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Real Estate Prices & Overview

Southwest Reading median real estate price is $191,658, which is less expensive than 75.6% of Pennsylvania neighborhoods and 81.6% of all U.S. neighborhoods.

The average rental price in Southwest Reading is currently $1,251, based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. Rents here are currently lower in price than 84.1% of Pennsylvania neighborhoods.

Southwest Reading is an urban neighborhood (based on population density) located in Reading, Pennsylvania.

Southwest Reading 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 townhomes. Most of the residential real estate is renter occupied. Many of the residences in the Southwest Reading neighborhood are established but not old, having been built between 1970 and 1999. A number of residences were also built before 1940.

Southwest Reading has a 14.8% vacancy rate, which is well above average compared to other U.S. neighborhoods (higher than 78.5% of American neighborhoods). Most vacant housing here is vacant year round. This could either signal that there is a weak demand for real estate in the neighborhood or that large amount of new housing has been built and not yet occupied. Either way, if you live here, you may find many of the homes or apartments are empty.

Notable & Unique Neighborhood Characteristics

When you see a neighborhood for the first time, the most important thing is often the way it looks, like its homes and its setting. Some places look the same, but they only reveal their true character after living in them for a while because they contain a unique mix of occupational or cultural groups. This neighborhood is very unique in some important ways, according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive exploration and analysis.

People

The Southwest Reading neighborhood stands out for having an average per capita income lower than 99.5% of the neighborhoods in the United States. The Southwest Reading neighborhood also has a greater percentage of children living in poverty (72.9%) than found in 98.9% of all U.S. neighborhoods. Children living in poverty is one of the challenges facing America, and the world, and in this neighborhood in particular, the problem can be considered acute.

In addition, single parenting is hard. But you don't have to tell the Southwest Reading neighborhood about it; they already know. 25.0% of this neighborhood's households are run by single mothers, which is a higher concentration than NeighborhoodScout found in 98.8% of American neighborhoods. Further NeighborhoodScout research showed strong statistical correlations among high rates of children living in single parent households, and neighborhood crime, particularly violent crime, neighborhood poverty, and, importantly, the percentage of low weight births and rates of infant mortality.

Also, the Southwest Reading neighborhood is unique for having just 4.1% of adults here having earned a bachelor's degree. This is a lower rate of college graduates than NeighborhoodScout found in 97.9% of America's neighborhoods.

Occupations

From major sales accounts to fast-food workers, sales and service employees are often the backbone of the local economy. In the Southwest Reading neighborhood, they truly stand out. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis identifies this neighborhood as having a higher percentage of sales and service workers than 98.4% of all American neighborhoods.

Real Estate

If you love row houses and attached homes, you will probably really like the Southwest Reading neighborhood. The ambiance, the charm, of row houses is something special. And in sheer abundance of row houses, this neighborhood truly stands out. The real estate here has a higher proportion of row houses and attached homes than nearly any neighborhood in America. In fact, 32.1% of the residential real estate here is classified as row houses and attached homes.

In addition, 84.8% of the real estate in the Southwest Reading neighborhood is occupied by renters, which is nearly the highest rate of renter occupancy of any neighborhood in America.

Diversity

Did you know that the Southwest Reading neighborhood has more Dutch and Puerto Rican ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 15.6% of this neighborhood's residents have Dutch ancestry and 31.5% have Puerto Rican ancestry.

Southwest Reading is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 1.6% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Native American languages at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 98.7% of the neighborhoods in America.

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 Southwest Reading neighborhood in Reading are low income, making it among the lowest income neighborhoods in America. NeighborhoodScout's research shows that this neighborhood has an income lower than 99.5% of U.S. neighborhoods. With 72.9% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 98.9% of U.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 Southwest Reading neighborhood, 43.9% of the working population is employed in sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is manufacturing and laborer occupations, with 23.2% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations (17.1%), and 14.0% in executive, management, and professional occupations.

Languages

The languages spoken by people in this neighborhood are diverse. These are tabulated as the languages people preferentially speak when they are at home with their families. The most common language spoken in the Southwest Reading neighborhood is English, spoken by 52.5% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and African languages.

Ethnicity / Ancestry

Culture is the shared learned behavior of peoples. Undeniably, different ethnicities and ancestries have different cultural traditions, and as a result, neighborhoods with concentrations of residents of one or another ethnicities or ancestries will express those cultures. It is what makes the North End in Boston so fun to visit for the Italian restaurants, bakeries, culture, and charm, and similarly, why people enjoy visiting Chinatown in San Francisco.

In the Southwest Reading neighborhood in Reading, PA, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Puerto Rican (31.5%). There are also a number of people of German ancestry (20.6%), and residents who report Dominican roots (20.5%), and some of the residents are also of Dutch ancestry (15.6%), along with some South American ancestry residents (12.1%), among others. In addition, 15.5% 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 Southwest Reading neighborhood spend under 15 minutes commuting one-way to work (55.3% of working residents), one of the shortest commutes across America.

Here most residents (60.4%) 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 (18.0%) and 9.1% 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.


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