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.
Spring Branch Central West median real estate price is $242,196, which is more expensive than 40.2% of the neighborhoods in Texas and 29.1% of the neighborhoods in the U.S.
The average rental price in Spring Branch Central West is currently $1,755, based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. Rents here are currently lower in price than 52.4% of Texas neighborhoods.
Spring Branch Central West is a densely urban neighborhood (based on population density) located in Houston, Texas.
Spring Branch Central West 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 single-family homes. Most of the residential real estate is occupied by a mixture of owners and renters. Many of the residences in the Spring Branch Central West neighborhood are older, well-established, built between 1940 and 1969. A number of residences were also built between 1970 and 1999.
Home and apartment vacancy rates are 6.0% in Spring Branch Central West. NeighborhoodScout analysis shows that this rate is lower than 59.8% of the neighborhoods in the nation, approximately near the middle range for vacancies.
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 Houston, the Spring Branch Central West neighborhood, has some outstanding things about the way it looks and its way of life that are worth highlighting.
Occupations
More people work in manufacturing and as laborers here in the Spring Branch Central West neighborhood than in 99.9% of the neighborhoods in America. Despite the loss of manufacturing jobs across the nation, this neighborhood remains a place where, compared to other parts of the country, you will find many laborers and manufacturers.
Modes of Transportation
In the Spring Branch Central West neighborhood, carpooling is still a popular way to get to and from work. NeighborhoodScout's analysis reveals that 28.5% of commuters carpool here, which is more than in 98.5% of all U.S. neighborhoods.
Also, if your dream is to be able to ride your bike to work each day, look no further than this unique neighborhood. With 4.0% of residents in the Spring Branch Central West neighborhood commuting on a bicycle to and from work daily, this neighborhood has more bicycle commuters than 97.3% of all neighborhoods in the U.S., according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis.
Migration / Stability
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. What is interesting to note, is that the Spring Branch Central West neighborhood has a greater percentage of residents born in another country (61.5%) than are found in 99.3% of all U.S. neighborhoods.
Diversity
Did you know that the Spring Branch Central West neighborhood has more Iranian and Cuban ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 1.3% of this neighborhood's residents have Iranian ancestry and 3.9% have Cuban ancestry.
Spring Branch Central West is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 85.7% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Spanish at home. This is a higher percentage than 99.2% of all U.S. neighborhoods.
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 Spring Branch Central West neighborhood in Houston are lower-middle income, making it a below average income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's research shows that this neighborhood has an income lower than 68.4% of U.S. neighborhoods. With 45.8% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 92.2% 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 Spring Branch Central West neighborhood, 65.4% of the working population is employed in manufacturing and laborer 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 27.6% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in executive, management, and professional occupations (5.7%), and 4.3% in government jobs, whether they are in local, state, or federal positions.
Languages
The most common language spoken in the Spring Branch Central West neighborhood is Spanish, spoken by 85.7% of households. Some people also speak English (13.2%).
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 Spring Branch Central West neighborhood in Houston, TX, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Mexican (38.5%). There are also a number of people of Cuban ancestry (3.9%), and residents who report Irania roots (1.3%), and some of the residents are also of English ancestry (1.2%), along with some Scottish ancestry residents (1.1%), among others. In addition, 61.5% 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 Spring Branch Central West neighborhood spend between 30 and 45 minutes commuting one-way to work (39.0% of working residents), which is at or a bit above the average length of a commute across all U.S. neighborhoods.
Here most residents (57.6%) 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 (28.5%) and 6.3% of residents also hop out the door and walk to work 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.
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.
