6 census tracts · pop 19,150 · pop-weighted Eviction Risk Score 5.3/10
· range 4.9–6.1
Cushing Square spans 6 census tracts of Belmont, MA, population 19,150. Scored across those inputs it reaches 5.3/10, placing it in the Moderate tier. Cost burden runs 40% against 27.4% citywide, putting Cushing Square 12.8% over its own city.
Pulling the other way is economic stress, at 1.4/10. 18% are severely burdened, paying half their income or more in rent. That cohort has no absorption capacity for an unexpected bill, and it is where non-payment filings originate.
The 6 tracts inside this boundary do not behave alike. Individual scores run 4.9 to 6.1, a 1.2-point gap wide enough that the area average misleads on any specific address. Food insecurity affects 6.0% of adults, 11.8 points below the national rate. Court records carry 60 eviction filings across its 5 observed tracts.
3.9% of adults report being unable to pay a utility bill, below a 9.2% national figure. Utility arrears usually lead rent arrears by a month or two. The worst year on record was 2014, when filings touched 1.8% of renter households. The most recent observed rate, 0.4% in 2016, is well off that peak.
That places it #4 of 5 neighborhoods in Belmont. Against average income of $160,335, annual rent is only 19%, a wide affordability cushion. Poverty sits at 4%, low enough that arrears here usually reflect a specific shock rather than a structural income gap.
Average gross rent runs $2,473, close to the Belmont average. 40% of occupied units are renter-occupied.
For a specific building, read the per-tract breakdown below rather than the 5.3 headline, because the internal range is too wide to average safely. The number is rebuilt whenever its ACS, court-record, or statutory inputs change.
Risk score
5.3
Moderate
6 tracts · population-weighted
Cushing Square vs BelmontHow this neighborhood stacks against the citywide average
Single-parent HH, disability, language barriers, age 17- / 65+
Racial/ethnic minority41%ile
Hispanic + non-white share of population
Housing & transport33%ile
Multi-unit structures, mobile homes, crowding, no vehicle
Eviction filings · Princeton Eviction Lab
Court-record eviction history in Cushing Square
Aggregated across 5 validated constituent tracts. Filing rate is filings per 100 renter households, pop-weighted.
Historic baseline (2000–2018)
60Total filings (sum)
0.66%Avg annual filing rate
1.8%Peak year (2014)
0.48%Latest filed (2016)
CDC PLACES 2023 · pop-weighted
Eviction-adjacent indicators in Cushing Square
Average across all constituent tracts, population-weighted. Source: CDC PLACES (cwsq-ngmh) crude prevalence.
6.4%Housing insecurity
4.0%Utility shutoff threat
6.1%Food insecurity
6.6%SNAP enrollment
2.7%No health insurance
20.3%Any disability
Frequently asked
About Cushing Square
Q1
What is the eviction-risk score for Cushing Square?
Cushing Square scores 5.3/10 (Moderate tier) across 6 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 Cushing Square compare to Belmont overall?
Cushing Square scores 0.8 points lower than Belmont overall (6.1/10). Renters spend 40% of income on rent vs 27% citywide. Average rent: $2,473 vs $2,527.
Q3
What is the average rent in Cushing Square?
Average gross rent in Cushing Square is $2,473/month (pop-weighted across 6 census tracts, ACS 5-year 2023). 40% of renter households are cost-burdened.
Q4
What percentage of Cushing Square residents are renters?
40% of Cushing Square households are renter-occupied (vs 35% in Belmont). The neighborhood has 19,150 residents.
Q5
Is Cushing Square a high social-vulnerability area?
Cushing Square sits in the 21st 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 Cushing Square have the highest eviction risk?
The highest-risk constituent tract in Cushing Square is census tract 25017370401 (score 6.1/10). Across the 6 tracts in this neighborhood the score ranges from 4.9 to 6.1, a spread of 1.2 points.
Q7
How safe is Cushing Square for landlords?
Cushing Square carries a moderate-tier eviction-risk profile for landlords (5.3/10). Pop-weighted across 6 constituent tracts, the score blends parent-city rent-control posture, county eviction-process timelines, and tract-specific rent-to-income / poverty signals. Compared to Belmont as a whole (6.1/10), this neighborhood is lower-risk.
Q8
What is the demographic breakdown of Cushing Square?
Cushing Square has 19,408 residents. Top groups: White (non-Hispanic) (72.2%), Asian (non-Hispanic) (13.7%), Other / Multiracial (6.6%). Source: ACS 5-year 2023, table B03002.
