Brooklyn is an enormous coastal borough (i.e. on the ocean, a bay, or inlet) located in the state of New York. With a population of 2,736,074 people and 804 associated neighborhoods, Brooklyn is the largest community in New York. Much of the housing stock in Brooklyn was built prior to World War II, making it one of the older and more historic boroughs in the country. Brooklyn home prices are not only among the most expensive in New York, but Brooklyn real estate also consistently ranks among the most expensive in America.Brooklyn is a decidedly white-collar borough, with fully 86.07% of the workforce employed in white-collar jobs, well above the national average. Overall, Brooklyn is a borough of professionals, service providers, and sales and office workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Brooklyn who work in management occupations (10.56%), office and administrative support (10.51%), and sales jobs (7.93%). Of important note, Brooklyn is also a borough of artists. Brooklyn has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape Brooklyn’s character. Also of interest is that Brooklyn has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US. Telecommuters are a relatively large percentage of the workforce: 14.57% of people work from home. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce it is high relative to the nation. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes. Brooklyn is also nautical, which means that parts of it are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and bays. Such areas are often places that visitors and locals go for waterfront activities or taking in the scenery. One downside of living in Brooklyn, however, is that residents on average have to contend with a long commute, spending on average 40.72 minutes every day commuting to work. It is, however, a pedestrian-friendly borough. Many of its neighborhoods are dense enough and have amenities close enough together that people find it feasible to get around on foot. In addition, local public transit is widely used. For those who would prefer to avoid driving entirely and leave their car at home, it may be an option to use the transit instead. Brooklyn, like many big cities in America, has a public transportation system, but the citizens of Brooklyn are lucky because theirs is one of the most extensive and widely used. Many commuters choose to leave their cars at home and instead use the subway to get to and from work. In fact, for some people it is feasible to forgo car ownership entirely, avoiding the cost and headache of driving in heavy traffic. The benefits include reduced air pollution and load on the road network.The education level of Brooklyn ranks among the highest in the nation. Of the 25-and-older adult population in Brooklyn, 40.40% have at least a bachelor's degree. The typical US community has just 21.84% of its adults holding a bachelor's degree or graduate degree. The per capita income in Brooklyn in 2022 was $43,165, which is upper middle income relative to New York and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $172,660 for a family of four. However, Brooklyn contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. Brooklyn is an extremely ethnically-diverse borough. The people who call Brooklyn home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Brooklyn residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Brooklyn also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 18.90% of the borough’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Brooklyn include Italian, Irish, Jamaican, German, and Russian. Brooklyn also has a high percentage of its population that was born in another country: 35.28%. The most common language spoken in Brooklyn is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Chinese.
