The Bleachery Eviction Risk: Elevated , Waltham

What pushes it up most is tenant-organizing strength at 9.2/10. Running cool, economic stress reads 2.3/10. 14% are severely burdened past the 50% mark. That cohort absorbs no shock: one repair bill or one cut shift converts straight into arrears.

On the softer side, court filing pressure reads 2.5/10. Court records carry 61 eviction filings across 4 observed years. At $2,516 a month, rents run 11% over what the rest of Waltham commands.

The worst year on record was 2015, when 1.9% of renter households were served. This ground was mapped C ("Definitely Declining") on the 1930s HOLC security maps for Waltham. 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 1.3% of renter households face a filing. That is riskier than roughly 80% of the 84,120 US census tracts in this model. On the CDC Social Vulnerability Index the tract reads 4.9/10, which tracks how hard a shock lands on the households already here.

Of its three components the socioeconomic standing measure is the least pressured. It tracks the Middlesex County average of 6.3 closely. Annual rent works out to 24% of average household income of $128,277.

These are ACS 5-year estimates; the score moves when the ACS, court-record, or statute inputs behind it move.