Bedford is a very small town located in the state of New York. With a population of 1,691 people and just one neighborhood, Bedford is the 642nd largest community in New York.
Bedford home prices are not only among the most expensive in New York, but Bedford real estate also consistently ranks among the most expensive in America.
Bedford is a decidedly white-collar town, with fully 97.96% of the workforce employed in white-collar jobs, well above the national average. Overall, Bedford is a town of professionals, managers, and service providers. There are especially a lot of people living in Bedford who work in management occupations (20.84%), teaching (15.42%), and business and financial occupations (12.87%).
Of important note, Bedford is also a town of artists. Bedford has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape Bedford’s character.
A relatively large number of people in Bedford telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 39.63% of the workforce works from home. While this may seem like a small number, as a fraction of the total workforce it ranks among the highest in the country. 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.
In addition, Bedford is home to many people who could be described as "urban sophisticates". Urban sophisticates are educated, wealthy, executives and professionals, who have urbane tastes in books, food, and travel, whether they actually live in a big city, or choose to reside in a small town. In big or medium-sized cities, urban sophisticates tend to frequent art institutions such as opera, symphonies, ballet, live theatre, and museums.
Because of many things, Bedford is a very good place for families to consider. With an enviable combination of good schools, low crime, college-educated neighbors who tend to support education because of their own experiences, and a high rate of home ownership in predominantly single-family properties, Bedford really has some of the features that families look for when choosing a good community to raise children. Is Bedford perfect? Of course not, and if you like frenetic nightlife, it will be far from your cup of tea. But overall this is a solid community, with many things to recommend it as a family-friendly place to live.
One downside of living in Bedford is that it can take a long time to commute to work. In Bedford, the average commute to work is 37.85 minutes, which is quite a bit higher than the national average. On the other hand, local public transit is widely used in the town, so leaving the car at home and taking transit is often a viable alternative.
Even though Bedford is a smaller town, it has many people who hop on public transportation – mostly the train for their daily commute to work. Typically, these people are commuting to good jobs in the surrounding cities.
If knowledge is power, Bedford is a pretty powerful place. 83.39% of the adults in Bedford have earned a 4-year college degree, masters degree, MD, law degree, or even PhD. Compare that to the national average of 21.84% for all cities and towns.
The per capita income in Bedford in 2022 was $129,795, which is wealthy relative to New York and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $519,180 for a family of four.
The people who call Bedford home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Bedford residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Important ancestries of people in Bedford include Irish, Italian, English, Polish, and German.
The most common language spoken in Bedford is English. Other important languages spoken here include Polish and French.
The way a neighborhood looks and feels when you walk or drive around it, from its setting, its buildings, and its flavor, can make all the difference. This neighborhood has some really cool things about the way it looks and feels as revealed by NeighborhoodScout's exclusive research. This might include anything from the housing stock to the types of households living here to how people get around.
If you come to know the people here, you will recognize that you're in the company of one of the wealthiest communities in the nation. In fact, a mere 0.7% of America's neighborhoods are wealthier than the neighborhood. Real estate here is exceedingly well-maintained, and similarly, tends to maintain its value over time. The cars driven are mostly luxury brands like Mercedes, Audi, BMW, and Lexus. If the public schools aren't up to snuff, the residents of this neighborhood preferentially send their children to private preparatory schools. Vacation to Disney? Yes, but equally popular are summers in Europe.
In addition, do you like to read, write, and learn? Are you curious about the world? If so, this neighborhood may be a good fit for you. NeighborhoodScout's research revealed that a full 84.2% of the adults living in the neighborhood have earned at least a bachelor's degree. This is a higher rate than NeighborhoodScout found in 98.8% of U.S. neighborhoods. In this way, this neighborhood truly stands out.
