8 census tracts · pop 22,479 · pop-weighted Eviction Risk Score 7.6/10
· range 6.7–9.5
Pill Hill is a 8-tract neighborhood of Boston, MA, population 22,479. Scored across those inputs it reaches 7.6/10, placing it in the Elevated tier. Cost burden runs 43% against 30.6% citywide, putting Pill Hill 12.0% over its own city.
Scores across the 8 constituent tracts range from 6.7 to 9.5. A 2.8-point internal spread means block-level underwriting beats area-level here. The strongest single driver of the headline number is tenant-organizing strength at 8.5/10. 19% are severely burdened, paying half their income or more in rent. That cohort has no absorption capacity for an unexpected bill, and it is where non-payment filings originate.
On the high side is rent-regulation exposure at 8/10. Sitting well above the midpoint is eviction-process difficulty at 8/10.
Court records carry 394 eviction filings across its 6 observed tracts. The worst year on record was 2013, when filings touched 5.0% of renter households.
Recent filings have not receded much: 5.4% in 2016 against a 5.0% peak. Average gross rent is $2,280, 6% above the Boston average of $2,147.
That places it #38 of 57 neighborhoods in Boston. For a like-for-like read, Stonybrook Village and Downtown Crossing score within a fraction of it. Annual rent works out to 23% of average household income of $119,138.
58% of occupied units are renter-occupied.
Underwrite the address, not the area: with 2.8 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
7.6
Elevated
8 tracts · population-weighted
Pill Hill vs BostonHow this neighborhood stacks against the citywide average
Single-parent HH, disability, language barriers, age 17- / 65+
Racial/ethnic minority61%ile
Hispanic + non-white share of population
Housing & transport74%ile
Multi-unit structures, mobile homes, crowding, no vehicle
Eviction filings · Princeton Eviction Lab
Court-record eviction history in Pill Hill
Aggregated across 6 validated constituent tracts. Filing rate is filings per 100 renter households, pop-weighted.
Historic baseline (2000–2018)
394Total filings (sum)
1.87%Avg annual filing rate
5.0%Peak year (2013)
1.57%Latest filed (2016)
Pandemic-era tracking (2020–2021)
215Total filings 2020-21
0.8Avg monthly observed
1.5Pre-pandemic baseline
1.13×Ratio to baseline
Pandemic filings ran near baseline. Tracked under Eviction Lab Eviction Tracking System (Boston, MA).
CDC PLACES 2023 · pop-weighted
Eviction-adjacent indicators in Pill Hill
Average across all constituent tracts, population-weighted. Source: CDC PLACES (cwsq-ngmh) crude prevalence.
13.1%Housing insecurity
8.6%Utility shutoff threat
14.9%Food insecurity
16.5%SNAP enrollment
5.9%No health insurance
22.9%Any disability
Frequently asked
About Pill Hill
Q1
What is the eviction-risk score for Pill Hill?
Pill Hill scores 7.6/10 (Elevated tier) across 8 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 Pill Hill compare to Boston overall?
Pill Hill scores 0.5 points lower than Boston overall (8.1/10). Renters spend 43% of income on rent vs 31% citywide. Average rent: $2,280 vs $2,147.
Q3
What is the average rent in Pill Hill?
Average gross rent in Pill Hill is $2,280/month (pop-weighted across 8 census tracts, ACS 5-year 2023). 43% of renter households are cost-burdened.
Q4
What percentage of Pill Hill residents are renters?
58% of Pill Hill households are renter-occupied (vs 64% in Boston). The neighborhood has 22,479 residents.
Q5
Is Pill Hill a high social-vulnerability area?
Pill Hill sits in the 49th 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 Pill Hill have the highest eviction risk?
The highest-risk constituent tract in Pill Hill is census tract 25025081200 (score 9.5/10). Across the 8 tracts in this neighborhood the score ranges from 6.7 to 9.5, a spread of 2.8 points.
Q7
How safe is Pill Hill for landlords?
Pill Hill carries a elevated-tier eviction-risk profile for landlords (7.6/10). Pop-weighted across 8 constituent tracts, the score blends parent-city rent-control posture, county eviction-process timelines, and tract-specific rent-to-income / poverty signals. Compared to Boston as a whole (8.1/10), this neighborhood is lower-risk.
Q8
What is the demographic breakdown of Pill Hill?
Pill Hill has 21,969 residents. Top groups: White (non-Hispanic) (54.4%), Hispanic / Latino (19.8%), Black (non-Hispanic) (12.8%). Source: ACS 5-year 2023, table B03002.
