Brooklyn is an enormous coastal borough (i.e. on the ocean, a bay, or inlet) located in the state of New York. With a population of 2,736,074 people and 804 associated neighborhoods, Brooklyn is the largest community in New York. Brooklyn has a large stock of pre-World War II architecture, making it one of the older and more historic boroughs in the country. Brooklyn home prices are not only among the most expensive in New York, but Brooklyn real estate also consistently ranks among the most expensive in America.Brooklyn is a decidedly white-collar borough, with fully 86.07% of the workforce employed in white-collar jobs, well above the national average. Overall, Brooklyn is a borough of professionals, service providers, and sales and office workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Brooklyn who work in management occupations (10.56%), office and administrative support (10.51%), and sales jobs (7.93%). Of important note, Brooklyn is also a borough of artists. Brooklyn has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape Brooklyn’s character. Also of interest is that Brooklyn has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US. One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 14.57% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes. Brooklyn is also nautical, which means that parts of it are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and bays. Quite often, nautical areas such as these attract visitors and locals who come to enjoy the scenery and various waterfront activities. One downside of living in Brooklyn is that it can take a long time to commute to work. In Brooklyn, the average commute to work is 40.72 minutes, which is quite a bit higher than the national average. On the other hand, local public transit is widely used in the borough, so leaving the car at home and taking transit is often a viable alternative. In addition, it is also a pedestrian-friendly borough. Many of Brooklyn’s neighborhoods are dense enough and have amenities close enough together that people find it feasible to get around on foot. Brooklyn, like many big cities in America, has a public transportation system, but the citizens of Brooklyn are lucky because theirs is one of the most extensive and widely used. Many commuters choose to leave their cars at home and instead use the subway to get to and from work. In fact, for some people it is feasible to forgo car ownership entirely, avoiding the cost and headache of driving in heavy traffic. The benefits include reduced air pollution and load on the road network.The citizens of Brooklyn are among the most well-educated in the nation: 40.40% of adults in Brooklyn have a bachelor's degree or even advanced degree, whereas the average US city has 21.84% holding at least a bachelor's degree. The per capita income in Brooklyn in 2022 was $43,165, which is upper middle income relative to New York and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $172,660 for a family of four. However, Brooklyn contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. Brooklyn is an extremely ethnically-diverse borough. The people who call Brooklyn home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Brooklyn residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Brooklyn also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 18.90% of the borough’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Brooklyn include Italian, Irish, Jamaican, German, and Russian. Foreign born people are also an important part of Brooklyn's cultural character, accounting for 35.28% of the borough’s population. The most common language spoken in Brooklyn is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Chinese.
