Neighborhood · Ranked #31,898 of 84,120 nationally

Pill Hill Eviction Risk: Moderate , Brookline

Tract 25021401000 · Norfolk County, MA · pop 3,551 · neighborhood within 0.1 mi

Census tract 25021401000 runs through Pill Hill in Brookline. With 3,551 residents, it scores 5.7/10 for landlords. On the national scale it ranks #29,705 of 84,120 for landlord eviction difficulty.

About 35% of renters carry a rent burden of 30% of income or higher, a high level, and 23% are severely burdened at 50% or more. Average gross rent is $2,313 monthly, set against $131,919 in average yearly household income, roughly 21% of income at the averages. About 46% of occupied units are renter-occupied.

Risk score

5.4

Moderate

Confidence 100% · 1-10 scale

Household mix · 100 hh

Burdened renters 16% Stable renters 30% Owners 54%

Tract context

Occupied units1,407

Renter share45.7%

SVI overall0.31

Poverty rate12.1%

Median income$131,919

Percentile rank

Higher percentile = riskier than more peers.

Geographic context

Risk heat across Brookline and the region

Centroid at 42.3277, -71.1196 · click any tract to drill in

Why Pill Hill scores 5.4

9 axes · 1 = landlord-friendly

Local political climate

Inherited from Brookline

8.3

Regional political climate

2024 county presidential margin

6.8

State political climate

Massachusetts legislature & governorship

6.2

Economic stress

12.1% poverty · this tract

3.0

Supply constraint

$2,313 rent vs county FMR

3.2

Rent control risk

Inherited from Brookline

5.9

Eviction process difficulty

State law sets the calendar

6.1

Tenant organizing strength

Inherited from Brookline

9.4

Housing court bias

Inherited from Brookline

5.5

How Pill Hill 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.

25%Socioeconomic
62%Household composition
51%Racial/ethnic minority
24%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.

1%Grade A
6%Grade B
78%Grade C
2%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.

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.

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.

8.6%Housing insecurity
5.8%Utility-shutoff threat
9.5%Food insecurity
10.8%SNAP enrollment
6.4%Transit barriers
3.7%No health insurance
15.0%Frequent mental distress
22.5%Any disability

Analysis

What drives eviction risk in Pill Hill

The heaviest input here is tenant organizing strength at 9.4/10. 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 Brookline 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 Norfolk County average of 5.6 and in line with the Massachusetts statewide average of 5.9. Within its own county it reads on the riskier side for landlords.

Part of this tract, about 2% of its area, sat in the redlined grade-D zone on 1930s HOLC maps, though its dominant grade was C ("Declining"). That lending history still correlates with present-day rent burden.

In CDC survey modeling, about 8.6% of adults here said they could not pay rent or mortgage at some point in the past year, and 5.8% faced a utility shutoff threat, a common early warning before a filing.

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

Frequently asked

About tract 25021401000

What is the eviction-risk score for census tract 25021401000?

Census tract 25021401000 in the Pill Hill neighborhood scores 5.4/10 (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 25021401000?

Median gross rent is $2,313/month (ACS 5-year 2023, table B25064). 35% of renter households are cost-burdened.

What is the poverty rate in tract 25021401000?

12.1% of residents in tract 25021401000 live below the federal poverty line (ACS B17001, 2023). Population: 3,551.

How socially vulnerable is tract 25021401000?

CDC Social Vulnerability Index ranks this tract in the 31th percentile nationally. Sub-themes: socioeconomic 25th, household 62th, minority 51th, housing 24th.

Is tract 25021401000 considered part of Pill Hill?

Yes. Per Census Bureau 2020 Block Assignment Files, the plurality of blocks in tract 25021401000 fall within Pill Hill (neighborhood centroid within 0.1 miles, OSM data).

What share of households in tract 25021401000 struggle to pay rent?

About 8.6% 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. 5.8% also reported utility shutoff threats, a frequent precursor to eviction filings.

How does tract 25021401000 compare to Brookline overall?

Tract 25021401000 scores 5.4/10, right in line with the parent city of Brookline at 5.6/10. City-scale signals (state law, local rent controls, court bias) are inherited from Brookline eviction risk; what makes this tract different are its tract-specific economic stress and supply-constraint sub-scores.

Was tract 25021401000 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. 2% 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 Brookline

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