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Neighborhood · Chelsea, MA

Bellingham Hill Eviction Risk: High

1 census tracts · pop 3,543 · pop-weighted Eviction Risk Score 9.2/10 · range 9.2–9.2

Bellingham Hill is a one-tract neighborhood of Chelsea, MA and houses 3,543 people. That produces an Eviction Risk Score of 9.2/10, High tier. The dominant input is tenant-organizing strength at 9.8/10.

89% of occupied units are rented, so comparables are plentiful and vacancy risk is low, but a mispriced renewal loses the tenant to a building two streets over. The severe-burden share is 29%. Those renters are past the 50% mark, and they miss rent for reasons that have nothing to do with willingness to pay. Running cool is supply constraint, at 1/10.

Food insecurity affects 37.6% of adults, 19.8 points above the national rate. 43% of renters here are cost-burdened at the 30% threshold, ahead of the Chelsea rate of 34.7%.

The poverty rate is 27%, which shows up in this model as reduced rent-recovery odds after a judgment. Sitting well above the midpoint is housing-court posture at 7.9/10.

At $1,648 a month, rents sit 16% under what the rest of Chelsea commands. 19.8% of adults carry no health insurance against 11.3% nationally, a common route into sudden unpayable debt.

That places it #1 of 7 neighborhoods in Chelsea. For a like-for-like read, Park Square and Bellingham Square Historic District score within a fraction of it. Social vulnerability runs high at 9.2/10, concentrating the disaster- and displacement-exposure this model treats as a lagging risk input.

One tract means one number: 9.2/10 applies directly to any address inside the boundary. The number is rebuilt whenever its ACS, court-record, or statutory inputs change.

Risk score
9.2
High
1 tracts · population-weighted
Bellingham Hill vs Chelsea How this neighborhood stacks against the citywide average
% of income on rent
43.3% +25%
Chelsea: 34.7%
Average gross rent
$1,648 -16%
Chelsea: $1,956
Average HH income
$67,500 -7%
Chelsea: $72,220
Poverty rate
26.5% +29%
Chelsea: 20.6%
Renter share
89.0% +20%
Chelsea: 74.0%
Peer neighborhoods

Neighborhoods with similar eviction risk

Same county, closest by Eviction Risk Score.

Geographic context

Risk heat across Bellingham Hill and the region

Click any tract to drill in · 1 tracts span score 9.2–9.2

Why Bellingham Hill scores 9.2

9 axes · pop-weighted · 1 = landlord-friendly
State political climate
legislature & governorship · Range 6.2–6.2 across tracts
6.2
Regional political climate
County-level mix · 2024 presidential margin · Range 8.2–8.2 across tracts
8.2
Local political climate
Parent city governance · Range 8.3–8.3 across tracts
8.3
Rent control risk
43% of income on rent · Range 7.7–7.7 across tracts
7.7
Eviction process difficulty
State notice requirements & court backlog · Range 5.9–5.9 across tracts
5.9
Tenant organizing strength
89% renter households · Range 9.8–9.8 across tracts
9.8
Housing court bias
County bench composition · Range 7.9–7.9 across tracts
7.9
Economic stress
26.5% below poverty line · Range 6.6–6.6 across tracts
6.6
Supply constraint
Rent-to-FMR gap & zoning friction · Range 1.0–1.0 across tracts
1.0
Risk score comparison

Bellingham Hill vs. parent city, state, U.S.

Eviction Risk Score (0–10 scale).

Bellingham Hill score vs. parent city, state, U.S.9.2Bellingham HillNeighborhood7.8Parent cityhost city6.4Stateavg in state5.1U.S.national avgU.S. avg = 5.0
Census tracts

1 tracts in Bellingham Hill

Ranked highest-risk first. Click for per-tract detail.

Tract Score Pop % over 30% on rent Average rent
25025160102 9.2 3,543 43% $1,648
Social Vulnerability Index

CDC SVI percentile: 91

Pop-weighted across 1 tracts. Higher = more vulnerable to disaster, displacement, and rent shocks. Source: CDC/ATSDR SVI 2022.

Socioeconomic status 57%ile
Poverty, unemployment, no-HS-diploma, housing cost burden
Household characteristics 94%ile
Single-parent HH, disability, language barriers, age 17- / 65+
Racial/ethnic minority 92%ile
Hispanic + non-white share of population
Housing & transport 98%ile
Multi-unit structures, mobile homes, crowding, no vehicle
Eviction filings · Princeton Eviction Lab

Court-record eviction history in Bellingham Hill

Aggregated across 0 validated constituent tracts. Filing rate is filings per 100 renter households, pop-weighted.

Pandemic-era tracking (2020–2021)

  • 95Total filings 2020-21
  • 2.0Avg monthly observed
  • 3.4Pre-pandemic baseline
  • 0.59×Ratio to baseline

Pandemic filings ran far below baseline. Tracked under Eviction Lab Eviction Tracking System (Boston, MA).

CDC PLACES 2023 · pop-weighted

Eviction-adjacent indicators in Bellingham Hill

Average across all constituent tracts, population-weighted. Source: CDC PLACES (cwsq-ngmh) crude prevalence.

Frequently asked

About Bellingham Hill

Q1

What is the eviction-risk score for Bellingham Hill?

Bellingham Hill scores 9.2/10 (High tier) across 1 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 Bellingham Hill compare to Chelsea overall?

Bellingham Hill scores 1.4 points higher than Chelsea overall (7.8/10). Renters spend 43% of income on rent vs 35% citywide. Average rent: $1,648 vs $1,956.
Q3

What is the average rent in Bellingham Hill?

Average gross rent in Bellingham Hill is $1,648/month (pop-weighted across 1 census tracts, ACS 5-year 2023). 43% of renter households are cost-burdened.
Q4

What percentage of Bellingham Hill residents are renters?

89% of Bellingham Hill households are renter-occupied (vs 74% in Chelsea). The neighborhood has 3,543 residents.
Q5

Is Bellingham Hill a high social-vulnerability area?

Bellingham Hill sits in the 91st percentile nationally on the CDC Social Vulnerability Index (highly vulnerable). The index combines poverty, unemployment, household composition, racial/ethnic minority share, and housing/transportation factors across all US census tracts.
Q6

How safe is Bellingham Hill for landlords?

Bellingham Hill carries a high-tier eviction-risk profile for landlords (9.2/10). Pop-weighted across 1 constituent tracts, the score blends parent-city rent-control posture, county eviction-process timelines, and tract-specific rent-to-income / poverty signals. Compared to Chelsea as a whole (7.8/10), this neighborhood is higher-risk.
Q7

What is the demographic breakdown of Bellingham Hill?

Bellingham Hill has 3,659 residents. Top groups: Hispanic / Latino (75.5%), Black (non-Hispanic) (11.9%), White (non-Hispanic) (8%). Source: ACS 5-year 2023, table B03002.
Nearby

Other neighborhoods near Bellingham Hill

Sibling neighborhoods

Other neighborhoods inside Chelsea

Same parent city, ranked by score similarity to Bellingham Hill.

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