What do we mean by a neighborhood?
Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ® 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. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ 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.
Heidelberg median real estate price is $68,544, which is less expensive than 97.7% of Texas neighborhoods and 98.2% of all U.S. neighborhoods.
The average rental price in Heidelberg is currently $1,718, based on Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ's exclusive analysis. Rents here are currently lower in price than 53.2% of Texas neighborhoods.
Heidelberg is a rural neighborhood (based on population density) located in Mercedes, Texas.
Heidelberg real estate is primarily made up of medium sized (three or four bedroom) to small (studio to two bedroom) single-family homes and mobile homes. Most of the residential real estate is owner occupied. Many of the residences in the Heidelberg 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.
Heidelberg has a 14.0% vacancy rate, which is well above average compared to other U.S. neighborhoods (higher than 76.5% 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
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 Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ's exclusive research. This might include anything from the housing stock to the types of households living here to how people get around.
People
The Heidelberg neighborhood is unique for having just 2.5% of adults here having earned a bachelor's degree. This is a lower rate of college graduates than Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ found in 98.5% of America's neighborhoods.
In addition, the Heidelberg neighborhood stands out for having an average per capita income lower than 96.7% of the neighborhoods in the United States. Also of note, 60.4% of the children in this area live in poverty; an extraordinarily high percentage compared to other neighborhoods in the nation. In a nation where approximately one in four children grows up in poverty, this neighborhood stands out for the depth of the problem manifested here.
Also, if you're looking for a great spot to raise a family, then look no further than the Heidelberg neighborhood. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ's analysis found that the combination of good quality public schools, above-average safety from crime, and a high rate of home ownership in predominantly single-family homes, help make this neighborhood among the top 13.6% of family-friendly neighborhoods across the state of Texas. In addition, there are a high proportion of other families with school-aged children living here, making it easy for parents and their children to socialize and develop a sense of community support. In addition, families here highly value education, as is reflected by the strength of the local schools, in part due to the educational attainment of the parents here, who vote in support of the public schools.
Length of Commute
Regardless of the means by which residents commute, this neighborhood has a length of commute that is notable. Residents of the Heidelberg neighborhood have the pleasure of having one of the shortest commutes to work of any neighborhood in America. 66.1% of the residents have a commute time from home to work (one way) of less than fifteen minutes. This is a higher proportion of residents enjoying a short trip to work than Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ found in 97.8% of U.S. neighborhoods. Less time commuting means more time for other things in life.
Modes of Transportation
In the Heidelberg neighborhood, walking to work is a real option for many. In fact, Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ's exclusive research reveals walking to and from work is the chosen way to commute for 15.6% of residents here. This is a higher proportion of walking commuters than we found in 97.4% of American neighborhoods. Get ready to put on your walking shoes if you move here!
Also, in the Heidelberg neighborhood, carpooling is still a popular way to get to and from work. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ's analysis reveals that 24.2% of commuters carpool here, which is more than in 96.5% of all U.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 Heidelberg neighborhood, they truly stand out. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ's exclusive analysis identifies this neighborhood as having a higher percentage of sales and service workers than 97.3% of all American neighborhoods.
Diversity
Did you know that the Heidelberg neighborhood has more Mexican ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 97.6% of this neighborhood's residents have Mexican ancestry.
Heidelberg is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 92.6% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Spanish at home. This is a higher percentage than 99.8% of all U.S. neighborhoods.
Migration / Stability
The freedom of moving to new places versus the comfort of home. How much and how often people move not only can create diverse and worldly neighborhoods, but simultaneously it can produce a loss of intimacy with one's surroundings and a lack of connectedness to one's neighbors. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ's exclusive research has identified this neighborhood as unique with regard to the transience of its populace. More residents of the Heidelberg neighborhood live here today that also were living in this same neighborhood five years ago than is found in 96.8% of U.S. neighborhoods. This neighborhood is really made up of people who know each other, don't move often, and have lived here in this very neighborhood for quite a while.
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 Heidelberg neighborhood in Mercedes are low income, making it among the lowest income neighborhoods in America. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ's research shows that this neighborhood has an income lower than 96.7% of U.S. neighborhoods. With 60.4% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 97.1% 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 Heidelberg neighborhood, 40.7% 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 clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations, with 26.6% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in manufacturing and laborer occupations (23.2%), and 7.8% in executive, management, and professional occupations.
Languages
The most common language spoken in the Heidelberg neighborhood is Spanish, spoken by 92.6% of households. Some people also speak English (7.4%).
Ethnicity / Ancestry
Culture is shared learned behavior. We learn it from our parents, their parents, our houses of worship, and much of our culture – our learned behavior – comes from our ancestors. That is why ancestry and ethnicity can be so interesting and important to understand: places with concentrations of people of one or more ancestries often express those shared learned behaviors and this gives each neighborhood its own culture. Even different neighborhoods in the same city can have drastically different cultures.
In the Heidelberg neighborhood in Mercedes, TX, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Mexican (97.6%). In addition, 33.3% 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 Heidelberg neighborhood spend under 15 minutes commuting one-way to work (66.1% of working residents), one of the shortest commutes across America.
Here most residents (45.8%) 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 (24.2%) and 15.6% 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.
