Frederick Douglass Square Historic District Eviction Risk: High , Boston
Tract 25025010405 ·
Suffolk County, MA · pop 5,921 · neighborhood within 0.4 mi
Census tract 25025010405 covers the Frederick Douglass Square Historic District area of Boston, home to 5,921 residents. For landlords it grades 7.5/10, an elevated reading. On the national scale it ranks #1,199 of 84,120 for landlord eviction difficulty.
About 47% of renters carry a rent burden of 30% of income or higher, a severe level, and 19% are severely burdened at 50% or more. The typical renter pays about $677 a month while the average household earns $24,750 a year, roughly 33% of income at the averages. About 89% of occupied units are renter-occupied, a renter-majority tract.
Risk score
8.4
High
Confidence 100% · 1–10 scale
Household mix · 100 hh
Burdened renters 42%Stable renters 47%Owners 11%
Tract context
Occupied units865
Renter share89.4%
SVI overall0.82
Poverty rate43.3%
Median income$24,750
Percentile rank
Higher percentile = riskier than more peers.
Within neighborhood
100th percentile
#1 of 19 tracts In Frederick Douglass Square Historic District
Very High
Within parent city
100th percentile
#1 of 206 tracts In Boston
Very High
Within county
100th percentile
#1 of 234 tracts In Suffolk County
Very High
Within state
100th percentile
#1 of 1,613 tracts In Massachusetts
Very High
Geographic context
Risk heat across Boston and the region
Centroid at 42.3399, -71.0896 · click any tract to drill in
Why Frederick Douglass Square Historic District scores 8.4
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
43.3% poverty · this tract
10.0
Supply constraint
$677 rent vs county FMR
1.0
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 Frederick Douglass Square Historic District compares
Risk score vs. parent city, county, state.
CDC Social Vulnerability Index
SVI percentile: 82
CDC/ATSDR 2022. Higher = more vulnerable. National percentile across 84k tracts.
83%Socioeconomic
24%Household composition
71%Racial/ethnic minority
95%Housing & transportation
Historical context · 1930s redlining
HOLC grade: D: Hazardous (Redlined)
This tract sits within an area graded by the Home Owners' Loan Corporation in the 1930s. Grade D meant Black, immigrant, and poor neighborhoods systematically denied mortgage credit. These designations suppressed minority homeownership for generations and remain a documented predictor of present-day eviction filings and rent burden.
0%Grade A
0%Grade B
24%Grade C
76%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
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)
154Total filings over 5 yrs
3.97%Avg annual filing rate
5.3%Peak (2013)
18Filings in 2016 (latest validated)
Filings by year2012 to 2016
Filings dropped 40% over the past 5 months.
Pandemic-era tracking (2020–2021)
42Total filings 2020-21
0.9Avg monthly (observed)
2.7Pre-pandemic baseline
0.33×Ratio to baseline
Monthly filings 2020–20212020-01-01 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
Within Frederick Douglass Square Historic District. Closest by Eviction Risk Score.
Crude prevalence of conditions linked to housing loss. Source: CDC PLACES (cwsq-ngmh), 2023 model-based small-area estimates.
18.0%Housing insecurity
12.1%Utility-shutoff threat
27.1%Food insecurity
29.7%SNAP enrollment
19.5%Transit barriers
6.3%No health insurance
27.4%Frequent mental distress
33.7%Any disability
Analysis
What drives eviction risk in Frederick Douglass Square Historic District
What moves this score most is economic stress at $1/10. That part is specific to this tract, computed from its own rent, income, and poverty figures. 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 above the Suffolk County average of 6.7 and above the Massachusetts statewide average of 5.9. Within its own county it reads on the riskier side for landlords.
In CDC survey modeling, about 18.0% of adults here said they could not pay rent or mortgage at some point in the past year, and 12.1% faced a utility shutoff threat, a common early warning before a filing.
The tract is White and Hispanic or Latino and ranks around the 82nd percentile nationally on the CDC Social Vulnerability Index, a measure of how exposed residents are to housing and economic shocks. High vulnerability tends to track with higher eviction-filing rates when rents climb.
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 25025010405
Q1
What is the eviction-risk score for census tract 25025010405?
Census tract 25025010405 in the Frederick Douglass Square Historic District neighborhood scores 8.4/10 (High 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 25025010405?
Median gross rent is $677/month (ACS 5-year 2023, table B25064). 47% of renter households are cost-burdened.
Q3
What is the poverty rate in tract 25025010405?
43.3% of residents in tract 25025010405 live below the federal poverty line (ACS B17001, 2023). Population: 5,921.
Q4
How socially vulnerable is tract 25025010405?
CDC Social Vulnerability Index ranks this tract in the 82th percentile nationally. Sub-themes: socioeconomic 83th, household 24th, minority 71th, housing 95th.
Q5
Is tract 25025010405 considered part of Frederick Douglass Square Historic District?
Yes. Per Census Bureau 2020 Block Assignment Files, the plurality of blocks in tract 25025010405 fall within Frederick Douglass Square Historic District (neighborhood centroid within 0.4 miles, OSM data).
Q6
How many evictions are filed each year in tract 25025010405?
Princeton Eviction Lab recorded 154 eviction filings across 5 validated years in tract 25025010405 (2000-2018). The average annual filing rate is 3.97% of renter households, peaking at 5.3% in 2013. Source: Eviction Lab tract-validated 2024 release.
Q7
Did eviction filings in tract 25025010405 drop during COVID?
Pandemic-era filings ran 0.33× 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 25025010405 struggle to pay rent?
About 18.0% 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. 12.1% also reported utility shutoff threats, a frequent precursor to eviction filings.
Q9
How does tract 25025010405 compare to Boston overall?
Tract 25025010405 scores 8.4/10, higher 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 25025010405 historically redlined?
Yes. This tract sits inside an area graded by the Home Owners' Loan Corporation in the 1930s, with a dominant grade of D. 76% 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.