West Hazleton is a somewhat small borough located in the state of Pennsylvania. With a population of 5,172 people and just one neighborhood, West Hazleton is the 288th largest community in Pennsylvania.
West Hazleton is a blue-collar town, with 44.06% of people working in blue-collar occupations, while the average in America is just 27.7%. Overall, West Hazleton is a borough of sales and office workers, transportation and shipping workers, and construction workers and builders. There are especially a lot of people living in West Hazleton who work in office and administrative support (15.12%), sales jobs (6.34%), and food service (4.74%).
As is often the case in a small borough, West Hazleton doesn't have a public transportation system that people use for their commute.
The education level of West Hazleton citizens, measured as those with bachelor's degrees or advanced degrees, is similar to the national average for all American cities and towns. 17.25% of adults 25 and older in West Hazleton have a college degree.
The per capita income in West Hazleton in 2022 was $20,216, which is low income relative to Pennsylvania and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $80,864 for a family of four. However, West Hazleton contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
West Hazleton is an extremely ethnically-diverse borough. The people who call West Hazleton home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. People of Hispanic or Latino origin are the most prevalent group in West Hazleton, accounting for 66.45% of the borough’s residents (people of Hispanic or Latino origin can be of any race). The greatest number of West Hazleton residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in West Hazleton include Italian, Polish, German, Irish, and Jamaican.
Foreign born people are also an important part of West Hazleton's cultural character, accounting for 32.96% of the borough’s population.
The most common language spoken in West Hazleton is Spanish. Other important languages spoken here include English and Polish.
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.
Our research shows that more people carpool to work here in the (30.2%) than in 98.9% of the neighborhoods in America.
Many people dream of living along a street lined with row houses or other attached homes. Such places do often have an abundance of charm. If you are one of these people, the neighborhood could be your paradise. With 32.1% of the homes and real estate here classified as rowhouses or other attached homes, this neighborhood brims with opportunity to find the right place for you. Only 2.9% of U.S. neighborhoods have more row houses than this neighborhood, making it one of the most interesting things about this special neighborhood.
More people work in manufacturing and as laborers here in the neighborhood than in 96.3% of the neighborhoods in America. Despite the loss of manufacturing jobs across the nation, this neighborhood remains a place where, compared to other parts of the country, you will find many laborers and manufacturers.
With a nice mix of college students, safety from crime, and decent walkability, the neighborhood rates highly as a college student friendly place to live, and one that college students and their parents may want to consider. NeighborhoodScout's analysis shows that it rates more highly for a good place for college students to live than 86.8% of the neighborhoods in PA. This often also means that the area has certain amenities and services geared towards college students, from undergraduates to graduate students.
Did you know that the neighborhood has more Dominican and Lithuanian ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 42.6% of this neighborhood's residents have Dominican ancestry and 1.1% have Lithuanian ancestry.
is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 11.3% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Polish at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 98.6% 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 West Hazleton are lower-middle income, making it a below average income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's research shows that this neighborhood has an income lower than 83.5% of U.S. neighborhoods. With 35.2% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 85.8% 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, 43.4% of the working population is employed in manufacturing and laborer occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is executive, management, and professional occupations, with 20.1% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations (18.8%), and 17.0% in sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants.
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 Spanish, spoken by 56.0% of households. Other important languages spoken here include English, Polish and Italian.
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 neighborhood in West Hazleton, PA, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Dominican (42.6%). There are also a number of people of Italian ancestry (8.7%), and residents who report Polish roots (6.9%), and some of the residents are also of Puerto Rican ancestry (6.8%), along with some Mexican ancestry residents (5.4%), among others. In addition, 33.0% 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 neighborhood spend between 15 and 30 minutes commuting one-way to work (37.9% of working residents), which is shorter than the time spent commuting to work for most Americans.
Here most residents (69.6%) 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 (30.2%) . In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.