3 census tracts · pop 15,666 · pop-weighted Eviction Risk Score 9.6/10
· range 8.7–9.9
Harvard Yard is a 3-tract neighborhood of Cambridge, MA and houses 15,666 people. The Eviction Risk Score is 9.6/10, in the High tier. Cost burden runs 48% against 27.9% citywide, putting Harvard Yard 20.1% over its own city.
Severe burden reaches 26%. A tenant at that level absorbs no shock: one cut shift or one repair bill converts directly into arrears. 79% of occupied units are rented, so comparables are plentiful and vacancy risk is low, but a mispriced renewal loses the tenant to a building two streets over.
The strongest single driver of the headline number is rent-regulation exposure at 8.5/10. Annualized rent equals 33% of average household income here, past the 30% affordability line, which compresses the margin any screening standard has to work with. Running hot is eviction-process difficulty at 8.5/10.
Sitting well above the midpoint is tenant-organizing strength at 8.5/10. The 3 tracts inside this boundary do not behave alike. Individual scores run 8.7 to 9.9, a 1.2-point gap wide enough that the area average misleads on any specific address.
The poverty rate is 18%, which shows up in this model as reduced rent-recovery odds after a judgment. Court records carry 128 eviction filings across its 3 observed tracts. 3.9% of adults carry no health insurance against 11.3% nationally, a common route into sudden unpayable debt.
The worst year on record was 2016, when filings touched 1.0% of renter households. Among the 13 mapped neighborhoods of Cambridge, it ranks #1 by risk, the upper third.
Underwrite the address, not the area: with 1.2 points between its best and worst tract, the per-tract table below is the operative number. The number is rebuilt whenever its ACS, court-record, or statutory inputs change.
Risk score
9.6
High
3 tracts · population-weighted
Harvard Yard vs CambridgeHow this neighborhood stacks against the citywide average
Single-parent HH, disability, language barriers, age 17- / 65+
Racial/ethnic minority63%ile
Hispanic + non-white share of population
Housing & transport91%ile
Multi-unit structures, mobile homes, crowding, no vehicle
Eviction filings · Princeton Eviction Lab
Court-record eviction history in Harvard Yard
Aggregated across 3 validated constituent tracts. Filing rate is filings per 100 renter households, pop-weighted.
Historic baseline (2000–2018)
128Total filings (sum)
0.63%Avg annual filing rate
1.0%Peak year (2016)
0.67%Latest filed (2016)
CDC PLACES 2023 · pop-weighted
Eviction-adjacent indicators in Harvard Yard
Average across all constituent tracts, population-weighted. Source: CDC PLACES (cwsq-ngmh) crude prevalence.
10.3%Housing insecurity
6.1%Utility shutoff threat
12.0%Food insecurity
12.1%SNAP enrollment
4.0%No health insurance
22.5%Any disability
Frequently asked
About Harvard Yard
Q1
What is the eviction-risk score for Harvard Yard?
Harvard Yard scores 9.6/10 (High tier) across 3 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 Harvard Yard compare to Cambridge overall?
Harvard Yard scores 0.7 points higher than Cambridge overall (8.9/10). Renters spend 48% of income on rent vs 28% citywide. Average rent: $2,741 vs $2,787.
Q3
What is the average rent in Harvard Yard?
Average gross rent in Harvard Yard is $2,741/month (pop-weighted across 3 census tracts, ACS 5-year 2023). 48% of renter households are cost-burdened.
Q4
What percentage of Harvard Yard residents are renters?
79% of Harvard Yard households are renter-occupied (vs 67% in Cambridge). The neighborhood has 15,666 residents.
Q5
Is Harvard Yard a high social-vulnerability area?
Harvard Yard sits in the 36th percentile nationally on the CDC Social Vulnerability Index (less vulnerable). The index combines poverty, unemployment, household composition, racial/ethnic minority share, and housing/transportation factors across all US census tracts.
Q6
Which tracts in Harvard Yard have the highest eviction risk?
The highest-risk constituent tract in Harvard Yard is census tract 25017353900 (score 9.9/10). Across the 3 tracts in this neighborhood the score ranges from 8.7 to 9.9, a spread of 1.2 points.
Q7
How safe is Harvard Yard for landlords?
Harvard Yard carries a high-tier eviction-risk profile for landlords (9.6/10). Pop-weighted across 3 constituent tracts, the score blends parent-city rent-control posture, county eviction-process timelines, and tract-specific rent-to-income / poverty signals. Compared to Cambridge as a whole (8.9/10), this neighborhood is higher-risk.
Q8
What is the demographic breakdown of Harvard Yard?
Harvard Yard has 15,727 residents. Top groups: White (non-Hispanic) (52.1%), Asian (non-Hispanic) (27.5%), Hispanic / Latino (8.5%). Source: ACS 5-year 2023, table B03002.
