Back Bay median real estate price is $1,788,653, which is more expensive than 92.7% of the neighborhoods in Massachusetts and 96.2% of the neighborhoods in the U.S.
The average rental price in Back Bay is currently $4,897, based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. The average rental cost in this neighborhood is higher than 88.7% of the neighborhoods in Massachusetts.
Back Bay is a densely urban neighborhood (based on population density) located in Boston, Massachusetts.
Back Bay 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 Back Bay 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 1940 and 1969.
Vacant apartments or homes are a major fact of life in Back Bay. The current real estate vacancy rate here is 17.0%. This is higher than the rate of vacancies in 82.1% 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.
People
In a nation where 1 out of every 4 children lives in poverty, the Back Bay neighborhood stands out as being ranked among the lowest 0.0% of neighborhoods affected by this global issue.
In addition, the rate of college educated adults in the Back Bay neighborhood is a unique characteristic of the neighborhood. 91.7% of adults here have received at least a 4-year bachelor's degree, compared to the average neighborhood in America, which has 34.3% of the adults with a bachelor's degree. The rate here is higher than NeighborhoodScout found in 99.8% of all U.S. neighborhoods.
Also, a unique characteristic about the people in the Back Bay neighborhood is that a majority of them are young, single professionals. In fact, there are more young, single professionals in this one community than 97.5% of neighborhoods in the U.S. Here you'll find an active nightlife nearby with lots of opportunities to flirt and find romance. In addition to being an excellent choice for young, single professionals, this neighborhood is also a very good choice for urban sophisticates.
Finally, one of the most interesting things about the Back Bay neighborhood is that it has a greater concentration of residents who live alone than most all neighborhoods in America. With 51.8% of the households here made up of people living alone, NeighborhoodScout's research reveals that this is a larger proportion of people living alone than in 96.5% of the neighborhoods in America.
Modes of Transportation
In the Back Bay 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 39.1% of residents here. This is a higher proportion of walking commuters than we found in 99.5% of American neighborhoods. Get ready to put on your walking shoes if you move here!
Also, if you like to ride the train to work, this neighborhood may be for you. NeighborhoodScout's research revealed that 16.0% of the Back Bay neighborhood's commuters ride the train to and from work each day, which is more than we found in 96.6% of America's neighborhoods.
Real Estate
The Back Bay neighborhood is very densely populated compared to most U.S. neighborhoods. In fact, with 32,602 persons per square mile in the neighborhood, it is more packed with people than 97.2% of the nation's neighborhoods. 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 Back Bay neighborhood is one of the most walkable neighborhoods in America.
In addition, the Back Bay 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 90.8% 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 Back Bay 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, 79.2% of the real estate here is classified as apartment complexes or high-rise apartments, which is more than is found in 96.6% of American neighborhoods.
Also of note, 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 84.2% of the residential real estate in the Back Bay neighborhood built no later than 1939, and some built considerably earlier, this neighborhood has a greater concentration of historic residences than 99.8% of all neighborhoods in America. In this regard, this neighborhood truly stands out as special.
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 Back Bay neighborhood have a highly unusual car ownership. 37.7% of the households in this neighborhood don't own a car at all. This is more carless households than NeighborhoodScout found in 97.9% of U.S. neighborhoods.
Occupations
Executives, managers and professionals make up 73.6% of the workforce in the Back Bay neighborhood which, according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis, is a higher proportion of such high-level people than is found in 97.2% of the neighborhoods in America. For this reason, this neighborhood really stands out as unique.
Diversity
Did you know that the Back Bay neighborhood has more Greek and British ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 3.1% of this neighborhood's residents have Greek ancestry and 2.5% have British ancestry.
Back Bay is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 0.9% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Persian at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 97.2% of the neighborhoods in America.
Migration / Stability
The freedom of moving to new places versus the comfort of home. How much and how often people move not only can create diverse and worldly neighborhoods, but simultaneously it can produce a loss of intimacy with one's surroundings and a lack of connectedness to one's neighbors. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive research has identified this neighborhood as unique with regard to the transience of its populace. In the Back Bay neighborhood, a greater proportion of the residents living here today did not live here five years ago than is found in 97.6% 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 Back Bay neighborhood in Boston 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 92.5% of the neighborhoods in America. In addition, 0.0% of the children seventeen and under living in this neighborhood are living below the federal poverty line, which is a lower rate of childhood poverty than is found in 100.0% of America'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 Back Bay neighborhood, 73.6% 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 18.1% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations (7.0%).
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 Back Bay neighborhood is English, spoken by 85.7% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish, Chinese and French.
Ethnicity / Ancestry
Boston's Beacon Hill blue-blood streets, Brooklyn's Orthodox Jewish enclaves, Los Angeles' Persian neighborhoods. Each has its own culture derived primarily from the ancestries and culture of the residents who call these neighborhoods home. Likewise, each neighborhood in America has its own culture – some more unique than others – based on lifestyle, occupations, the types of households – and importantly – on the ethnicities and ancestries of the people who live in the neighborhood. Understanding where people came from, who their grandparents or great-grandparents were, can help you understand how a neighborhood is today.
In the Back Bay neighborhood in Boston, MA, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Irish (19.1%). There are also a number of people of English ancestry (12.7%), and residents who report Asian roots (10.9%), and some of the residents are also of German ancestry (7.5%), along with some Italian ancestry residents (6.8%), among others. In addition, 10.6% of the residents of this neighborhood were born in another country.
Even if your neighborhood is walkable, you may still have to drive to your place of work. Some neighborhoods are located where many can get to work in just a few minutes, while others are located such that most residents have a long and arduous commute. The greatest number of commuters in Back Bay neighborhood spend between 15 and 30 minutes commuting one-way to work (33.8% of working residents), which is shorter than the time spent commuting to work for most Americans.
Here most residents (39.1%) 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 (18.7%) and 16.0% of residents also take the train 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.
