Central Square median real estate price is $1,574,905, which is more expensive than 94.4% of the neighborhoods in Massachusetts and 97.0% of the neighborhoods in the U.S.
The average rental price in Central Square is currently $5,029, based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. The average rental cost in this neighborhood is higher than 90.0% of the neighborhoods in Massachusetts.
Central Square is a densely urban neighborhood (based on population density) located in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Central Square 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 Central Square 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 2000 and the present.
Real estate vacancies in Central Square are 5.7%, which is lower than one will find in 62.1% of American neighborhoods. Demand for real estate in Central Square 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.
The way a neighborhood looks and feels when you walk or drive around it, from its setting, its buildings, and its flavor, can make all the difference. This neighborhood has some really cool things about the way it looks and feels as revealed by NeighborhoodScout's exclusive research. This might include anything from the housing stock to the types of households living here to how people get around.
People
Some neighborhoods have residents that are more educated than others. But in this neighborhood there is a dramatic difference. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that 49.5% of the adults here have earned a Masters degree, medical degree, Ph.D. or law degree. This is a higher rate of people with a graduate degree than is found in 99.1% of U.S. neighborhoods, where the average American neighborhood has 13.4% of its adults with a graduate degree. If you are highly educated, you may have much in common with many of your neighbors here.
In addition, of note, 59.1% 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.
Occupations
The Central Square neighborhood has a higher proportion of its residents employed as executives, managers and professionals than 99.1% of the neighborhoods in America. In fact, 80.1% of the employed people here make a living as an executive, a manager, or other professional. With such a high concentration, this truly shapes the character of this neighborhood, and to a large degree defines what this neighborhood is about.
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 Central Square neighborhood have a highly unusual car ownership. 54.8% of the households in this neighborhood don't own a car at all. This is more carless households than NeighborhoodScout found in 99.0% of U.S. neighborhoods.
Modes of Transportation
If your dream is to be able to ride your bike to work each day, look no further than this unique neighborhood. With 6.2% of residents in the Central Square neighborhood commuting on a bicycle to and from work daily, this neighborhood has more bicycle commuters than 98.9% of all neighborhoods in the U.S., according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis.
Also, in the Central Square 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 24.2% of residents here. This is a higher proportion of walking commuters than we found in 98.7% of American neighborhoods. Get ready to put on your walking shoes if you move here!
Finally, if you like to ride the train to work, this neighborhood may be for you. NeighborhoodScout's research revealed that 27.5% of the Central Square neighborhood's commuters ride the train to and from work each day, which is more than we found in 98.0% of America's neighborhoods.
Real Estate
91.4% of the real estate in the Central Square neighborhood is occupied by renters, which is nearly the highest rate of renter occupancy of any neighborhood in America.
In addition, one of the really unique and interesting things about the look and setting of the Central Square neighborhood is that it is almost entirely dominated by large apartment buildings, such as apartment complexes or high-rise apartments. 76.0% of the residential real estate here is classified as such. This puts this neighborhood on the map as having a higher proportion of large apartment buildings than 96.1% of all neighborhoods in America.
Furthermore, if you like crowded places, then you will probably enjoy the the Central Square neighborhood. According to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive data analysis, this neighborhood is more densely populated than 95.0% of neighborhoods in the U.S., with 20,664 people per square mile living here. Being a walkable neighborhood can help increase property values for the simple reason that people enjoy it and value it. To put it plainly, despite our love affair with the automobile, American's enjoy taking to the streets, sidewalks, paths, and courtyards of a place to get a coffee, relax, and take in the sights and sounds. And, according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive and first quantitative walkable score index, the Central Square neighborhood is one of the most walkable neighborhoods in America.
Also of note, the Central Square 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 81.7% 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.
Diversity
Did you know that the Central Square neighborhood has more Portuguese and Haitian ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 2.5% of this neighborhood's residents have Portuguese ancestry and 3.0% have Haitian ancestry.
Central Square is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 4.7% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak African languages at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 98.5% of the neighborhoods in America.
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 Central Square neighborhood, a greater proportion of the residents living here today did not live here five years ago than is found in 96.6% of U.S. Neighborhoods. This neighborhood, more than almost any other in America, has new residents from other areas.
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 Central Square neighborhood in Cambridge are upper-middle income, making it an above average income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 74.8% of the neighborhoods in America. With 59.1% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 96.6% 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 Central Square neighborhood, 80.1% 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 9.6% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations (8.6%), and 3.7% in government jobs, whether they are in local, state, or federal positions.
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 Central Square neighborhood is English, spoken by 60.8% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Chinese, Spanish, French and African languages.
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 Central Square neighborhood in Cambridge, MA, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Asian (24.3%). There are also a number of people of Italian ancestry (6.8%), and residents who report German roots (5.6%), and some of the residents are also of Irish ancestry (5.1%), along with some French ancestry residents (4.1%), among others. In addition, 36.4% of the residents of this neighborhood were born in another country.
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 Central Square neighborhood spend between 15 and 30 minutes commuting one-way to work (35.9% of working residents), which is shorter than the time spent commuting to work for most Americans.
Here most residents (27.5%) take the train to get to work. In addition, quite a number also hop out the door and walk to work to get to work (24.2%) and 7.7% of residents also drive alone in a private automobile 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.
