Neighborhood · Ranked #20,273 of 84,120 nationally

Harlow Square Eviction Risk: Elevated , Cambridge

Tract 25017353102 · Middlesex County, MA · pop 4,807 · neighborhood within 0.5 mi

Landlord eviction risk in census tract 25017353102 (the Harlow Square area of Cambridge, Massachusetts) comes in at 6.8/10, the Elevated tier. That is riskier than about 92% of US census tracts.

About 62% of renters carry a rent burden of 30% of income or higher, a severe level, and 35% are severely burdened at 50% or more. Average gross rent is $3,332 monthly, set against $79,318 in average yearly household income, roughly 50% of income at the averages. Renters make up 100% of occupied homes, a renter-majority tract.

Risk score

6.4

Elevated

Confidence 100% · 1-10 scale

Household mix · 100 hh

Burdened renters 62% Stable renters 38% Owners 0%

Tract context

Occupied units456

Renter share100.0%

SVI overall0.37

Poverty rate23.1%

Median income$79,318

Percentile rank

Higher percentile = riskier than more peers.

Geographic context

Risk heat across Cambridge and the region

Centroid at 42.3601, -71.0910 · click any tract to drill in

Why Harlow Square scores 6.4

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

23.1% poverty · this tract

5.8

Supply constraint

$3,332 rent vs county FMR

6.7

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: 37

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

36%Socioeconomic
1%Household composition
72%Racial/ethnic minority
91%Housing & transportation

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)

5Total filings over 3 yrs
0.65%Avg annual filing rate
0.8%Peak (2012)
1Filings in 2015 (latest validated)

Filings by year 2012 to 2016

Filings dropped 100% over the past 5 months.

Pandemic-era tracking (2020-2021)

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

11.9%Housing insecurity
6.3%Utility-shutoff threat
14.6%Food insecurity
12.5%SNAP enrollment
11.2%Transit barriers
4.8%No health insurance
20.6%Frequent mental distress
22.5%Any disability

Analysis

What drives eviction risk in Harlow Square

The heaviest input here 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 well 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.

In CDC survey modeling, about 11.9% of adults here said they could not pay rent or mortgage at some point in the past year, and 6.3% faced a utility shutoff threat, a common early warning before a filing.

The tract is Asian and White and ranks around the 37th percentile nationally on the CDC Social Vulnerability Index, a measure of how exposed residents are to housing and economic shocks. That is a relatively low-vulnerability reading.

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 25017353102

What is the eviction-risk score for census tract 25017353102?

Census tract 25017353102 in the Harlow Square neighborhood scores 6.4/10 (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 25017353102?

Median gross rent is $3,332/month (ACS 5-year 2023, table B25064). 62% of renter households are cost-burdened.

What is the poverty rate in tract 25017353102?

23.1% of residents in tract 25017353102 live below the federal poverty line (ACS B17001, 2023). Population: 4,807.

How socially vulnerable is tract 25017353102?

CDC Social Vulnerability Index ranks this tract in the 37th percentile nationally. Sub-themes: socioeconomic 36th, household 1th, minority 72th, housing 91th.

Is tract 25017353102 considered part of Harlow Square?

Yes. Per Census Bureau 2020 Block Assignment Files, the plurality of blocks in tract 25017353102 fall within Harlow Square (neighborhood centroid within 0.5 miles, OSM data).

How many evictions are filed each year in tract 25017353102?

Princeton Eviction Lab recorded 5 eviction filings across 3 validated years in tract 25017353102 (2000-2018). The average annual filing rate is 0.65% of renter households, peaking at 0.8% in 2012. Source: Eviction Lab tract-validated 2024 release.

Did eviction filings in tract 25017353102 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 25017353102 struggle to pay rent?

About 11.9% 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. 6.3% also reported utility shutoff threats, a frequent precursor to eviction filings.

How does tract 25017353102 compare to Cambridge overall?

Tract 25017353102 scores 6.4/10, 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.

Sibling tracts

Highest-risk tracts in Cambridge

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