Neighborhood · Ranked #41,480 of 84,120 nationally

East Somerville Eviction Risk: Moderate

Tract 25017351404 · Middlesex County, MA · pop 3,633 · neighborhood within 0.2 mi

The Moderate-tier score of 5.6/10 for census tract 25017351404 reflects conditions in the East Somerville neighborhood of Somerville, Massachusetts. That is riskier than roughly 61% of the 84,120 US census tracts we score.

About 33% of renters carry a rent burden of 30% of income or higher, a high level, and 21% are severely burdened at 50% or more. Average rent runs $2,234 a month against an average household income of $99,519 a year, roughly 27% of income at the averages. About 60% of occupied units are renter-occupied, a renter-majority tract.

Risk score

4.7

Moderate

Confidence 100% · 1-10 scale

Household mix · 100 hh

Burdened renters 20% Stable renters 40% Owners 40%

Tract context

Occupied units1,498

Renter share59.6%

SVI overall0.58

Poverty rate10.0%

Median income$99,519

Percentile rank

Higher percentile = riskier than more peers.

Geographic context

Risk heat across Somerville and the region

Centroid at 42.3838, -71.0876 · click any tract to drill in

Why East Somerville scores 4.7

9 axes · 1 = landlord-friendly

Local political climate

Inherited from Somerville

8.5

Regional political climate

2024 county presidential margin

7.3

State political climate

Massachusetts legislature & governorship

6.2

Economic stress

10.0% poverty · this tract

2.5

Supply constraint

$2,234 rent vs county FMR

2.9

Rent control risk

Inherited from Somerville

7.5

Eviction process difficulty

State law sets the calendar

8.0

Tenant organizing strength

Inherited from Somerville

8.0

Housing court bias

Inherited from Somerville

8.0

How East Somerville compares

Risk score vs. parent city, county, state.

CDC Social Vulnerability Index

SVI percentile: 58

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

58%Socioeconomic
19%Household composition
63%Racial/ethnic minority
75%Housing & transportation

Historical context · 1930s redlining

HOLC grade: D: Hazardous (Redlined)

This tract sits within an area graded by the Home Owners' Loan Corporation in the 1930s. Grade D meant Black, immigrant, and poor neighborhoods systematically denied mortgage credit. These designations suppressed minority homeownership for generations and remain a documented predictor of present-day eviction filings and rent burden.

0%Grade A
0%Grade B
9%Grade C
91%Grade D · redlined

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 · Princeton Eviction Lab

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.

Historic baseline (2000-2018)

78Total filings over 5 yrs
1.51%Avg annual filing rate
1.9%Peak (2014)
20Filings in 2016 (latest validated)

Filings by year 2012 to 2016

Filings climbed 82% over the past 5 months.

Pandemic-era tracking (2020-2021)

0Total filings 2020-21
0.0Avg monthly (observed)
1.4Pre-pandemic baseline
0.00×Ratio to baseline

Monthly filings 2020-2021 2020-01-01 to 2023-11-01

Pandemic filings ran far below baseline (moratorium effect). Eviction Lab tracked Boston, MA as part of its 34-metro Eviction Tracking System.

Comparable tracts

Census tracts with similar eviction risk

Within East Somerville. 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.

12.3%Housing insecurity
7.2%Utility-shutoff threat
13.0%Food insecurity
13.9%SNAP enrollment
8.6%Transit barriers
5.6%No health insurance
16.7%Frequent mental distress
24.4%Any disability

Analysis

What drives eviction risk in East Somerville

What moves this score most is eviction process difficulty at $1/10. That part comes from the wider legal climate rather than the tract itself. Statewide and court-level factors such as eviction-process speed and rent-control exposure are inherited from Somerville eviction risk, while the economic and supply signals are measured at the tract level.

Set against its neighbors, this tract scores above the Middlesex County average of 5.2 and below the Massachusetts statewide average of 5.9. Within its own county it reads on the riskier side for landlords.

This tract overlaps land the federal Home Owners' Loan Corporation redlined in the 1930s, a dominant grade of D ("Hazardous") across 91% of the tract. Redlining cut off mortgage credit to Black, immigrant, and working-class blocks, and those areas still tend to carry higher rent burden and eviction filings today.

During 2020 and 2021, eviction filings here ran at about 0.00x the pre-COVID monthly baseline, well below the pre-pandemic norm, the signature of an eviction moratorium at work.

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

Frequently asked

About tract 25017351404

What is the eviction-risk score for census tract 25017351404?

Census tract 25017351404 in the East Somerville neighborhood scores 4.7/10 (Moderate tier). The Eviction Risk Score blends state law, county filing rates, parent-city politics, and tract-specific rent-to-income ratios + poverty signals.

What is the average rent in tract 25017351404?

Median gross rent is $2,234/month (ACS 5-year 2023, table B25064). 33% of renter households are cost-burdened.

What is the poverty rate in tract 25017351404?

10.0% of residents in tract 25017351404 live below the federal poverty line (ACS B17001, 2023). Population: 3,633.

How socially vulnerable is tract 25017351404?

CDC Social Vulnerability Index ranks this tract in the 58th percentile nationally. Sub-themes: socioeconomic 58th, household 19th, minority 63th, housing 75th.

Is tract 25017351404 considered part of East Somerville?

Yes. Per Census Bureau 2020 Block Assignment Files, the plurality of blocks in tract 25017351404 fall within East Somerville (neighborhood centroid within 0.2 miles, OSM data).

How many evictions are filed each year in tract 25017351404?

Princeton Eviction Lab recorded 78 eviction filings across 5 validated years in tract 25017351404 (2000-2018). The average annual filing rate is 1.51% of renter households, peaking at 1.9% in 2014. Source: Eviction Lab tract-validated 2024 release.

Did eviction filings in tract 25017351404 drop during COVID?

Pandemic-era filings ran 0.00× the pre-COVID monthly baseline. Filings dropped sharply, likely a moratorium effect. Tracked by the Eviction Lab Eviction Tracking System (Boston eviction risk, MA), 2020-2021.

What share of households in tract 25017351404 struggle to pay rent?

About 12.3% 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. 7.2% also reported utility shutoff threats, a frequent precursor to eviction filings.

How does tract 25017351404 compare to Somerville overall?

Tract 25017351404 scores 4.7/10, right in line with the parent city of Somerville at 4.6/10. City-scale signals (state law, local rent controls, court bias) are inherited from Somerville eviction risk; what makes this tract different are its tract-specific economic stress and supply-constraint sub-scores.

Q10

Was tract 25017351404 historically redlined?

Yes. This tract sits inside an area graded by the Home Owners' Loan Corporation in the 1930s, with a dominant grade of D. 91% 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 Somerville

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