Neighborhood · Ranked #28,080 of 84,120 nationally

West Somerville Eviction Risk: Moderate , Cambridge

Tract 25017339400 · Middlesex County, MA · pop 3,918 · neighborhood within 0.5 mi

West Somerville in Cambridge anchors census tract 25017339400, which lands at 5.5/10 on landlord eviction risk. On the national scale it ranks #36,083 of 84,120 for landlord eviction difficulty.

Rent eats 30% or more of income for 40% of renter households, a severe level, and 29% are severely burdened at 50% or more. Average rent runs $2,498 a month against an average household income of $118,352 a year, roughly 25% of income at the averages. Renters make up 59% of occupied homes, a renter-majority tract.

Risk score

5.7

Moderate

Confidence 100% · 1-10 scale

Household mix · 100 hh

Burdened renters 24% Stable renters 35% Owners 41%

Tract context

Occupied units1,503

Renter share59.0%

SVI overall0.31

Poverty rate15.7%

Median income$118,352

Percentile rank

Higher percentile = riskier than more peers.

Geographic context

Risk heat across Cambridge and the region

Centroid at 42.4151, -71.1239 · click any tract to drill in

Why West Somerville scores 5.7

9 axes · 1 = landlord-friendly

Local political climate

Inherited from Cambridge

8.3

Regional political climate

2024 county presidential margin

7.3

State political climate

Massachusetts legislature & governorship

6.2

Economic stress

15.7% poverty · this tract

3.9

Supply constraint

$2,498 rent vs county FMR

3.8

Rent control risk

Inherited from Cambridge

4.8

Eviction process difficulty

State law sets the calendar

6.1

Tenant organizing strength

Inherited from Cambridge

8.9

Housing court bias

Inherited from Cambridge

4.6

How West Somerville compares

Risk score vs. parent city, county, state.

CDC Social Vulnerability Index

SVI percentile: 31

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

38%Socioeconomic
3%Household composition
32%Racial/ethnic minority
76%Housing & transportation

Historical context · 1930s redlining

HOLC grade: B: Still Desirable

This tract sits within an area graded by the Home Owners' Loan Corporation in the 1930s. Grade B meant middle-class areas with mortgage access. These designations suppressed minority homeownership for generations and remain a documented predictor of present-day eviction filings and rent burden.

0%Grade A
79%Grade B
0%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 · 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)

34Total filings over 5 yrs
0.87%Avg annual filing rate
1.7%Peak (2012)
4Filings in 2016 (latest validated)

Filings by year 2012 to 2016

Filings dropped 69% 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

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 West 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.

9.4%Housing insecurity
6.0%Utility-shutoff threat
9.8%Food insecurity
11.5%SNAP enrollment
7.4%Transit barriers
3.7%No health insurance
16.8%Frequent mental distress
23.5%Any disability

Analysis

What drives eviction risk in West Somerville

The score leans hardest on tenant organizing strength at 8.9/10. 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 about the same as 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.

Princeton's Eviction Lab logged 34 eviction filings here over 5 tracked years, with about 0.9% of renter households facing a filing in a typical year. Filings peaked at 1.7% of renter households in 2012.

HOLC surveyors mapped this tract in the 1930s with a dominant grade of B ("Still Desirable"), above the redlined D tier. The grading still shaped decades of lending and development in the surrounding area.

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

Frequently asked

About tract 25017339400

What is the eviction-risk score for census tract 25017339400?

Census tract 25017339400 in the West Somerville neighborhood scores 5.7/10 (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 25017339400?

Median gross rent is $2,498/month (ACS 5-year 2023, table B25064). 40% of renter households are cost-burdened.

What is the poverty rate in tract 25017339400?

15.7% of residents in tract 25017339400 live below the federal poverty line (ACS B17001, 2023). Population: 3,918.

How socially vulnerable is tract 25017339400?

CDC Social Vulnerability Index ranks this tract in the 31th percentile nationally. Sub-themes: socioeconomic 38th, household 3th, minority 32th, housing 76th.

Is tract 25017339400 considered part of West Somerville?

Yes. Per Census Bureau 2020 Block Assignment Files, the plurality of blocks in tract 25017339400 fall within West Somerville (neighborhood centroid within 0.5 miles, OSM data).

How many evictions are filed each year in tract 25017339400?

Princeton Eviction Lab recorded 34 eviction filings across 5 validated years in tract 25017339400 (2000-2018). The average annual filing rate is 0.87% of renter households, peaking at 1.7% in 2012. Source: Eviction Lab tract-validated 2024 release.

Did eviction filings in tract 25017339400 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 25017339400 struggle to pay rent?

About 9.4% 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. 6.0% also reported utility shutoff threats, a frequent precursor to eviction filings.

How does tract 25017339400 compare to Cambridge overall?

Tract 25017339400 scores 5.7/10, right in line with 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 25017339400 historically redlined?

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