Lake Merritt median real estate price is $1,264,489, which is more expensive than 73.6% of the neighborhoods in California and 94.1% of the neighborhoods in the U.S.
The average rental price in Lake Merritt is currently $2,561, based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. Rents here are currently lower in price than 72.7% of California neighborhoods.
Lake Merritt is a densely urban neighborhood (based on population density) located in Oakland, California.
Lake Merritt 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 small apartment buildings. Most of the residential real estate is renter occupied. Many of the residences in the Lake Merritt neighborhood are older, well-established, built between 1940 and 1969. A number of residences were also built between 1970 and 1999.
Lake Merritt has a 10.3% vacancy rate, which is well above average compared to other U.S. neighborhoods (higher than 62.8% 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.
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
Of note is NeighborhoodScout's research finding that the Lake Merritt neighborhood has some of the lowest rates of children living in poverty of any neighborhood in the United States. In a nation where approximately 1 in 4 children are living in poverty, the Lake Merritt community truly stands out from the rest in this regard.
In addition, one of the most interesting things about the Lake Merritt neighborhood is that it has a greater concentration of residents who live alone than most all neighborhoods in America. With 69.2% of the households here made up of people living alone, NeighborhoodScout's research reveals that this is a larger proportion of people living alone than in 99.7% of the neighborhoods in America.
Also, if knowledge is power, then imagine the cumulative power of one neighborhood where many of the adults have earned an advanced degree, such as a Masters, law degree, medical degree, or even a Ph.D. This is certainly the case in the Lake Merritt neighborhood, where 36.4% have earned an advanced degree. Compare that to the average neighborhood in America, where just 13.4% of adults have completed a post-graduate degree, and you can see why this neighborhood is a stand out. In fact, this neighborhood has a higher rate of adults with an advanced degree than 95.7% of the neighborhoods in America.
Real Estate
The Lake Merritt neighborhood is very unique in that it has one of the highest proportions of one, two, or no bedroom real estate of any neighborhood in America. Most neighborhoods have a mixture of home or apartment sizes from small to large, but here the concentration of studios and other small living spaces is at near-record heights. With 96.6% of the real estate here of this small size, this most assuredly is a notable feature that makes this neighborhood unique, along with just a handful of other neighborhoods in the U.S. that share this characteristic.
In addition, one of the really unique and interesting things about the look and setting of the Lake Merritt neighborhood is that it is almost entirely dominated by large apartment buildings, such as apartment complexes or high-rise apartments. 91.6% of the residential real estate here is classified as such. This puts this neighborhood on the map as having a higher proportion of large apartment buildings than 98.5% of all neighborhoods in America.
Furthermore, renter-occupied real estate is dominant in the Lake Merritt neighborhood. The percentage of rental real estate here, according to exclusive NeighborhoodScout analysis, is 85.0%, which is higher than 95.4% of the neighborhoods in America. If you were to buy and live in the property you bought here, you would be almost alone in doing so.
Occupations
Executives, managers and professionals make up 75.9% of the workforce in the Lake Merritt neighborhood which, according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis, is a higher proportion of such high-level people than is found in 98.0% of the neighborhoods in America. For this reason, this neighborhood really stands out as unique.
Modes of Transportation
Would you like to be able to ride your bike to work? If you are attracted to the idea of getting a little exercise of the two-wheeled type while reducing your carbon footprint, bicycling to work might be the answer. But which neighborhood you live in can make this either impossible, or alternatively, a great and realistic option. NeighborhoodScout's analysis revealed that the Lake Merritt neighborhood is a fantastic option for bicycle commuters, as 4.7% of commuters here do ride their bikes to and from work on a daily basis. This is a higher amount than we found in 97.9% of the neighborhoods in America.
Also, if you like to ride the train to work, this neighborhood may be for you. NeighborhoodScout's research revealed that 19.4% of the Lake Merritt neighborhood's commuters ride the train to and from work each day, which is more than we found in 97.1% of America's neighborhoods.
Finally, more people in Lake Merritt choose to walk to work each day (13.2%) than almost any neighborhood in America. If you are attracted to the idea of being able to walk to work, this neighborhood could be a good choice.
Car Ownership
We Americans love our cars. Not only are they a necessity for most Americans due to the shape of our neighborhoods and the distances between where we live, work, shop, and go to school, but we also fancy them. As a result, most households in America have one, two, or three cars. But NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis shows that the Lake Merritt neighborhood has a highly unusual pattern of car ownership. 28.1% of the households in this neighborhood don't own a car at all. This is more carless households than NeighborhoodScout found in 96.9% of U.S. neighborhoods.
Diversity
Did you know that the Lake Merritt neighborhood has more Belgian and Armenian ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 1.3% of this neighborhood's residents have Belgian ancestry and 1.5% have Armenian ancestry.
Lake Merritt is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 17.0% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Chinese at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 99.0% of the neighborhoods in America.
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 Lake Merritt neighborhood in Oakland are middle-income, making it a moderate income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 47.3% of the neighborhoods in America. In addition, 0.0% 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 100.0% of America'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 Lake Merritt neighborhood, 75.9% 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 13.1% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations (9.2%), and 4.9% in government jobs, whether they are in local, state, or federal positions.
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 Lake Merritt neighborhood is English, spoken by 67.8% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Chinese, French, African languages and Spanish.
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 Lake Merritt neighborhood in Oakland, CA, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Asian (25.0%). There are also a number of people of English ancestry (9.9%), and residents who report Irish roots (8.7%), and some of the residents are also of Sub-Saharan African ancestry (6.0%), along with some German ancestry residents (6.0%), among others. In addition, 33.5% 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 Lake Merritt neighborhood spend between 15 and 30 minutes commuting one-way to work (39.7% of working residents), which is shorter than the time spent commuting to work for most Americans.
Here most residents (30.7%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also take the train to get to work (19.4%) and 13.2% 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.