Also, according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis, is among the best neighborhoods for families in New York. In fact, this neighborhood is more family-friendly than 98.7% of neighborhoods in the entire state of New York. Its combination of top public schools, low crime rates, and owner-occupied single family homes gives this area the look and feel of a "Leave It to Beaver" episode. Many other families also live here, making it easy to socialize and develop a strong sense of community. In addition, the high number of college-educated parents influences the academic success of the local schools. Overall, you will find all of the amenities a family needs to thrive in the neighborhood. In addition to being an excellent choice for families with school-aged children, this neighborhood is also a very good choice for urban sophisticates, highly educated executives and active retirees.
One way that the neighborhood really stands out, is that it has more large 4, 5, or additional bedroom homes and real estate than 98.3% of the neighborhoods in America. When you walk or drive around this neighborhood, you'll instantly notice the size of the homes here which definitely makes a strong visual statement.
In addition, owner-occupied real estate dominates the neighborhood. In fact, according to NeighborhoodScout research, the percentage of residential real estate occupied by its owner is higher here than in 97.1% of neighborhoods in America.
Furthermore, some neighborhoods are made up of apartments. Some consist of row houses, and most - by far - consist of a mixture of housing types. But the neighborhood stands out due to the total dominance of detached, single-family homes here. There are nearly no other types of residential real estate in the neighborhood. In fact, this neighborhood has a higher proportion of single-family homes in its real estate stock than 95.1% of all American neighborhoods.
Regardless of the means by which residents commute, this neighborhood has a length of commute that is notable. Long commutes can be brutal. They take time, money, and energy, leaving less of you for yourself and your family. The residents of the neighborhood unfortunately have the distinction of having, on average, a longer commute than most any neighborhood in America. 11.9% of commuters here travel more than one hour just one-way to work. That is more than two hours per day. This percentage with two-hour + round-trip commutes is higher than NeighborhoodScout found in 97.2% of all neighborhoods in America.
In the neighborhood, many people's commute means walking from the bedroom to the home office. NeighborhoodScout's analysis found that 33.9% of residents worked from home. This may not seem like a large number, but Scout's research shows that this is a higher percentage of people working from home than 97.1% of the neighborhoods in America. Often people who work from home are engaged in the creative or technological economy, such as is found in areas around Boston, and in Silicon Valley. Other times, people may be engaged in other businesses like trading stocks from home, or running a small beauty salon.
Also, if you like to ride the train to work, this neighborhood may be for you. NeighborhoodScout's research revealed that 14.0% of the neighborhood's commuters ride the train to and from work each day, which is more than we found in 96.5% of America's neighborhoods.
The neighborhood has a higher proportion of its residents employed as executives, managers and professionals than 96.5% of the neighborhoods in America. In fact, 72.9% of the employed people here make a living as an executive, a manager, or other professional. With such a high concentration, this truly shapes the character of this neighborhood, and to a large degree defines what this neighborhood is about.
Did you know that the neighborhood has more Russian and Eastern European ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 4.7% of this neighborhood's residents have Russian ancestry and 2.0% have Eastern European ancestry.
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 neighborhood in Bedford are wealthy, making it among the 15% highest income neighborhoods in America. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 99.3% of the neighborhoods in America. In addition, 2.2% 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 74.2% of America'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 neighborhood, 72.9% 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 19.8% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations (4.2%), and 3.1% in manufacturing and laborer occupations.
The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is English, spoken by 87.8% of households. Some people also speak Spanish (5.8%).
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 neighborhood in Bedford, NY, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Irish (22.4%). There are also a number of people of Italian ancestry (18.0%), and residents who report English roots (15.0%), and some of the residents are also of German ancestry (11.1%), along with some Dominican ancestry residents (4.9%), among others. In addition, 10.5% of the residents of this neighborhood were born in another country.
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 neighborhood spend between 15 and 30 minutes commuting one-way to work (28.5% of working residents), which is shorter than the time spent commuting to work for most Americans. However, there is also a significant group of residents (11.9%) who commute over an hour in each direction.
Here most residents (44.8%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also take the train to get to work (14.0%) . In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.