth highlighting.
People
Of note is NeighborhoodScout's research finding that the Boston University neighborhood has some of the lowest rates of children living in poverty of any neighborhood in the United States. In a nation where approximately 1 in 4 children are living in poverty, the Boston University community truly stands out from the rest in this regard.
In addition, an extraordinary 83.5% of the residents of the Boston University neighborhood are currently enrolled in college. This is such a large part of life in this neighborhood that the neighborhood changes a great deal with the change of semesters and is far quieter during the summer when many students are away.
Also, one of the really interesting characteristics about the Boston University neighborhood is that, according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive research, it is an excellent choice in which to reside for college students. Due to its popularity among college students who already choose to live here, its walkability, and its above average safety from crime, the neighborhood is ideal for prospective or already-enrolled college students. Between semesters and during school breaks, you'll notice that the excitement here fluctuates with the college seasons. Despite the excitement however, parents of college-age children can rest easy knowing that this neighborhood has an above average safety rating. For each of these reasons, the neighborhood is rated among the top 2.9% of college-friendly places to live in the state of Massachusetts. In addition to being an excellent choice for college students, this neighborhood is also a very good choice for young, single professionals.
Modes of Transportation
In the Boston University neighborhood, walking to work is a real option for many. In fact, NeighborhoodScout's exclusive research reveals walking to and from work is the chosen way to commute for 55.6% of residents here. This is a higher proportion of walking commuters than we found in 99.9% of American neighborhoods. Get ready to put on your walking shoes if you move here!
Real Estate
The real estate in the Boston University neighborhood really stands out in the way it looks for a unique reason: this neighborhood has a higher proportion of apartment complexes or high-rise apartments than nearly every neighborhood in the country. Most neighborhoods are a mixture of real estate and housing types, but here it is almost entirely dominated by big apartment buildings and complexes. In fact, 96.1% of the real estate here is classified as apartment complexes or high-rise apartments, which is more than is found in 99.2% of American neighborhoods.
In addition, renter-occupied real estate is dominant in the Boston University neighborhood. The percentage of rental real estate here, according to exclusive NeighborhoodScout analysis, is 98.1%, which is higher than 98.8% of the neighborhoods in America. If you were to buy and live in the property you bought here, you would be almost alone in doing so. Despite all of the residential real estate here in the Boston University neighborhood, NeighborhoodScout has discovered that much of it is vacant. In resort or second-home vacation areas, this naturally occurs because homes and apartments are seasonally occupied, and empty for a portion of the year. In non-vacation or resort areas, however, this can be an indicator of property abandonment or a weak real estate market. The vacancy rate here is 33.1%, which is higher than 95.9% of all U.S. neighborhoods.
Furthermore, the Boston University neighborhood is very unique in that it has one of the highest proportions of one, two, or no bedroom real estate of any neighborhood in America. Most neighborhoods have a mixture of home or apartment sizes from small to large, but here the concentration of studios and other small living spaces is at near-record heights. With 92.7% of the real estate here of this small size, this most assuredly is a notable feature that makes this neighborhood unique, along with just a handful of other neighborhoods in the U.S. that share this characteristic.
Also of note, the Boston University neighborhood is very densely populated compared to most U.S. neighborhoods. In fact, with 42,225 persons per square mile in the neighborhood, it is more packed with people than 98.0% of the nation's neighborhoods. 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 Boston University neighborhood is among the top 5% of American neighborhoods in terms of walkability.
Car Ownership
American households most often have a car, and regularly they have two or three. But households in the Boston University neighborhood buck this trend. 38.3% of the households in this neighborhood don't own a car at all. This is more carless households than NeighborhoodScout found in 98.0% of U.S. neighborhoods.
Migration / Stability
Do you like to be surrounded by people from all over the country or world, with different perspectives and life experiences? Or do you instead prefer to be in a neighborhood where most residents have lived there for a long time, creating a sense of cohesiveness? NeighborhoodScout's analysis reveals that this neighborhood stands out among American neighborhoods for the uniqueness of the mobility of its residents. In the Boston University neighborhood, a greater proportion of the residents living here today did not live here five years ago than is found in 99.2% 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 Boston University neighborhood has more Arab and Lebanese ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 4.8% of this neighborhood's residents have Arab ancestry and 1.3% have Lebanese ancestry.
Boston University is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 1.8% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Russian at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 98.3% of the neighborhoods in America.
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 Boston University neighborhood in Boston are low income, making it among the lowest income neighborhoods in America. NeighborhoodScout's research shows that this neighborhood has an income lower than 90.5% 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 Boston University neighborhood, 49.3% 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 24.9% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations (23.7%), and 2.1% 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 Boston University neighborhood is English, spoken by 55.2% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Chinese, Spanish, Langs. of India and Arabic.
Ethnicity / Ancestry
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 Boston University neighborhood in Boston, MA, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Asian (25.5%). There are also a number of people of Italian ancestry (14.9%), and residents who report Irish roots (12.7%), and some of the residents are also of German ancestry (6.1%), along with some Arab ancestry residents (4.8%), among others. In addition, 27.4% of the residents of this neighborhood were born in another country.
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 Boston University neighborhood spend under 15 minutes commuting one-way to work (51.8% of working residents), one of the shortest commutes across America.
Here most residents (55.6%) 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 (9.8%) and 6.3% of residents also take the train 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.
