Skip to content
Neighborhood · Ranked #39,108 of 84,120 nationally

Dorchester Heights Eviction Risk: Moderate , Boston

Tract 25025060200 · Suffolk County, MA · pop 2,282 · neighborhood within 0.6 mi

The Dorchester Heights neighborhood of Boston is where census tract 25025060200 sits, home to 2,282 residents. Its landlord eviction-risk score is 6.3/10. That is riskier than about 83% of US census tracts.

Rent eats 30% or more of income for 31% of renter households, a high level, and 13% are severely burdened at 50% or more. Average gross rent is $3,385 monthly, set against $178,063 in average yearly household income, roughly 23% of income at the averages. About 56% of occupied units are renter-occupied, a renter-majority tract.

Risk score
4.6
Moderate
Confidence 100% · 1–10 scale
Household mix · 100 hh
Burdened renters 17% Stable renters 39% Owners 44%
Tract context
Occupied units968
Renter share55.9%
SVI overall0.04
Poverty rate6.2%
Median income$178,063

Percentile rank

Higher percentile = riskier than more peers.
Within neighborhood
31 th percentile
Rank, 31st percentileLowHigh
#10 of 14 tracts In Dorchester Heights
Low
Within parent city
13 th percentile
Rank, 13th percentileLowHigh
#180 of 206 tracts In Boston
Very Low
Within county
14 th percentile
Rank, 14th percentileLowHigh
#202 of 234 tracts In Suffolk County
Very Low
Within state
48 th percentile
Rank, 48th percentileLowHigh
#840 of 1,613 tracts In Massachusetts
Moderate
Geographic context

Risk heat across Boston and the region

Centroid at 42.3326, -71.0327 · click any tract to drill in

Why Dorchester Heights scores 4.6

9 axes · 1 = landlord-friendly
Local political climate
Inherited from Boston
8.5
Regional political climate
2024 county presidential margin
8.2
State political climate
Massachusetts legislature & governorship
6.2
Economic stress
6.2% poverty · this tract
1.5
Supply constraint
$3,385 rent vs county FMR
6.9
Rent control risk
Inherited from Boston
8.0
Eviction process difficulty
State law sets the calendar
8.0
Tenant organizing strength
Inherited from Boston
8.5
Housing court bias
Inherited from Boston
8.0

How Dorchester Heights compares

Risk score vs. parent city, county, state.
Dorchester Heights risk score vs. parent city / county / stateThis tract: 4.64.6This tracttract 060200Boston: 7.17.1Bostonparent cityCounty: 6.06.0Countyavg tract in countyState: 5.05.0Stateavg tract in state
CDC Social Vulnerability Index

SVI percentile: 4

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

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.

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

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.1

Historic baseline (2000–2018)

  • 11Total filings over 4 yrs
  • 0.60%Avg annual filing rate
  • 1.3%Peak (2013)
  • 1Filings in 2016 (latest validated)
Filings by year 2012 to 2016
Year-by-year eviction filings in tract 250250602002012: 3 filings (0.64/100 renter HHs)2013: 6 filings (1.29/100 renter HHs)2014: 0 filings (0.00/100 renter HHs)2015: 1 filings (0.21/100 renter HHs)2016: 1 filings (0.25/100 renter HHs)
Filings dropped 67% over the past 5 months.

Pandemic-era tracking (2020–2021)

  • 3Total filings 2020-21
  • 0.1Avg monthly (observed)
  • 0.2Pre-pandemic baseline
  • 0.29×Ratio to baseline
Monthly filings 2020–2021 2020-01-01 to 2023-11-01
Monthly eviction filings vs pre-pandemic baseline2020-01-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2020-02-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2020-03-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2020-04-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2020-05-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2020-06-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2020-07-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2020-08-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2020-09-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2020-10-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2020-11-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2020-12-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2021-01-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2021-02-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2021-03-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2021-04-01: 1 filings (4.00× baseline)2021-05-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2021-06-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2021-07-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2021-08-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2021-09-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2021-10-01: 1 filings (4.00× baseline)2021-11-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2021-12-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2022-01-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2022-02-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2022-03-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2022-04-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2022-05-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2022-06-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2022-07-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2022-08-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2022-09-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2022-10-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2022-11-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2022-12-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2023-01-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2023-02-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2023-03-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2023-04-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2023-05-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2023-06-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2023-07-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2023-08-01: 1 filings (10.00× baseline)2023-09-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2023-10-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2023-11-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)

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 Dorchester Heights. 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.

Analysis

What drives eviction risk in Dorchester Heights

What moves this score most is tenant organizing strength at 8.5/10. 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 Boston eviction risk, while the economic and supply signals are measured at the tract level.

Set against its neighbors, this tract scores below the Suffolk County average of 6.7 and above the Massachusetts statewide average of 5.9. Within its own county it reads on the safer side for landlords.

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

Princeton's Eviction Lab logged 11 eviction filings here over 4 tracked years, with about 0.6% of renter households facing a filing in a typical year. Filings peaked at 1.3% of renter households in 2013.

For a landlord, this is a tract where process discipline pays off. Clean paperwork and steady screening keep the elevated risk manageable.

Frequently asked

About tract 25025060200

Q1

What is the eviction-risk score for census tract 25025060200?

Census tract 25025060200 in the Dorchester Heights neighborhood scores 4.6/10 (Moderate tier). The Eviction Risk Score blends state law, county filing rates, parent-city politics, and tract-specific rent-to-income ratios + poverty signals.
Q2

What is the average rent in tract 25025060200?

Median gross rent is $3,385/month (ACS 5-year 2023, table B25064). 31% of renter households are cost-burdened.
Q3

What is the poverty rate in tract 25025060200?

6.2% of residents in tract 25025060200 live below the federal poverty line (ACS B17001, 2023). Population: 2,282.
Q4

How socially vulnerable is tract 25025060200?

CDC Social Vulnerability Index ranks this tract in the 4th percentile nationally. Sub-themes: socioeconomic 12th, household 2th, minority 8th, housing 28th.
Q5

Is tract 25025060200 considered part of Dorchester Heights?

Yes. Per Census Bureau 2020 Block Assignment Files, the plurality of blocks in tract 25025060200 fall within Dorchester Heights (neighborhood centroid within 0.6 miles, OSM data).
Q6

How many evictions are filed each year in tract 25025060200?

Princeton Eviction Lab recorded 11 eviction filings across 4 validated years in tract 25025060200 (2000-2018). The average annual filing rate is 0.60% of renter households, peaking at 1.3% in 2013. Source: Eviction Lab tract-validated 2024 release.
Q7

Did eviction filings in tract 25025060200 drop during COVID?

Pandemic-era filings ran 0.29× 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.
Q8

What share of households in tract 25025060200 struggle to pay rent?

About 6.6% 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. 4.2% also reported utility shutoff threats, a frequent precursor to eviction filings.
Q9

How does tract 25025060200 compare to Boston overall?

Tract 25025060200 scores 4.6/10, lower than the parent city of Boston at 7.1/10. City-scale signals (state law, local rent controls, court bias) are inherited from Boston eviction risk; what makes this tract different are its tract-specific economic stress and supply-constraint sub-scores.
Q10

Was tract 25025060200 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. 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 Boston

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

Related