Neighborhood · Ranked #7,836 of 84,120 nationally

Downtown Eviction Risk: High , Evanston

Tract 17031809402 · Cook County, IL · pop 2,713 · neighborhood within 0.0 mi

17031809402 is a census tract in the Downtown area of Evanston, IL. It scores 8/10 for landlords. Population here is 2,713. 49% are severely burdened past the 50% mark. That cohort absorbs no shock: one repair bill or one cut shift converts straight into arrears.

Risk score

High

Confidence 100% · 1–10 scale

Household mix · 100 hh

Burdened renters 40% Stable renters 33% Owners 27%

Tract context

Occupied units1,490

Renter share73.1%

SVI overall0.49

Poverty rate38.7%

Median income$60,000

Percentile rank

Higher percentile = riskier than more peers.

Geographic context

Risk heat across Evanston and the region

Centroid at 42.0490, -87.6820 · click any tract to drill in

Why Downtown scores 8

9 axes · 1 = landlord-friendly

Local political climate

Inherited from Evanston

7.8

Regional political climate

2024 county presidential margin

7.5

State political climate

Illinois legislature & governorship

5.2

Economic stress

38.7% poverty · this tract

9.7

Supply constraint

$2,548 rent vs county FMR

9.5

Rent control risk

Inherited from Evanston

6.3

Eviction process difficulty

State law sets the calendar

5.0

Tenant organizing strength

Inherited from Evanston

8.6

Housing court bias

Inherited from Evanston

6.1

How Downtown compares

Risk score vs. parent city, county, state.

CDC Social Vulnerability Index

SVI percentile: 49

CDC/ATSDR 2022. Higher = more vulnerable. National percentile across 84k tracts.

55%Socioeconomic
2%Household composition
59%Racial/ethnic minority
89%Housing & transportation

Historical context · 1930s redlining

HOLC grade: C: Definitely Declining

This tract sits within an area graded by the Home Owners' Loan Corporation in the 1930s. Grade C meant mixed-race / working-class neighborhoods rated as risky. These designations suppressed minority homeownership for generations and remain a documented predictor of present-day eviction filings and rent burden.

0%Grade A
6%Grade B
21%Grade C
19%Grade D · redlined

Source: Mapping Inequality (americanpanorama.org), 1935-1940 HOLC residential security maps, aggregated to 2020 census tracts by area share. CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.

Comparable tracts

Census tracts with similar eviction risk

Within Downtown. Closest by Eviction Risk Score.

CDC PLACES 2023 · health & economic stress

Eviction-adjacent indicators

Crude prevalence of conditions linked to housing loss. Source: CDC PLACES (cwsq-ngmh), 2023 model-based small-area estimates.

11.4%Housing insecurity
6.9%Utility-shutoff threat
16.3%Food insecurity
13.4%SNAP enrollment
8.9%Transit barriers
7.7%No health insurance
16.1%Frequent mental distress
25.4%Any disability

Analysis

What drives eviction risk in Downtown

Average gross rent is $2,548, 45% above the Evanston average. Set annual rent against average income of $60,000 and the ratio lands at 51%, above the conventional 30% ceiling.

The voucher gap is 44.7%: households holding assistance that local rents will not absorb, which surfaces as churn rather than arrears. The dominant input is economic stress at 9.7/10.

On the high side, supply constraint reads 9.5/10. The poverty rate is 39%. Judgments in high-poverty tracts are collectible far less often than filing counts suggest. It sits 1.9 points above the Cook County average of 6.1.

This is renter territory: 73% of occupied units are tenant-occupied. Running hot, tenant-organizing strength reads 8.6/10.

Against Cook County at 45.6%, 55% of renters here are cost-burdened. This ground was mapped C ("Definitely Declining") on the 1930s HOLC security maps for Chicago. That grading determined who could get a mortgage, and its imprint on tenure and rent burden is still visible in the ACS data above.

That is riskier than roughly 91% of the 84,120 US census tracts in this model.

All figures here are ACS 5-year estimates for this tract, refreshed as the underlying releases land.

Frequently asked

About tract 17031809402

What is the eviction-risk score for census tract 17031809402?

Census tract 17031809402 in the Downtown neighborhood scores 8/10 (High tier). The Eviction Risk Score blends state law, county filing rates, parent-city politics, and tract-specific rent-to-income ratios + poverty signals.

What is the average rent in tract 17031809402?

Median gross rent is $2,548/month (ACS 5-year 2023, table B25064). 55% of renter households are cost-burdened.

What is the poverty rate in tract 17031809402?

38.7% of residents in tract 17031809402 live below the federal poverty line (ACS B17001, 2023). Population: 2,713.

How socially vulnerable is tract 17031809402?

CDC Social Vulnerability Index ranks this tract in the 49th percentile nationally. Sub-themes: socioeconomic 55th, household 2th, minority 59th, housing 89th.

Is tract 17031809402 considered part of Downtown?

Yes. Per Census Bureau 2020 Block Assignment Files, the plurality of blocks in tract 17031809402 fall within Downtown (neighborhood centroid within 0.0 miles, OSM data).

What share of households in tract 17031809402 struggle to pay rent?

About 11.4% of adults in this tract reported housing insecurity (could not pay rent or mortgage in the past 12 months), per the CDC PLACES 2023 model-based small-area estimate. 6.9% also reported utility shutoff threats, a frequent precursor to eviction filings.

How does tract 17031809402 compare to Evanston overall?

Tract 17031809402 scores 8/10, higher than the parent city of Evanston at 6.6/10. City-scale signals (state law, local rent controls, court bias) are inherited from Evanston eviction risk; what makes this tract different are its tract-specific economic stress and supply-constraint sub-scores.

Was tract 17031809402 historically redlined?

Yes. This tract sits inside an area graded by the Home Owners' Loan Corporation in the 1930s, with a dominant grade of C. 19% of the tract's area was rated D ("Hazardous"), the redlined tier. HOLC redlining systematically denied mortgage credit to Black, immigrant, and working-class neighborhoods and remains a documented predictor of present-day eviction filings, rent burden, and homeownership gaps. Source: Mapping Inequality (americanpanorama.org), Robert K. Nelson et al.

Sibling tracts

Highest-risk tracts in Evanston

Top eight tracts in Evanston ranked by composite eviction-risk score.