Within neighborhood
100
th percentile
Very High
Neighborhood · Ranked #1 of 84,120 nationally
Old Cambridge Eviction Risk: High
Tract 25017354000 · Middlesex County, MA · pop 4,715 · neighborhood within 0.4 mi
With a score of 9.9/10, tract 25017354000 in the Old Cambridge area of Cambridge, MA reads high for landlord eviction risk. Population here is 4,715. 38% are severely burdened past the 50% mark. That cohort absorbs no shock: one repair bill or one cut shift converts straight into arrears.
Risk score
9.9
High
Confidence 100% · 1–10 scale
Household mix · 100 hh
Burdened renters 37%
Stable renters 27%
Owners 36%
Tract context
Occupied units2,083
Renter share63.8%
SVI overall0.29
Poverty rate21.7%
Median income$94,668
Percentile rank
Higher percentile = riskier than more peers.Within parent city
91
th percentile
Very High
Within county
99
th percentile
Very High
Within state
100
th percentile
Very High
Geographic context
Risk heat across Cambridge and the region
Centroid at 42.3810, -71.1226 · click any tract to drill in
Why Old Cambridge scores 9.9
9 axes · 1 = landlord-friendlyLocal 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
21.7% poverty · this tract
5.4
Supply constraint
$2,649 rent vs county FMR
4.3
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 Old Cambridge compares
Risk score vs. parent city, county, state.CDC Social Vulnerability Index
SVI percentile: 29
CDC/ATSDR 2022. Higher = more vulnerable. National percentile across 84k tracts.
- 39%Socioeconomic
- 1%Household composition
- 47%Racial/ethnic minority
- 77%Housing & transportation
Historical context · 1930s redlining
HOLC grade: C: Definitely Declining
This tract sits within an area graded by the Home Owners' Loan Corporation in the 1930s. Grade C meant mixed-race / working-class neighborhoods rated as risky. These designations suppressed minority homeownership for generations and remain a documented predictor of present-day eviction filings and rent burden.
- 0%Grade A
- 43%Grade B
- 48%Grade C
- 0%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
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.1
Historic baseline (2000–2018)
- 26Total filings over 5 yrs
- 0.47%Avg annual filing rate
- 0.6%Peak (2014)
- 5Filings in 2016 (latest validated)
Filings stayed roughly flat over the past 5 months.
Pandemic-era tracking (2020–2021)
- 0Total filings 2020-21
- 0.0Avg monthly (observed)
- 0.4Pre-pandemic baseline
- 0.00×Ratio to baseline
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 Old Cambridge. 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.
- 8.7%Housing insecurity
- 5.5%Utility-shutoff threat
- 9.4%Food insecurity
- 10.2%SNAP enrollment
- 7.7%Transit barriers
- 3.4%No health insurance
- 17.0%Frequent mental distress
- 22.7%Any disability
Analysis
What drives eviction risk in Old Cambridge
It sits 3.6 points above the Middlesex County average of 6.3. 58% of renter households cross the 30%-of-income line, well above the Middlesex County average of 43.0%.
The score leans hardest on local political climate at 9/10. Set annual rent against average income of $94,668 and the ratio lands at 34%, above the conventional 30% ceiling.
On the high side, rent-regulation exposure reads 8.5/10. Sitting well above the midpoint, eviction-process difficulty reads 8.5/10. The poverty rate is 22%, which in this model reads as reduced rent-recovery odds after a judgment.
Court records carry 26 eviction filings across 5 observed years. Food insecurity runs 9.4% against 17.8% nationally.
Adults with no health insurance runs 3.4% against 11.3% nationally. Filings peaked in 2014 at 0.6% of renter households. This ground was mapped C ("Definitely Declining") on the 1930s HOLC security maps for Cambridge. That grading determined who could get a mortgage, and its imprint on tenure and rent burden is still visible in the ACS data above.
In a typical year about 0.5% of renter households face a filing. That is riskier than roughly 100% of the 84,120 US census tracts in this model.
CDC social-vulnerability scoring puts the tract at 3.6/10.
These are ACS 5-year estimates; the score moves when the ACS, court-record, or statute inputs behind it move.
Frequently asked
About tract 25017354000
Q1
What is the eviction-risk score for census tract 25017354000?
Census tract 25017354000 in the Old Cambridge neighborhood scores 9.9/10 (High tier). The Eviction Risk Score blends state law, county filing rates, parent-city politics, and tract-specific rent-to-income ratios + poverty signals.
Q2
What is the average rent in tract 25017354000?
Median gross rent is $2,649/month (ACS 5-year 2023, table B25064). 58% of renter households are cost-burdened.
Q3
What is the poverty rate in tract 25017354000?
21.7% of residents in tract 25017354000 live below the federal poverty line (ACS B17001, 2023). Population: 4,715.
Q4
How socially vulnerable is tract 25017354000?
CDC Social Vulnerability Index ranks this tract in the 29th percentile nationally. Sub-themes: socioeconomic 39th, household 1th, minority 47th, housing 77th.
Q5
Is tract 25017354000 considered part of Old Cambridge?
Yes. Per Census Bureau 2020 Block Assignment Files, the plurality of blocks in tract 25017354000 fall within Old Cambridge (neighborhood centroid within 0.4 miles, OSM data).
Q6
How many evictions are filed each year in tract 25017354000?
Princeton Eviction Lab recorded 26 eviction filings across 5 validated years in tract 25017354000 (2000-2018). The average annual filing rate is 0.47% of renter households, peaking at 0.6% in 2014. Source: Eviction Lab tract-validated 2024 release.
Q7
Did eviction filings in tract 25017354000 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.
Q8
What share of households in tract 25017354000 struggle to pay rent?
About 8.7% 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. 5.5% also reported utility shutoff threats, a frequent precursor to eviction filings.
Q9
How does tract 25017354000 compare to Cambridge overall?
Tract 25017354000 scores 9.9/10, higher than the parent city of Cambridge at 8.9/10. 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 25017354000 historically redlined?
Yes. This tract sits inside an area graded by the Home Owners' Loan Corporation in the 1930s, with a dominant grade of C. 0% 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.
Tract · MA
Inman Square
9.9
/ 10 · Very High
Tract · MA
Huron Village
9.9
/ 10 · Very High
Tract · MA
Central Square
9.9
/ 10 · Very High
Tract · MA
Harlow Square
9.9
/ 10 · Very High
Tract · MA
West Somerville
9.9
/ 10 · Very High
Tract · MA
Harvard Yard
9.9
/ 10 · Very High
Tract · MA
Brickbottom
9.9
/ 10 · Very High
Tract · MA
Harvard Yard
9.9
/ 10 · Very High
Related