High Real Estate Values Challenge Takoma Park Diversity

The large increase in real estate values over the last decade has changed who can buy a house in Takoma Park. New home buyers have higher incomes than the typical Takoma Park homeowner in 2000. In 2006 the median income of new home buyers was $112,000 compared to the inflation adjusted median reported in the 2000 Census of about $95,000.

The racial makeup of homeowners in Takoma Park is also changing. White homeowners made up 71% of homeowners in the 2000 census. However an analysis of home buyers from 2006 to 2008 indicates that 81% of new Takoma Park homeowners are white. If this trend continues the portion of white and wealthier homeowners will increase, which will reduce the diversity of the community. New data on racial diversity will become available with the release of the 2010 Census.