Neighborhood · Ranked #23,426 of 84,120 nationally

Harlow Square Eviction Risk: Elevated , Cambridge

Tract 25017352600 · Middlesex County, MA · pop 3,003 · neighborhood within 0.2 mi

With a score of 6.3/10, tract 25017352600 in the Harlow Square area of Cambridge ranks in the Elevated tier for landlord eviction risk. The tract is home to 3,003 residents. That is riskier than about 83% of US census tracts.

About 40% of renters carry a rent burden of 30% of income or higher, a high level, and 18% are severely burdened at 50% or more. Average rent runs $2,623 a month against an average household income of $121,293 a year, roughly 26% of income at the averages. Renters make up 71% of occupied homes, a renter-majority tract.

Risk score

6.1

Elevated

Confidence 100% · 1-10 scale

Household mix · 100 hh

Burdened renters 28% Stable renters 43% Owners 29%

Tract context

Occupied units1,294

Renter share70.9%

SVI overall0.44

Poverty rate18.2%

Median income$121,293

Percentile rank

Higher percentile = riskier than more peers.

Geographic context

Risk heat across Cambridge and the region

Centroid at 42.3694, -71.0912 · click any tract to drill in

Why Harlow Square scores 6.1

9 axes · 1 = landlord-friendly

Local political climate

Inherited from Cambridge

9.0

Regional political climate

2024 county presidential margin

7.3

State political climate

Massachusetts legislature & governorship

6.2

Economic stress

18.2% poverty · this tract

4.6

Supply constraint

$2,623 rent vs county FMR

4.2

Rent control risk

Inherited from Cambridge

8.5

Eviction process difficulty

State law sets the calendar

8.5

Tenant organizing strength

Inherited from Cambridge

8.5

Housing court bias

Inherited from Cambridge

8.0

How Harlow Square compares

Risk score vs. parent city, county, state.

CDC Social Vulnerability Index

SVI percentile: 44

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

28%Socioeconomic
35%Household composition
57%Racial/ethnic minority
70%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
0%Grade C
76%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)

76Total filings over 5 yrs
2.09%Avg annual filing rate
2.7%Peak (2015)
12Filings in 2016 (latest validated)

Filings by year 2012 to 2016

Filings stayed roughly flat over the past 5 months.

Pandemic-era tracking (2020-2021)

0Total filings 2020-21
0.0Avg monthly (observed)
1.3Pre-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 Harlow Square. 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.

11.3%Housing insecurity
6.8%Utility-shutoff threat
11.8%Food insecurity
12.9%SNAP enrollment
8.5%Transit barriers
4.8%No health insurance
17.5%Frequent mental distress
22.7%Any disability

Analysis

What drives eviction risk in Harlow Square

What moves this score most is eviction process difficulty at 8.5/10. 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 Cambridge 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 above the Massachusetts statewide average of 5.9. Within its own county it reads on the riskier side for landlords.

Princeton's Eviction Lab logged 76 eviction filings here over 5 tracked years, with about 2.1% of renter households facing a filing in a typical year. Filings peaked at 2.7% of renter households in 2015.

This tract overlaps land the federal Home Owners' Loan Corporation redlined in the 1930s, a dominant grade of D ("Hazardous") across 76% 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.

For a landlord, this is a tract where process discipline pays off. Clean paperwork and steady screening keep the elevated risk manageable.

Frequently asked

About tract 25017352600

What is the eviction-risk score for census tract 25017352600?

Census tract 25017352600 in the Harlow Square neighborhood scores 6.1/10 (Elevated 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 25017352600?

Median gross rent is $2,623/month (ACS 5-year 2023, table B25064). 40% of renter households are cost-burdened.

What is the poverty rate in tract 25017352600?

18.2% of residents in tract 25017352600 live below the federal poverty line (ACS B17001, 2023). Population: 3,003.

How socially vulnerable is tract 25017352600?

CDC Social Vulnerability Index ranks this tract in the 44th percentile nationally. Sub-themes: socioeconomic 28th, household 35th, minority 57th, housing 70th.

Is tract 25017352600 considered part of Harlow Square?

Yes. Per Census Bureau 2020 Block Assignment Files, the plurality of blocks in tract 25017352600 fall within Harlow Square (neighborhood centroid within 0.2 miles, OSM data).

How many evictions are filed each year in tract 25017352600?

Princeton Eviction Lab recorded 76 eviction filings across 5 validated years in tract 25017352600 (2000-2018). The average annual filing rate is 2.09% of renter households, peaking at 2.7% in 2015. Source: Eviction Lab tract-validated 2024 release.

Did eviction filings in tract 25017352600 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 25017352600 struggle to pay rent?

About 11.3% 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. 6.8% also reported utility shutoff threats, a frequent precursor to eviction filings.

How does tract 25017352600 compare to Cambridge overall?

Tract 25017352600 scores 6.1/10, higher than the parent city of Cambridge at 5.8/10. City-scale signals (state law, local rent controls, court bias) are inherited from Cambridge eviction risk; what makes this tract different are its tract-specific economic stress and supply-constraint sub-scores.

Q10

Was tract 25017352600 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. 76% 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 Cambridge

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