What do we mean by a neighborhood?
NeighborhoodScout® uses the official government designation for neighborhoods - the census tract.
Census tracts are small, relatively permanent subdivisions of a county that are defined by the U.S. Census Bureau in conjunction with local authorities all across the country to define real neighborhoods that are bounded to contain areas with homogeneous population characteristics (including economic status, lifestyle, and living conditions). Census tracts usually have 4,000 persons, but can range between 1,500 and 8,000 persons. This is the most fine-grained area for which detailed information is made available from the government, to protect the individual privacy of each of us. Because census tracts are based on population, they vary in size depending on the density of settlement. In urban areas, they are small, and in rural areas they can cover an entire small town or even a few small towns in very rural areas.
Since census tracts are subdivisions of a county, we did a spatial overlay of the census tracts onto city and town boundaries using a geographic information system to properly assign each census tract to its appropriate city or town. Then we named each census tract to the local colloquially recognized neighborhood name for that spot (e.g., Boston, MA (Dorchester). If there was not a name available, we named the census tract by the largest street intersection in the census tract (e.g., Worcester, MA (Lincoln St/Plantation St)
Why we don't use Zip Codes as neighborhoods
Zip codes were developed by the Postal Service for the purpose of delivering mail, but were never intended to define coherent neighborhoods. In addition, Zip Codes can have as many as 10 distinctly different census tracts contained within them. When distinct census tracts are blended together in a single Zip Code, the data reflects their average conditions and often gives a false sense of the area. The result is that potentially great matching neighborhoods can be missed, and erroneous matches can also be produced and delivered to you.
Using census tracts makes great matches possible, and helps people find the areas that are best for them and their families. Because we are committed to providing the highest possible quality and finding the neighborhoods that best meet your criteria, we use census tracts. And, as always, we show you the actual street map of the neighborhood so you know exactly where your best matching neighborhood is located.
What is a Condition Alert?
A condition alert is a condition in the neighborhood that triggers an alert. NeighborhoodScout contains condition alerts to highlight conditions that are extreme, whether good or bad. This helps answer crucial questions about the state of the neighborhood being evaluated, such as:
What are the risks of violent crime here?
Is the risk of home break-ins or other property crimes increasing?
Does real estate here hold its value?
Are the trends in local vacancies or unemployment concerning?
...and dozens more.
Information at a glance that you need to know to invest, appraise or finance a property.
Post Oaks Colonia median real estate price is $314,286, which is more expensive than 55.4% of the neighborhoods in Texas and 41.5% of the neighborhoods in the U.S.
The average rental price in Post Oaks Colonia is currently $1,758, based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. Rents here are currently lower in price than 52.2% of Texas neighborhoods.
Post Oaks Colonia is a suburban neighborhood (based on population density) located in Edinburg, Texas.
Post Oaks Colonia real estate is primarily made up of small (studio to two bedroom) to medium sized (three or four 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 Post Oaks Colonia neighborhood are newer, built in 2000 or more recently. A number of residences were also built between 1970 and 1999.
In Post Oaks Colonia, the current vacancy rate is 2.6%, which is a lower rate of vacancies than 83.0% of all neighborhoods in the U.S. This means that the housing supply in Post Oaks Colonia is very tight compared to the demand for property here.
Notable & Unique Neighborhood Characteristics
Many things matter about a neighborhood, but the first thing most people notice is the way a neighborhood looks and its particular character. For example, one might notice whether the buildings all date from a certain time period or whether shop signs are in multiple languages. This particular neighborhood in Edinburg, the Post Oaks Colonia neighborhood, has some outstanding things about the way it looks and its way of life that are worth highlighting.
Real Estate
Three-deckers, duplexes, old Victorian homes cut up into apartments. Independent stores on the corner selling pizza. These are some of the hallmarks of neighborhoods with lots of small 2, 3, and 4 unit apartment buildings. The Post Oaks Colonia neighborhood really stands out in this regard, however, as it is dominated by such small apartment buildings more than nearly any other neighborhood in America. This is a stunning visual and lifestyle example of this type of neighborhood. In fact, 51.9% of the real estate here are small 2, 3, or 4 unit apartment buildings, which is a higher proportion than found in 98.6% of America's neighborhoods.
In addition, if you like the look and ambience of new homes and newly built neighborhoods, you will love the Post Oaks Colonia neighborhood. A whopping 71.6% of the homes and other residential real estate here were built after 1999, which is a higher proportion of new homes then you will find in 96.1% of the neighborhoods in the U.S. Everything here just feels new.
Occupations
With 4.3% of employed workers living in the Post Oaks Colonia neighborhood active in the military, this neighborhood has the distinction of having a higher proportion of people in the military than 98.4% of American neighborhoods. This is a major shaper of the neighborhood's culture and character.
People
NeighborhoodScout's analysis shows that the Post Oaks Colonia neighborhood has a greater concentration of residents currently enrolled in college than 97.3% of the neighborhoods in the U.S. With 16.9% of the population here attending college, this is very much a college-focused neighborhood.
In addition, one of the really interesting characteristics about the Post Oaks Colonia neighborhood is that, according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive research, it is an excellent choice in which to reside for college students. Due to its popularity among college students who already choose to live here, its walkability, and its above average safety from crime, the neighborhood is ideal for prospective or already-enrolled college students. Between semesters and during school breaks, you'll notice that the excitement here fluctuates with the college seasons. Despite the excitement however, parents of college-age children can rest easy knowing that this neighborhood has an above average safety rating. For each of these reasons, the neighborhood is rated among the top 4.8% of college-friendly places to live in the state of Texas. In addition to being an excellent choice for college students, this neighborhood is also a very good choice for young, single professionals.
Diversity
Did you know that the Post Oaks Colonia neighborhood has more Mexican ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 73.2% of this neighborhood's residents have Mexican ancestry.
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 Post Oaks Colonia neighborhood in Edinburg are middle-income, making it a moderate income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 59.3% of the neighborhoods in America. In addition, 9.9% 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 50.9% 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 Post Oaks Colonia neighborhood, 57.1% 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 15.3% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in manufacturing and laborer occupations (15.0%), and 12.6% in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations.
Languages
The most common language spoken in the Post Oaks Colonia neighborhood is Spanish, spoken by 51.2% of households. Some people also speak English (38.5%).
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 Post Oaks Colonia neighborhood in Edinburg, TX, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Mexican (73.2%). There are also a number of people of Asian ancestry (7.8%), and residents who report Irish roots (5.8%), and some of the residents are also of English ancestry (2.0%), along with some German ancestry residents (1.6%), among others. In addition, 15.9% 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 Post Oaks Colonia neighborhood spend under 15 minutes commuting one-way to work (39.7% of working residents), one of the shortest commutes across America.
Here most residents (79.3%) 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 (13.6%) . In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.
SCOUT’s patented match algorithm identifies the most similar neighborhoods to a subject location, and quantifies the similarity to the subject location. This allows analysts to identify the most similar neighborhoods in a local market area for appraisals, investments, and research.
The algorithm uses 273 neighborhood conditions, identifies the dominant dimensions underlying the conditions and calculates the similarity. This captures the true culture and character of locations, economic conditions, and trends.
The closer to 100% means the locations are nearly identical. 80% is a very good, but not excellent match, and so forth.
