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Real Estate Prices & Overview

Dorchester Center median real estate price is $523,359, which is less expensive than 70.4% of Massachusetts neighborhoods and 31.8% of all U.S. neighborhoods.

The average rental price in Dorchester Center is currently $3,576, based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. Rents here are currently lower in price than 40.3% of Massachusetts neighborhoods.

Dorchester Center is a densely urban neighborhood (based on population density) located in Boston, Massachusetts.

Dorchester Center real estate is primarily made up of medium sized (three or four bedroom) to small (studio to two bedroom) small apartment buildings and single-family homes. Most of the residential real estate is occupied by a mixture of owners and renters. Many of the residences in the Dorchester Center 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.

Real estate vacancies in Dorchester Center are 4.1%, which is lower than one will find in 72.5% of American neighborhoods. Demand for real estate in Dorchester Center 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.

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

Corner bodegas, stores on the first floor and apartments above, former grand Victorian residences converted into apartments, three-deckers built shoulder-to-shoulder, duplexes. Such building types define the real estate of neighborhoods dominated by small 2, 3, and 4 unit apartment buildings. Many are in older core neighborhoods of Eastern and Midwestern cities, or historic town centers in their hinterlands. If you wax romantic about the look and feel of such neighborhoods, with fresh pizza, falafel and an independent florist at the corner, then you might find the Dorchester Center neighborhood worth a close look. This neighborhood is an absolutely outstanding example of the dominance of small 2, 3, and 4 unit apartment buildings compared to neighborhoods across the nation, as they make up a substantial portion of this neighborhood's real estate stock. In fact, no less than 78.0% of the real estate here is made up of such dwellings, which is higher than 99.9% of all U.S. neighborhoods.

In addition, if you like crowded places, then you will probably enjoy the the Dorchester Center neighborhood. According to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive data analysis, this neighborhood is more densely populated than 96.1% of neighborhoods in the U.S., with 24,928 people per square mile living here. 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 Dorchester Center neighborhood is among the top 5% of American neighborhoods in terms of walkability.

People

Whether by choice, divorce, or unplanned pregnancy, single moms may have the toughest job in the book. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that the Dorchester Center neighborhood has more single mother households than 99.3% of the neighborhoods in the U.S. Often high concentrations of single mother homes can be a strong indicator of family and social issues such as poverty, high rates of school dropouts, crime, and other societal problems.

Modes of Transportation

More people ride the bus in this neighborhood each day to get to work than 95.9% of U.S. neighborhoods.

Car Ownership

We Americans love our cars. Not only are they a necessity for most Americans due to the shape of our neighborhoods and the distances between where we live, work, shop, and go to school, but we also fancy them. As a result, most households in America have one, two, or three cars. But NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis shows that the Dorchester Center neighborhood has a highly unusual pattern of car ownership. 20.4% of the households in this neighborhood don't own a car at all. This is more carless households than NeighborhoodScout found in 95.3% of U.S. neighborhoods.

Diversity

Did you know that the Dorchester Center neighborhood has more Haitian and Dominican ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 15.7% of this neighborhood's residents have Haitian ancestry and 10.1% have Dominican ancestry.

Dorchester Center is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 12.5% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak French at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 99.4% 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 Dorchester Center neighborhood in Boston are middle-income, making it a moderate income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 49.8% 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 66.4% 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 Dorchester Center neighborhood, 34.8% 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 25.5% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations (21.4%), and 18.3% 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 Dorchester Center neighborhood is English, spoken by 64.7% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish, French, Portuguese and African languages.

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 Dorchester Center neighborhood in Boston, MA, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Haitian (15.7%). There are also a number of people of Dominican ancestry (10.1%), and residents who report Sub-Saharan African roots (10.1%), and some of the residents are also of Puerto Rican ancestry (5.5%), along with some Scottish ancestry residents (3.4%), among others. In addition, 35.1% of the residents of this neighborhood were born in another country.

Getting to Work

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 Dorchester Center neighborhood spend between 30 and 45 minutes commuting one-way to work (43.6% of working residents), which is at or a bit above the average length of a commute across all U.S. neighborhoods.

Here most residents (39.3%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also carpool with coworkers, friends, or neighbors to get to work (15.8%) and 11.8% of residents also ride the bus for their daily commute. In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.


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