Merrick Eviction Risk: Elevated , West Springfield Town

At $430 a month, rents run 62% under what the rest of Springfield commands. SNAP participation runs 65.1% against 15.2% nationally. The poverty rate is 50%. Judgments in high-poverty tracts are collectible far less often than filing counts suggest.

87% of occupied units are rented, so comparables are plentiful and vacancy risk is low, but a mispriced renewal loses the tenant to a building nearby. Well under the midpoint, supply constraint reads 1/10. Against the Hampden County average of 5.8, this tract reads riskier for landlords by 2.1 points.

Adults with no health insurance runs 28.8% against 11.3% nationally. 22% are severely burdened past the 50% mark. That cohort absorbs no shock: one repair bill or one cut shift converts straight into arrears.

On the high side, court filing pressure reads 8.5/10. Against Hampden County at 46.5%, 39% of renters here are cost-burdened.

On the national scale it lands near the 90th percentile of the 84,120 tracts scored. On the CDC Social Vulnerability Index the tract reads 9.8/10, which tracks how hard a shock lands on the households already here.

These are ACS 5-year estimates; the score moves when the ACS, court-record, or statute inputs behind it move.