Soma median real estate price is $1,105,753, which is more expensive than 65.0% of the neighborhoods in California and 91.8% of the neighborhoods in the U.S.
The average rental price in Soma is currently $3,906, based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. The average rental cost in this neighborhood is higher than 69.4% of the neighborhoods in California.
Soma is a densely urban neighborhood (based on population density) located in San Francisco, California.
Soma 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 Soma neighborhood are newer, built in 2000 or more recently. A number of residences were also built before 1940.
Vacant apartments or homes are a major fact of life in Soma. The current real estate vacancy rate here is 20.9%. This is higher than the rate of vacancies in 88.7% 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.
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.
More people in Soma choose to walk to work each day (23.0%) than almost any neighborhood in America. If you are attracted to the idea of being able to walk to work, this neighborhood could be a good choice.
Also, our research revealed that more commuters here take the bus to work (13.2% ride the bus) than 96.8% of all American neighborhoods. If you like the idea of leaving your car and home and hopping the bus to work, this might be a good neighborhood for you to consider.
Finally, in the Soma neighborhood, many people's commute means walking from the bedroom to the home office. NeighborhoodScout's analysis found that 30.5% of residents worked from home. This may not seem like a large number, but Scout's research shows that this is a higher percentage of people working from home than 95.0% of the neighborhoods in America. Often people who work from home are engaged in the creative or technological economy, such as is found in areas around Boston, and in Silicon Valley. Other times, people may be engaged in other businesses like trading stocks from home, or running a small beauty salon.
The Soma neighborhood is very densely populated compared to most U.S. neighborhoods. In fact, with 38,427 persons per square mile in the neighborhood, it is more packed with people than 97.8% of the nation's neighborhoods.
In addition, the Soma 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 89.1% 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.
Furthermore, the real estate in the Soma 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, 82.7% of the real estate here is classified as apartment complexes or high-rise apartments, which is more than is found in 97.1% of American neighborhoods.
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 Soma neighborhood have a highly unusual car ownership. 32.7% of the households in this neighborhood don't own a car at all. This is more carless households than NeighborhoodScout found in 97.4% of U.S. neighborhoods.
Soma has the amazing distinction of housing more same sex couples living together than 97.2% of neighborhoods in the U.S. If you are seeking such a neighborhood, NeighborhoodScout's analysis shows that this is one place that you should consider.
In addition, think about the people you know personally. How many of them would purchase box seats to opening night at the symphony? How many of them regularly attend gallery openings, or are the first to reserve tickets to opening night at the ballet? If they're like most of us, they don't do any of these things. But if you're among an exclusive crowd of wealthy and refined patrons of the arts, then you'll feel right at home in the Soma neighborhood: a neighborhood in which more "urban sophisticates" live than 95.1% of neighborhoods across the U.S. Here, your neighbors are defined as having urbane tastes in literature, music, live theatre and the arts. They are wealthy, educated, travel in style, and live a big city lifestyle whether or not they live in or near a big city. In addition to being an excellent choice for urban sophisticates, this neighborhood is also a very good choice for young, single professionals.
Executives, managers and professionals make up 71.2% of the workforce in the Soma neighborhood which, according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis, is a higher proportion of such high-level people than is found in 95.7% of the neighborhoods in America. For this reason, this neighborhood really stands out as unique.
Did you know that the Soma neighborhood has more Eastern European and Asian ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 4.6% of this neighborhood's residents have Eastern European ancestry and 42.6% have Asian ancestry.
Soma is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 10.6% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Tagalog, which is the first language of the Philippine region, at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 99.5% of the neighborhoods in America.
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 Soma neighborhood, a greater proportion of the residents living here today did not live here five years ago than is found in 96.2% 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 Soma neighborhood in San Francisco 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 90.3% of the neighborhoods in America. With 15.6% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 62.2% of U.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 Soma neighborhood, 71.2% 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 17.3% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations (6.2%), and 5.3% 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 Soma neighborhood is English, spoken by 53.2% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish, Tagalog (the first language of the Philippine region), Chinese and Langs. of India.
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 Soma neighborhood in San Francisco, CA, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Asian (42.6%). There are also a number of people of Mexican ancestry (8.2%), and residents who report Eastern European roots (4.6%), and some of the residents are also of Irish ancestry (4.6%), along with some German ancestry residents (3.6%), among others. In addition, 41.9% 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 Soma neighborhood spend between 15 and 30 minutes commuting one-way to work (35.1% of working residents), which is shorter than the time spent commuting to work for most Americans.
Here most residents (23.0%) 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 (21.2%) and 13.2% of residents also ride the bus 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.
