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Real Estate Prices & Overview

Upper West Side median real estate price is $2,648,005, which is more expensive than 84.0% of the neighborhoods in New York and 93.0% of the neighborhoods in the U.S.

The average rental price in Upper West Side is currently $6,000, based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. The average rental cost in this neighborhood is higher than 96.4% of the neighborhoods in New York.

Upper West Side is a densely urban neighborhood (based on population density) located in New York, New York.

Upper West Side 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 Upper West Side 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 1970 and 1999.

Vacant apartments or homes are a major fact of life in Upper West Side. The current real estate vacancy rate here is 16.9%. This is higher than the rate of vacancies in 83.0% 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

What you'll find when you visit or move to this neighborhood is one of the most crowded neighborhoods in all of America. With an incredible 122,677 people per square mile, it is more densely populated than 99.8% of America'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 Upper West Side neighborhood is among the top 5% of American neighborhoods in terms of walkability.

In addition, one of the really unique and interesting things about the look and setting of the Upper West Side neighborhood is that it is almost entirely dominated by large apartment buildings, such as apartment complexes or high-rise apartments. 94.5% 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 98.9% of all neighborhoods in America.

Furthermore, if you find historic homes and neighborhoods attractive, you love the details, the history, and the charm, then you are sure to be interested in this neighborhood. With 72.0% of the residential real estate in the Upper West Side neighborhood built no later than 1939, and some built considerably earlier, this neighborhood has a greater concentration of historic residences than 98.9% of all neighborhoods in America. In this regard, this neighborhood truly stands out as special.

Car Ownership

American households most often have a car, and regularly they have two or three. But households in the Upper West Side neighborhood buck this trend. 72.5% of the households in this neighborhood don't own a car at all. This is more carless households than NeighborhoodScout found in 99.7% of U.S. neighborhoods.

People

The rate of college educated adults in the Upper West Side neighborhood is a unique characteristic of the neighborhood. 87.7% of adults here have received at least a 4-year bachelor's degree, compared to the average neighborhood in America, which has 35.0% of the adults with a bachelor's degree. The rate here is higher than NeighborhoodScout found in 99.4% of all U.S. neighborhoods.

In addition, the first thing that you'll notice if you moved to this neighborhood is that an astounding 3.1% of the households are same sex couples. According to NeighborhoodScout's analysis, this is a higher proportion of same sex households than in 99.1% of the neighborhoods in America. This is one indicator that this neighborhood is likely a gay-friendly neighborhood. So if you are looking for such a neighborhood, the Upper West Side neighborhood should definitely be on your list of places to consider.

Also, if you're a regular supporter of the arts and enjoy outings to the theatre, weekend boutique-ing, or even a finely aged wine with dinner, than you're in good company with the people of the Upper West Side neighborhood. This neighborhood is uniquely immersed with more "urban sophisticates" than 99.1% of neighborhoods across the country. The people here truly stand out as a class among their own. They are an exclusive community characterized by refined tastes, cultural inclinations, and the means to live well. Urban sophisticates live a big city lifestyle, whether or not they live in or near a big city. They are educated executives or managers by week, and serial patrons of the arts by weekend. If this lifestyle pertains to you, than you'll certainly feel right at home in the Upper West Side neighborhood. In addition to being an excellent choice for urban sophisticates, this neighborhood is also a very good choice for young, single professionals.

Finally, wealth makes most things in life easier, and a few things harder. If you are wealthy and enjoy keeping up with the Jones', this neighborhood will interest you. In fact, according to NeighborhoodScout's research, the Upper West Side neighborhood is wealthier than 96.3% of the neighborhoods in the United States. Residents here are truly in a unique situation even when compared to other Americans, based on the sheer amount of wealth concentrated here. Even in times of economic downturn, residents of this neighborhood, as a group, suffered less and recovered more quickly. This is indeed a stand-out characteristic of this neighborhood.

Modes of Transportation

If you like to ride the train to work, this neighborhood may be for you. NeighborhoodScout's research revealed that 47.4% of the Upper West Side neighborhood's commuters ride the train to and from work each day, which is more than we found in 99.4% of America's neighborhoods.

Occupations

Executives, managers and professionals make up 71.5% of the workforce in the Upper West Side neighborhood which, according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis, is a higher proportion of such high-level people than is found in 95.8% of the neighborhoods in America. For this reason, this neighborhood really stands out as unique.

Diversity

Did you know that the Upper West Side neighborhood has more Russian and Romanian ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 6.4% of this neighborhood's residents have Russian ancestry and 1.3% have Romanian ancestry.

Upper West Side is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 4.0% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Portuguese at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 99.0% of the neighborhoods in America.

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 Upper West Side neighborhood in New York are wealthy, making it among the 15% highest income neighborhoods in America. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 96.3% of the neighborhoods in America. With 18.5% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 67.2% of U.S. neighborhoods.

What we choose to do for a living reflects who we are. Each neighborhood has a different mix of occupations represented, and together these tell you about the neighborhood and help you understand if this neighborhood may fit your lifestyle.

In the Upper West Side neighborhood, 71.5% 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 17.2% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations (8.9%), and 3.9% 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 Upper West Side neighborhood is English, spoken by 74.6% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish, Portuguese and French.

Ethnicity / Ancestry

Culture is the shared learned behavior of peoples. Undeniably, different ethnicities and ancestries have different cultural traditions, and as a result, neighborhoods with concentrations of residents of one or another ethnicities or ancestries will express those cultures. It is what makes the North End in Boston so fun to visit for the Italian restaurants, bakeries, culture, and charm, and similarly, why people enjoy visiting Chinatown in San Francisco.

In the Upper West Side neighborhood in New York, NY, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Italian (13.8%). There are also a number of people of Irish ancestry (11.5%), and residents who report German roots (10.7%), and some of the residents are also of Polish ancestry (7.4%), along with some English ancestry residents (6.9%), among others. In addition, 21.5% of the residents of this neighborhood were born in another country.

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 Upper West Side neighborhood spend between 30 and 45 minutes commuting one-way to work (41.8% of working residents), which is at or a bit above the average length of a commute across all U.S. neighborhoods.

Here most residents (47.4%) take the train to get to work. In addition, quite a number also drive alone in a private automobile to get to work (8.7%) and 6.2% of residents also hop out the door and walk to work 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.


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