2 census tracts · pop 9,727 · pop-weighted Eviction Risk Score 6.6/10
· range 5.8–7.9
Pigeon Hill is a 2-tract neighborhood of Waltham, MA and houses 9,727 people. That produces an Eviction Risk Score of 6.6/10, Elevated tier. The dominant input is tenant-organizing strength at 9.2/10.
Average gross rent is $1,445, 36% below the Waltham average of $2,268. The 2 tracts inside this boundary do not behave alike. Individual scores run 5.8 to 7.9, a 2.1-point gap wide enough that the area average misleads on any specific address. The poverty rate is 26%, which shows up in this model as reduced rent-recovery odds after a judgment.
Severe burden reaches 14%. A tenant at that level absorbs no shock: one cut shift or one repair bill converts directly into arrears. about one in five of renters here are cost-burdened at the 30% threshold, below the Waltham rate of 27.8%. Court records carry 36 eviction filings across its 2 observed tracts.
Filing activity peaked in 2015 at 1.8% of renter households. 4.5% of adults carry no health insurance against 11.3% nationally, a common route into sudden unpayable debt. Recent filings have not receded much: 1.6% in 2016 against a 1.8% peak.
Among the 8 mapped neighborhoods of Waltham, it ranks #4 by risk, the middle third. Only 25% of units are renter-occupied. Rental comparables are thin here; price renewals off the nearest genuine rental sub-market rather than off surrounding sale prices.
For a like-for-like read, The Bleachery and Prospectville score within a fraction of it.
Underwrite the address, not the area: with 2.1 points between its best and worst tract, the per-tract table below is the operative number. The number is rebuilt whenever its ACS, court-record, or statutory inputs change.
Risk score
6.6
Elevated
2 tracts · population-weighted
Pigeon Hill vs WalthamHow this neighborhood stacks against the citywide average
Single-parent HH, disability, language barriers, age 17- / 65+
Racial/ethnic minority50%ile
Hispanic + non-white share of population
Housing & transport60%ile
Multi-unit structures, mobile homes, crowding, no vehicle
Eviction filings · Princeton Eviction Lab
Court-record eviction history in Pigeon Hill
Aggregated across 2 validated constituent tracts. Filing rate is filings per 100 renter households, pop-weighted.
Historic baseline (2000–2018)
36Total filings (sum)
1.60%Avg annual filing rate
1.8%Peak year (2015)
1.61%Latest filed (2016)
CDC PLACES 2023 · pop-weighted
Eviction-adjacent indicators in Pigeon Hill
Average across all constituent tracts, population-weighted. Source: CDC PLACES (cwsq-ngmh) crude prevalence.
10.5%Housing insecurity
6.8%Utility shutoff threat
14.1%Food insecurity
15.9%SNAP enrollment
4.2%No health insurance
28.8%Any disability
Frequently asked
About Pigeon Hill
Q1
What is the eviction-risk score for Pigeon Hill?
Pigeon Hill scores 6.6/10 (Elevated tier) across 2 census tracts. The pop-weighted Eviction Risk Score blends state law, county filing rates, parent-city politics, and tract-specific rent-to-income and poverty signals.
Q2
How does Pigeon Hill compare to Waltham overall?
Pigeon Hill scores 0.1 points higher than Waltham overall (6.5/10). Renters spend 22% of income on rent vs 28% citywide. Average rent: $1,445 vs $2,268.
Q3
What is the average rent in Pigeon Hill?
Average gross rent in Pigeon Hill is $1,445/month (pop-weighted across 2 census tracts, ACS 5-year 2023). 22% of renter households are cost-burdened.
Q4
What percentage of Pigeon Hill residents are renters?
25% of Pigeon Hill households are renter-occupied (vs 50% in Waltham). The neighborhood has 9,727 residents.
Q5
Is Pigeon Hill a high social-vulnerability area?
Pigeon Hill sits in the 33rd percentile nationally on the CDC Social Vulnerability Index (less vulnerable). The index combines poverty, unemployment, household composition, racial/ethnic minority share, and housing/transportation factors across all US census tracts.
Q6
Which tracts in Pigeon Hill have the highest eviction risk?
The highest-risk constituent tract in Pigeon Hill is census tract 25017369000 (score 7.9/10). Across the 2 tracts in this neighborhood the score ranges from 5.8 to 7.9, a spread of 2.1 points.
Q7
How safe is Pigeon Hill for landlords?
Pigeon Hill carries a elevated-tier eviction-risk profile for landlords (6.6/10). Pop-weighted across 2 constituent tracts, the score blends parent-city rent-control posture, county eviction-process timelines, and tract-specific rent-to-income / poverty signals. Compared to Waltham as a whole (6.5/10), this neighborhood is in line with the citywide level.
Q8
What is the demographic breakdown of Pigeon Hill?
Pigeon Hill has 9,737 residents. Top groups: White (non-Hispanic) (69%), Asian (non-Hispanic) (13.3%), Hispanic / Latino (7.5%). Source: ACS 5-year 2023, table B03002.
