Central Square median real estate price is $1,526,155, which is more expensive than 93.8% of the neighborhoods in Massachusetts and 96.6% of the neighborhoods in the U.S.
The average rental price in Central Square is currently $4,666, based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. The average rental cost in this neighborhood is higher than 89.2% 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 3.5%, which is lower than one will find in 75.6% 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.
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.
Would you like to be able to ride your bike to work? If you are attracted to the idea of getting a little exercise of the two-wheeled type while reducing your carbon footprint, bicycling to work might be the answer. But which neighborhood you live in can make this either impossible, or alternatively, a great and realistic option. NeighborhoodScout's analysis revealed that the Central Square neighborhood is a fantastic option for bicycle commuters, as 7.2% of commuters here do ride their bikes to and from work on a daily basis. This is a higher amount than we found in 99.2% of the neighborhoods in America.
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 22.6% of residents here. This is a higher proportion of walking commuters than we found in 98.5% of American neighborhoods. Get ready to put on your walking shoes if you move here!
Finally, in the Central Square neighborhood, 25.1% 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 97.9% of the neighborhoods in America.
American households most often have a car, and regularly they have two or three. But households in the Central Square neighborhood buck this trend. 54.0% of the households in this neighborhood don't own a car at all. This is more carless households than NeighborhoodScout found in 98.9% of U.S. neighborhoods.
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 45.7% 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 98.4% of U.S. neighborhoods, where the average American neighborhood has 13.7% 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, 65.1% 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.
Executives, managers and professionals make up 76.8% of the workforce in the Central Square neighborhood which, according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis, is a higher proportion of such high-level people than is found in 98.1% of the neighborhoods in America. For this reason, this neighborhood really stands out as unique.
Renter-occupied real estate is dominant in the Central Square neighborhood. The percentage of rental real estate here, according to exclusive NeighborhoodScout analysis, is 94.8%, which is higher than 98.0% 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.
In addition, the real estate in the Central Square 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, 76.1% of the real estate here is classified as apartment complexes or high-rise apartments, which is more than is found in 96.1% of American neighborhoods.
Furthermore, 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 82.1% 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, 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.
Did you know that the Central Square neighborhood has more Arab and Romanian ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 4.7% of this neighborhood's residents have Arab ancestry and 1.3% have Romanian 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.
Some neighborhoods have more internal cohesiveness than others. While other neighborhoods feel like a collection of strangers who just happen to live near each other. Sometimes this comes down to not only the personalities of the people in a place, but how long people have been together in that neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's research has revealed some interesting things about the rootedness of people in the Central Square neighborhood. 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 96.4% of U.S. Neighborhoods. This neighborhood, more than almost any other in America, has new residents from other areas.
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 Central Square neighborhood in Cambridge are middle-income, making it a moderate income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 47.8% of the neighborhoods in America. With 65.1% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 97.9% 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, 76.8% 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 13.2% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations (8.2%), and 4.3% 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 64.0% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish, Chinese, African languages 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 Central Square neighborhood in Cambridge, MA, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Asian (19.6%). There are also a number of people of German ancestry (6.8%), and residents who report Irish roots (6.4%), and some of the residents are also of English ancestry (6.3%), along with some Italian ancestry residents (5.6%), among others. In addition, 33.9% 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 (39.4% of working residents), which is shorter than the time spent commuting to work for most Americans.
Here most residents (25.1%) 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 (22.6%) and 7.2% of residents also bicycle 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.
