Ghent is a tiny town located in the state of New York. With a population of 623 people and just one neighborhood, Ghent is the 845th largest community in New York.
Unlike some towns where white-collar or blue-collar occupations dominate the local economy, Ghent is neither predominantly one nor the other. Instead, it has a mixed workforce of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Ghent is a town of professionals, transportation and shipping workers, and sales and office workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Ghent who work in office and administrative support (18.63%), community and social services (17.11%), and computer science and math (14.45%).
Also of interest is that Ghent has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.
A relatively large number of people in Ghent telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 25.40% 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.
Another notable thing is that Ghent is an extremely popular destination for tourists and seasonal residents. So much of the population is seasonal such that the town’s population swells significantly during the vacation season, and drops again when the season ends. Because of this, much of the local economy is centered around tourism; some businesses may be operated only during the high season. During the low season, year-round residents will notice that the city is a substantially quieter place to live.
In addition, Ghent is home to many people who could be described as "urban sophisticates". Urban sophisticates are people who are both educated and wealthy, and thus tend to be older, richer, and more established than young professionals. "Urban sophisticates" is not just about being educated and well-off financially: it is a point of view and state of mind, one that you might call 'urbaneness'. But such people can and do regularly live in small towns, suburbs and rural areas, as well as in big cities. They read, support the arts and high-end shops, and love travel.
The citizens of Ghent are among the most well-educated in the nation: 43.70% of adults in Ghent have a bachelor's degree or even advanced degree, whereas the average US city has 21.84% holding at least a bachelor's degree.
The per capita income in Ghent in 2022 was $49,132, which is upper middle income relative to New York, and wealthy relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $196,528 for a family of four.
Ghent is an extremely ethnically-diverse town. The people who call Ghent home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Ghent residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Ghent also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 21.80% of the town’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Ghent include Italian, English, Dutch, Scots-Irish, and German.
The most common language spoken in Ghent is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Russian.
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 Ghent, the neighborhood, has some outstanding things about the way it looks and its way of life that are worth highlighting.
With more than 1.9% of residents living with a same sex partner, is truly a neighborhood that stands out from the rest in this regard. In fact, exclusive analysis by NeighborhoodScout reveals that this neighborhood has a greater concentration of same sex couples than 96.4% of U.S. neighborhoods.
In addition, if you are planning to retire in New York, this neighborhood should be on your must-see list. For many reasons, may be considered a retiree's dream neighborhood. According to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis and metrics, it's peaceful and quiet, has above average safety from crime compared to other neighborhoods in New York, while also offering a diverse range of housing options. This, along with the vibrant mix of very educated seniors and other age groups who choose to live here, makes the neighborhood more retiree-friendly than 95.5% of neighborhoods in NY. If a New York retirement is in your future, this neighborhood should be one of the places you visit.
Did you know that the neighborhood has more Dutch and Danish ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 6.3% of this neighborhood's residents have Dutch ancestry and 3.3% have Danish ancestry.
is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 16.9% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Italian at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 99.4% 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 neighborhood in Ghent are upper-middle income, making it an above average income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 64.3% of the neighborhoods in America. With 11.0% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 51.5% 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 neighborhood, 47.2% 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 21.7% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in manufacturing and laborer occupations (19.2%), and 11.9% in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations.
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 neighborhood is English, spoken by 92.6% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Italian and German/Yiddish.
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 neighborhood in Ghent, NY, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as German (28.4%). There are also a number of people of Irish ancestry (16.3%), and residents who report Italian roots (15.5%), and some of the residents are also of English ancestry (13.4%), along with some French ancestry residents (7.6%), among others.
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 under 15 minutes commuting one-way to work (31.8% of working residents), one of the shortest commutes across America.
Here most residents (70.9%) 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 (6.2%) . In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.