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.
Ranchos Penitas West / Ranchitos Las Lomas median real estate price is $210,947, which is more expensive than 32.6% of the neighborhoods in Texas and 23.6% of the neighborhoods in the U.S.
The average rental price in Ranchos Penitas West / Ranchitos Las Lomas is currently $1,294, based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. Rents here are currently lower in price than 87.0% of Texas neighborhoods.
Ranchos Penitas West / Ranchitos Las Lomas is a remote neighborhood (based on population density) located in Laredo, Texas.
Ranchos Penitas West / Ranchitos Las Lomas real estate is primarily made up of small (studio to two bedroom) to medium sized (three or four bedroom) single-family homes and mobile homes. Most of the residential real estate is owner occupied. Many of the residences in the Ranchos Penitas West / Ranchitos Las Lomas neighborhood are established but not old, having been built between 1970 and 1999. A number of residences were also built between 2000 and the present.
Vacant apartments or homes are a major fact of life in Ranchos Penitas West / Ranchitos Las Lomas. The current real estate vacancy rate here is 39.6%. This is higher than the rate of vacancies in 97.4% of all U.S. neighborhoods. A relatively large percentage of housing here is seasonally occupied (20.0%). This can occur in vacation areas, and occasionally it is also found in neighborhoods that are primarily filled with college students, as some apartments could be vacant when school is not in session. If you live here year round, you may find that a number of buildings in your neighborhood are actually empty.
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 Laredo, the Ranchos Penitas West / Ranchitos Las Lomas neighborhood, has some outstanding things about the way it looks and its way of life that are worth highlighting.
Real Estate
This neighborhood has wide open spaces, few people, and lots of space to stretch out. If you like locations that fit that description, you may like this neighborhood. Based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis, with only 1 people per square mile living here, this neighborhood is less crowded than 99.5% of America.
In addition, despite all of the residential real estate here in the Ranchos Penitas West / Ranchitos Las Lomas neighborhood, NeighborhoodScout has discovered that much of it is vacant. In resort or second-home vacation areas, this naturally occurs because homes and apartments are seasonally occupied, and empty for a portion of the year. In non-vacation or resort areas, however, this can be an indicator of property abandonment or a weak real estate market. The vacancy rate here is 39.6%, which is higher than 97.4% of all U.S. neighborhoods.
People
Priests and therapists would like to think they know the secrets to a truly successful marriage, but according to NeighborhoodScout's research, the folks of the Ranchos Penitas West / Ranchitos Las Lomas neighborhood may actually hold the key. 71.2% of its residents are married, which is a higher percentage than is found in 97.2% of the neighborhoods in America.
In addition, if you are planning to retire in Texas, this neighborhood should be on your must-see list. For many reasons, Ranchos Penitas West / Ranchitos Las Lomas may be considered a retiree's dream neighborhood. According to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis and metrics, it's peaceful and quiet, has above average safety from crime compared to other neighborhoods in Texas, while also offering a diverse range of housing options. This, along with the vibrant mix of very educated seniors and other age groups who choose to live here, makes the neighborhood more retiree-friendly than 96.1% of neighborhoods in TX. If a Texas retirement is in your future, this neighborhood should be one of the places you visit.
Diversity
Did you know that the Ranchos Penitas West / Ranchitos Las Lomas neighborhood has more Mexican ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 66.4% of this neighborhood's residents have Mexican ancestry.
Ranchos Penitas West / Ranchitos Las Lomas is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 78.6% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Spanish at home. This is a higher percentage than 98.4% of all U.S. neighborhoods.
The Neighbors
There are two complementary measures for understanding the income of a neighborhood's residents: the average and the extremes. While a neighborhood may be relatively wealthy overall, it is equally important to understand the rate of people - particularly children - who are living at or below the federal poverty line, which is extremely low income. Some neighborhoods with a lower average income may actually have a lower childhood poverty rate than another with a higher average income, and this helps us understand the conditions and character of a neighborhood.
The neighbors in the Ranchos Penitas West / Ranchitos Las Lomas neighborhood in Laredo are middle-income, making it a moderate income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 57.0% of the neighborhoods in America. With 15.1% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 60.3% of U.S. neighborhoods.
What we choose to do for a living reflects who we are. Each neighborhood has a different mix of occupations represented, and together these tell you about the neighborhood and help you understand if this neighborhood may fit your lifestyle.
In the Ranchos Penitas West / Ranchitos Las Lomas neighborhood, 30.3% of the working population is employed in manufacturing and laborer occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is executive, management, and professional occupations, with 29.6% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations (21.8%), and 18.2% in sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants.
Languages
The most common language spoken in the Ranchos Penitas West / Ranchitos Las Lomas neighborhood is Spanish, spoken by 78.6% of households. Some people also speak English (21.4%).
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 Ranchos Penitas West / Ranchitos Las Lomas neighborhood in Laredo, TX, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Mexican (66.4%). There are also a number of people of English ancestry (4.7%), and residents who report Irish roots (4.0%), and some of the residents are also of Puerto Rican ancestry (2.0%), along with some German ancestry residents (1.2%), among others. In addition, 23.5% 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 Ranchos Penitas West / Ranchitos Las Lomas neighborhood spend under 15 minutes commuting one-way to work (31.2% of working residents), one of the shortest commutes across America.
Here most residents (66.4%) 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 (17.7%) . 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.
