Neighborhood · Ranked #28,017 of 84,120 nationally

"Cheese Box" Eviction Risk: Moderate , Muncie

Tract 18035002000 · Delaware County, IN · pop 5,034 · neighborhood within 1.4 mi

The Moderate-tier score of 5.6/10 for census tract 18035002000 reflects conditions in "Cheese Box" in Muncie, Indiana. That is riskier than roughly 61% of the 84,120 US census tracts we score.

49% of renter households here spend at least 30% of income on rent, a severe level, and 28% are severely burdened at 50% or more. Average rent runs $979 a month against an average household income of $49,049 a year, roughly 24% of income at the averages. Renters make up 32% of occupied homes.

Risk score

4.8

Moderate

Confidence 85% · 1–10 scale

Household mix · 100 hh

Burdened renters 16% Stable renters 16% Owners 68%

Tract context

Occupied units1,953

Renter share32.3%

SVI overall0.75

Poverty rate19.4%

Median income$49,049

Percentile rank

Higher percentile = riskier than more peers.

Geographic context

Risk heat across Muncie and the region

Centroid at 40.2132, -85.3536 · click any tract to drill in

Why "Cheese Box" scores 4.8

9 axes · 1 = landlord-friendly

Local political climate

Inherited from Muncie

4.9

Regional political climate

2024 county presidential margin

4.3

State political climate

Indiana legislature & governorship

2.0

Economic stress

19.4% poverty · this tract

4.8

Supply constraint

$979 rent vs county FMR

5.0

Rent control risk

Inherited from Muncie

7.4

Eviction process difficulty

State law sets the calendar

1.5

Tenant organizing strength

Inherited from Muncie

9.0

Housing court bias

Inherited from Muncie

8.3

How "Cheese Box" compares

Risk score vs. parent city, county, state.

CDC Social Vulnerability Index

SVI percentile: 75

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

76%Socioeconomic
34%Household composition
30%Racial/ethnic minority
92%Housing & transportation

Historical context · 1930s redlining

HOLC grade: D: Hazardous (Redlined)

This tract sits within an area graded by the Home Owners' Loan Corporation in the 1930s. Grade D meant Black, immigrant, and poor neighborhoods systematically denied mortgage credit. These designations suppressed minority homeownership for generations and remain a documented predictor of present-day eviction filings and rent burden.

0%Grade A
0%Grade B
0%Grade C
1%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 "Cheese Box". 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.

13.9%Housing insecurity
10.9%Utility-shutoff threat
19.3%Food insecurity
13.4%SNAP enrollment
10.0%Transit barriers
9.5%No health insurance
19.7%Frequent mental distress
38.7%Any disability

Analysis

What drives eviction risk in "Cheese Box"

What moves this score most is tenant organizing strength at $1/10. That part comes from the wider legal climate rather than the tract itself. Statewide and court-level factors such as eviction-process speed and rent-control exposure are inherited from Muncie eviction risk, while the economic and supply signals are measured at the tract level.

Set against its neighbors, this tract scores above the Delaware County average of 5.1 and above the Indiana statewide average of 4.7. Within its own county it reads on the riskier side for landlords.

This tract overlaps land the federal Home Owners' Loan Corporation redlined in the 1930s, a dominant grade of D ("Hazardous") across 1% of the tract. Redlining cut off mortgage credit to Black, immigrant, and working-class blocks, and those areas still tend to carry higher rent burden and eviction filings today.

The tract is predominantly White and ranks around the 75th percentile nationally on the CDC Social Vulnerability Index, a measure of how exposed residents are to housing and economic shocks. High vulnerability tends to track with higher eviction-filing rates when rents climb.

For a landlord, conditions here are middle-of-the-road. Standard screening and prompt, documented notices usually keep cases short.

Frequently asked

About tract 18035002000

What is the eviction-risk score for census tract 18035002000?

Census tract 18035002000 in the "Cheese Box" neighborhood scores 4.8/10 (Moderate 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 18035002000?

Median gross rent is $979/month (ACS 5-year 2023, table B25064). 49% of renter households are cost-burdened.

What is the poverty rate in tract 18035002000?

19.4% of residents in tract 18035002000 live below the federal poverty line (ACS B17001, 2023). Population: 5,034.

How socially vulnerable is tract 18035002000?

CDC Social Vulnerability Index ranks this tract in the 75th percentile nationally. Sub-themes: socioeconomic 76th, household 34th, minority 30th, housing 92th.

Is tract 18035002000 considered part of "Cheese Box"?

Yes. Per Census Bureau 2020 Block Assignment Files, the plurality of blocks in tract 18035002000 fall within "Cheese Box" (neighborhood centroid within 1.4 miles, OSM data).

What share of households in tract 18035002000 struggle to pay rent?

About 13.9% 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. 10.9% also reported utility shutoff threats, a frequent precursor to eviction filings.

How does tract 18035002000 compare to Muncie overall?

Tract 18035002000 scores 4.8/10, higher than the parent city of Muncie at 2.8/10. City-scale signals (state law, local rent controls, court bias) are inherited from Muncie eviction risk; what makes this tract different are its tract-specific economic stress and supply-constraint sub-scores.

Was tract 18035002000 historically redlined?

Yes. This tract sits inside an area graded by the Home Owners' Loan Corporation in the 1930s, with a dominant grade of D. 1% 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 Muncie

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