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.
Hilton Head Island South median real estate price is $523,307, which is more expensive than 81.8% of the neighborhoods in South Carolina and 63.5% of the neighborhoods in the U.S.
The average rental price in Hilton Head Island South is currently $2,589, based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. The average rental cost in this neighborhood is higher than 86.1% of the neighborhoods in South Carolina.
Hilton Head Island South is a suburban neighborhood (based on population density) located in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.
Hilton Head Island South 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 single-family homes. Most of the residential real estate is occupied by a mixture of owners and renters. Many of the residences in the Hilton Head Island South neighborhood are established but not old, having been built between 1970 and 1999. A number of residences were also built between 1940 and 1969.
Vacant apartments or homes are a major fact of life in Hilton Head Island South. The current real estate vacancy rate here is 78.2%. This is higher than the rate of vacancies in 99.9% of all U.S. neighborhoods. A relatively large percentage of housing here is seasonally occupied (59.4%). 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 Hilton Head Island, the Hilton Head Island South neighborhood, has some outstanding things about the way it looks and its way of life that are worth highlighting.
Real Estate
Vacant homes and apartments are a significant characteristic of this neighborhood. In fact, with 78.2% of the residential real estate vacant, the Hilton Head Island South neighborhood claims the distinction of having a higher vacancy rate than 99.9% of the neighborhoods in America. This can either be because much of the property is seasonally occupied, like in many vacation areas, or that much of the real estate is more permanently abandoned.
In addition, most neighborhoods are composed of a mixture of ages of homes, but the Hilton Head Island South stands out as rather unique in having nearly all of its residential real estate built in one time period, namely between 1970 and 1999, generally considered to be established, but not old housing. What you'll sense when you look around or drive the streets of this neighborhood is that many of the residences look the same because of this similarity of age. In fact, 90.5% of the residential real estate here was built in this one time period.
Furthermore, the real estate in the Hilton Head Island South neighborhood really stands out in the way it looks for a unique reason: this neighborhood has a higher proportion of apartment complexes or high-rise apartments than nearly every neighborhood in the country. Most neighborhoods are a mixture of real estate and housing types, but here it is almost entirely dominated by big apartment buildings and complexes. In fact, 84.2% of the real estate here is classified as apartment complexes or high-rise apartments, which is more than is found in 97.3% of American neighborhoods.
People
Divorcees may find friendship and understanding in this neighborhood, as 27.1% of its residents are divorced. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis found that this divorce rate is higher than in 99.5% of the neighborhoods in America.
In addition, according to NeighborhoodScout's research, Hilton Head Island South is better suited for first-time home buyers than 88.7% of neighborhoods in the state. Most homes here are priced below the state's median house value, yet maintain comparably good appreciation rates over the last decade relative to other neighborhoods in South Carolina. Along with an exclusive multi-metric measure of neighborhood quality developed by NeighborhoodScout that scores high here in this neighborhood, this means that buying into the neighborhood is not only an accessible option but considered a decent first time home buyer choice for building equity in your first home, while being in a quality neighborhood
Modes of Transportation
If your dream is to be able to ride your bike to work each day, look no further than this unique neighborhood. With 7.6% of residents in the Hilton Head Island South neighborhood commuting on a bicycle to and from work daily, this neighborhood has more bicycle commuters than 99.3% of all neighborhoods in the U.S., according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis.
Occupations
From major sales accounts to fast-food workers, sales and service employees are often the backbone of the local economy. In the Hilton Head Island South neighborhood, they truly stand out. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis identifies this neighborhood as having a higher percentage of sales and service workers than 97.2% of all American neighborhoods.
Diversity
Did you know that the Hilton Head Island South neighborhood has more Irish and Hungarian ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 24.8% of this neighborhood's residents have Irish ancestry and 2.5% have Hungarian ancestry.
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 Hilton Head Island South neighborhood in Hilton Head Island are lower-middle income, making it a below average income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's research shows that this neighborhood has an income lower than 60.6% of U.S. neighborhoods. With 32.6% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 84.2% 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 Hilton Head Island South 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 executive, management, and professional occupations, with 39.2% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in manufacturing and laborer occupations (12.1%), and 8.1% in clerical, assistant, and tech support 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 Hilton Head Island South neighborhood is English, spoken by 92.2% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Italian and Spanish.
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 Hilton Head Island South neighborhood in Hilton Head Island, SC, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Irish (24.8%). There are also a number of people of English ancestry (18.5%), and residents who report German roots (16.3%), and some of the residents are also of Italian ancestry (11.0%), along with some Polish ancestry residents (6.4%), among others.
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 Hilton Head Island South neighborhood spend between 15 and 30 minutes commuting one-way to work (40.4% of working residents), which is shorter than the time spent commuting to work for most Americans.
Here most residents (72.2%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also bicycle to get to work (7.6%) . 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.
