2 census tracts · pop 3,019 · pop-weighted Eviction Risk Score 3/10
· range 3–3.4
Southwestern Hills is a 2-tract neighborhood of Des Moines, IA, population 3,019. Scored across those inputs it reaches 3/10, placing it in the Lower tier. Against a Des Moines baseline of 29.6%, roughly one in two of renters here cross the 30%-of-income line.
The severe-burden share is 37%. Those renters are past the 50% mark, and they miss rent for reasons that have nothing to do with willingness to pay. The main counterweight is rent-regulation exposure, at 1/10. Well under the midpoint is economic stress, at 1/10.
Filings are well documented here: 207 across 2 observed tracts. On the softer side is eviction-process difficulty, at 2.5/10. Food insecurity affects 6.9% of adults, 10.9 points below the national rate.
SNAP participation is 5.0% of households versus 15.2% nationally. Filing activity peaked in 2015 at 13.4% of renter households. Average gross rent is $1,023, 6% below the Des Moines average of $1,090.
That places it #38 of 44 neighborhoods in Des Moines. Judgments average 1.8% of renter households a year, the share of filings that actually convert to an order.
At 21% renter-occupied, this is predominantly owner territory, and rental comps have to be drawn from further out. For a like-for-like read, Beaverdale and Easter Lake Area score within a fraction of it.
With little internal variation, 3/10 is a fair proxy for any address inside the boundary. The number is rebuilt whenever its ACS, court-record, or statutory inputs change.
Risk score
3
Lower
2 tracts · population-weighted
Southwestern Hills vs Des MoinesHow this neighborhood stacks against the citywide average
Single-parent HH, disability, language barriers, age 17- / 65+
Racial/ethnic minority28%ile
Hispanic + non-white share of population
Housing & transport9%ile
Multi-unit structures, mobile homes, crowding, no vehicle
Eviction filings · Princeton Eviction Lab
Court-record eviction history in Southwestern Hills
Aggregated across 2 validated constituent tracts. Filing rate is filings per 100 renter households, pop-weighted.
Historic baseline (2000–2018)
207Total filings (sum)
6.85%Avg annual filing rate
13.4%Peak year (2015)
13.38%Latest filed (2015)
CDC PLACES 2023 · pop-weighted
Eviction-adjacent indicators in Southwestern Hills
Average across all constituent tracts, population-weighted. Source: CDC PLACES (cwsq-ngmh) crude prevalence.
6.5%Housing insecurity
4.2%Utility shutoff threat
6.9%Food insecurity
5.0%SNAP enrollment
4.6%No health insurance
21.9%Any disability
Frequently asked
About Southwestern Hills
Q1
What is the eviction-risk score for Southwestern Hills?
Southwestern Hills scores 3/10 (Lower tier) across 2 census tracts. The pop-weighted Eviction Risk Score blends state law, county filing rates, parent-city politics, and tract-specific rent-to-income and poverty signals.
Q2
How does Southwestern Hills compare to Des Moines overall?
Southwestern Hills scores 0.4 points lower than Des Moines overall (3.4/10). Renters spend 48% of income on rent vs 30% citywide. Average rent: $1,023 vs $1,090.
Q3
What is the average rent in Southwestern Hills?
Average gross rent in Southwestern Hills is $1,023/month (pop-weighted across 2 census tracts, ACS 5-year 2023). 48% of renter households are cost-burdened.
Q4
What percentage of Southwestern Hills residents are renters?
21% of Southwestern Hills households are renter-occupied (vs 40% in Des Moines). The neighborhood has 3,019 residents.
Q5
Is Southwestern Hills a high social-vulnerability area?
Southwestern Hills sits in the 3rd percentile nationally on the CDC Social Vulnerability Index (low vulnerability). The index combines poverty, unemployment, household composition, racial/ethnic minority share, and housing/transportation factors across all US census tracts.
Q6
Which tracts in Southwestern Hills have the highest eviction risk?
The highest-risk constituent tract in Southwestern Hills is census tract 19153011600 (score 3.4/10). Across the 2 tracts in this neighborhood the score ranges from 3 to 3.4, a spread of 0.4 points.
Q7
How safe is Southwestern Hills for landlords?
Southwestern Hills carries a lower-tier eviction-risk profile for landlords (3/10). Pop-weighted across 2 constituent tracts, the score blends parent-city rent-control posture, county eviction-process timelines, and tract-specific rent-to-income / poverty signals. Compared to Des Moines as a whole (3.4/10), this neighborhood is lower-risk.
Q8
What is the demographic breakdown of Southwestern Hills?
Southwestern Hills has 3,075 residents. Top groups: White (non-Hispanic) (81.6%), Hispanic / Latino (7.8%), Black (non-Hispanic) (5.1%). Source: ACS 5-year 2023, table B03002.
