Census Tract · Ranked #20,273 of 84,120 nationally

Townsend Eviction Risk: Elevated

Tract 25017301101 · Middlesex County, MA · pop 3,972 · 34% of tract blocks fall in Townsend

Census tract 25017301101 runs through Townsend. With 3,972 residents, it scores 4.7/10 for landlords. On the national scale it ranks #59,962 of 84,120 for landlord eviction difficulty.

About 33% of renters carry a rent burden of 30% of income or higher, a high level, and 23% are severely burdened at 50% or more. The typical renter pays about $1,063 a month while the average household earns $107,604 a year, roughly 12% of income at the averages. Renters make up 25% of occupied homes.

Risk score

6.4

Elevated

Confidence 100% · 1-10 scale

Household mix · 100 hh

Burdened renters 8% Stable renters 16% Owners 76%

Tract context

Occupied units1,563

Renter share24.6%

SVI overall0.27

Poverty rate7.3%

Median income$107,604

Percentile rank

Higher percentile = riskier than more peers.

Geographic context

Risk heat across Townsend and the region

Centroid at 42.6938, -71.7114 · click any tract to drill in

Why Townsend scores 6.4

9 axes · 1 = landlord-friendly

Local political climate

Inherited from Townsend

7.5

Regional political climate

2024 county presidential margin

7.3

State political climate

Massachusetts legislature & governorship

6.2

Economic stress

7.3% poverty · this tract

1.8

Supply constraint

$1,063 rent vs county FMR

1.0

Rent control risk

Inherited from Townsend

3.2

Eviction process difficulty

State law sets the calendar

6.3

Tenant organizing strength

Inherited from Townsend

9.2

Housing court bias

Inherited from Townsend

5.1

How Townsend compares

Risk score vs. parent city, county, state.

CDC Social Vulnerability Index

SVI percentile: 27

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

26%Socioeconomic
32%Household composition
35%Racial/ethnic minority
35%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)

40Total filings over 5 yrs
2.25%Avg annual filing rate
3.0%Peak (2015)
9Filings in 2016 (latest validated)

Filings by year 2012 to 2016

Filings climbed 125% 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

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.

10.1%Housing insecurity
6.3%Utility-shutoff threat
10.7%Food insecurity
13.2%SNAP enrollment
7.3%Transit barriers
4.3%No health insurance
17.3%Frequent mental distress
28.5%Any disability

Analysis

What drives eviction risk in Townsend

What moves this score most is tenant organizing strength at 9.2/10. 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 Townsend, while the economic and supply signals are measured at the tract level.

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

In CDC survey modeling, about 10.1% 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 predominantly White and ranks around the 27th 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, conditions here are middle-of-the-road. Standard screening and prompt, documented notices usually keep cases short.

Frequently asked

About tract 25017301101

What is the eviction-risk score for census tract 25017301101?

Census tract 25017301101 in Townsend 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 25017301101?

Median gross rent is $1,063/month (ACS 5-year 2023, table B25064). 33% of renter households are cost-burdened.

What is the poverty rate in tract 25017301101?

7.3% of residents in tract 25017301101 live below the federal poverty line (ACS B17001, 2023). Population: 3,972.

How socially vulnerable is tract 25017301101?

CDC Social Vulnerability Index ranks this tract in the 27th percentile nationally. Sub-themes: socioeconomic 26th, household 32th, minority 35th, housing 35th.

How many evictions are filed each year in tract 25017301101?

Princeton Eviction Lab recorded 40 eviction filings across 5 validated years in tract 25017301101 (2000-2018). The average annual filing rate is 2.25% of renter households, peaking at 3.0% in 2015. Source: Eviction Lab tract-validated 2024 release.

What share of households in tract 25017301101 struggle to pay rent?

About 10.1% 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 25017301101 compare to Townsend overall?

Tract 25017301101 scores 6.4/10, right in line with the parent city of Townsend at 6.3/10. City-scale signals (state law, local rent controls, court bias) are inherited from Townsend; what makes this tract different are its tract-specific economic stress and supply-constraint sub-scores.

Sibling tracts

Highest-risk tracts in Townsend

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