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Census Tract · Ranked #15,522 of 84,120 nationally

Des Moines Eviction Risk: Moderate

Tract 19153000101 · Polk County, IA · pop 3,793

Des Moines in Polk County is where census tract 19153000101 sits, home to 3,793 residents. Its landlord eviction-risk score is 5.7/10. It lands near the 65th percentile nationally for landlord eviction risk.

Rent eats 30% or more of income for 61% of renter households, a severe level, and 37% are severely burdened at 50% or more. Average rent runs $963 a month against an average household income of $41,845 a year, roughly 28% of income at the averages. About 68% of occupied units are renter-occupied, a renter-majority tract.

Risk score
5.7
Moderate
Confidence 100% · 1–10 scale
Household mix · 100 hh
Burdened renters 41% Stable renters 26% Owners 33%
Tract context
Occupied units1,605
Renter share67.5%
SVI overall0.96
Poverty rate35.7%
Median income$41,845

Percentile rank

Higher percentile = riskier than more peers.
Within parent city
95 th percentile
Rank, 95th percentileLowHigh
#4 of 60 tracts In Des Moines
Very High
Within county
98 th percentile
Rank, 98th percentileLowHigh
#3 of 112 tracts In Polk County
Very High
Within state
98 th percentile
Rank, 98th percentileLowHigh
#20 of 896 tracts In Iowa
Very High
National
82 th percentile
Rank, 82nd percentileLowHigh
#15,522 of 84,120 tracts In U.S.
High
Geographic context

Risk heat across Des Moines and the region

Centroid at 41.6327, -93.5464 · click any tract to drill in

Why Des Moines scores 5.7

9 axes · 1 = landlord-friendly
Local political climate
Inherited from Des Moines
4.5
Regional political climate
2024 county presidential margin
5.8
State political climate
Iowa legislature & governorship
2.3
Economic stress
35.7% poverty · this tract
8.9
Supply constraint
$963 rent vs county FMR
2.9
Rent control risk
Inherited from Des Moines
1.0
Eviction process difficulty
State law sets the calendar
2.5
Tenant organizing strength
Inherited from Des Moines
3.0
Housing court bias
Inherited from Des Moines
2.5

How Des Moines compares

Risk score vs. parent city, county, state.
Des Moines risk score vs. parent city / county / stateThis tract: 5.75.7This tracttract 000101Des Moines: 2.62.6Des Moinesparent cityCounty: 3.23.2Countyavg tract in countyState: 3.33.3Stateavg tract in state
CDC Social Vulnerability Index

SVI percentile: 96

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

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.

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.

Eviction filings

Court-record eviction history

Court-validated eviction filings collected from county clerks and consolidated by the Eviction Lab at Princeton University. Filing rate is filings per 100 renter households.1

Historic baseline (2000–2018)

  • 1,215Total filings over 10 yrs
  • 11.34%Avg annual filing rate
  • 14.4%Peak (2015)
  • 161Filings in 2015 (latest validated)
Filings by year 2006 to 2015
Year-by-year eviction filings in tract 191530001012006: 99 filings (9.61/100 renter HHs)2007: 129 filings (12.52/100 renter HHs)2008: 143 filings (13.88/100 renter HHs)2009: 101 filings (9.81/100 renter HHs)2010: 97 filings (10.00/100 renter HHs)2011: 109 filings (9.71/100 renter HHs)2012: 116 filings (10.34/100 renter HHs)2013: 121 filings (10.78/100 renter HHs)2014: 139 filings (12.39/100 renter HHs)2015: 161 filings (14.35/100 renter HHs)
Filings climbed 63% over the past 10 months.
Comparable tracts

Census tracts with similar eviction risk

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.

Analysis

What drives eviction risk in Des Moines

The score leans hardest on economic stress at 8.9/10. That part is specific to this tract, computed from its own rent, income, and poverty figures. Statewide and court-level factors such as eviction-process speed and rent-control exposure are inherited from Des Moines eviction risk, while the economic and supply signals are measured at the tract level.

Set against its neighbors, this tract scores above the Polk County average of 5.0 and above the Iowa statewide average of 4.3. Within its own county it reads on the riskier side for landlords.

HOLC surveyors mapped this tract in the 1930s with a dominant grade of C ("Declining"), above the redlined D tier. The grading still shaped decades of lending and development in the surrounding area.

In CDC survey modeling, about 23.4% of adults here said they could not pay rent or mortgage at some point in the past year, and 18.3% faced a utility shutoff threat, a common early warning before a filing.

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

Frequently asked

About tract 19153000101

Q1

What is the eviction-risk score for census tract 19153000101?

Census tract 19153000101 in Des Moines scores 5.7/10 (Moderate tier). The Eviction Risk Score blends state law, county filing rates, parent-city politics, and tract-specific rent-to-income ratios + poverty signals.
Q2

What is the average rent in tract 19153000101?

Median gross rent is $963/month (ACS 5-year 2023, table B25064). 61% of renter households are cost-burdened.
Q3

What is the poverty rate in tract 19153000101?

35.7% of residents in tract 19153000101 live below the federal poverty line (ACS B17001, 2023). Population: 3,793.
Q4

How socially vulnerable is tract 19153000101?

CDC Social Vulnerability Index ranks this tract in the 96th percentile nationally. Sub-themes: socioeconomic 86th, household 99th, minority 66th, housing 88th.
Q5

How many evictions are filed each year in tract 19153000101?

Princeton Eviction Lab recorded 1,215 eviction filings across 10 validated years in tract 19153000101 (2000-2018). The average annual filing rate is 11.34% of renter households, peaking at 14.4% in 2015. Source: Eviction Lab tract-validated 2024 release.
Q6

What share of households in tract 19153000101 struggle to pay rent?

About 23.4% 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. 18.3% also reported utility shutoff threats, a frequent precursor to eviction filings.
Q7

How does tract 19153000101 compare to Des Moines overall?

Tract 19153000101 scores 5.7/10, higher than the parent city of Des Moines at 2.6/10. City-scale signals (state law, local rent controls, court bias) are inherited from Des Moines eviction risk; what makes this tract different are its tract-specific economic stress and supply-constraint sub-scores.
Q8

Was tract 19153000101 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. 0% 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 Des Moines

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

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