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Neighborhood · Chelsea, MA

Bellingham Square Historic District Eviction Risk: High

1 census tracts · pop 4,845 · pop-weighted Eviction Risk Score 8.8/10 · range 8.8–8.8

Bellingham Square Historic District is a one-tract neighborhood of Chelsea, MA and houses 4,845 people. The Eviction Risk Score is 8.8/10, in the High tier. The severe-burden share is 45%. Those renters are past the 50% mark, and they miss rent for reasons that have nothing to do with willingness to pay.

Cost burden runs 62% against 34.7% citywide, putting Bellingham Square Historic District 27.0% over its own city. The strongest single driver of the headline number is tenant-organizing strength at 9.8/10.

CDC survey data puts housing insecurity at 29.6% of adults, against 14.2% nationally. On the softer side is supply constraint, at 1.8/10.

The poverty rate is 24%. Judgments in high-poverty tracts are collectible far less often than the filing statistics suggest. Sitting well above the midpoint is housing-court posture at 7.9/10.

16.8% of adults report being unable to pay a utility bill, against a 9.2% national figure. Utility arrears usually lead rent arrears by a month or two. That places it #3 of 7 neighborhoods in Chelsea. For a like-for-like read, Chelsea Square and Bellingham Hill score within a fraction of it.

Social vulnerability runs high at 9.6/10, concentrating the disaster- and displacement-exposure this model treats as a lagging risk input. Average gross rent runs $1,940, close to the Chelsea average.

Annual rent works out to 29% of average household income of $80,573. 54% of occupied units are renter-occupied.

Because the boundary contains one tract, 8.8/10 is simultaneously the area figure and the address-level figure. Scores move when the ACS release, the court-record feed, or the statute ledger behind them moves.

Risk score
8.8
High
1 tracts · population-weighted
Bellingham Square Historic District vs Chelsea How this neighborhood stacks against the citywide average
% of income on rent
61.7% +78%
Chelsea: 34.7%
Average gross rent
$1,940 -1%
Chelsea: $1,956
Average HH income
$80,573 +12%
Chelsea: $72,220
Poverty rate
23.8% +15%
Chelsea: 20.6%
Renter share
53.7% -27%
Chelsea: 74.0%
Peer neighborhoods

Neighborhoods with similar eviction risk

Same county, closest by Eviction Risk Score.

Geographic context

Risk heat across Bellingham Square Historic District and the region

Click any tract to drill in · 1 tracts span score 8.8–8.8

Why Bellingham Square Historic District scores 8.8

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
62% 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
54% 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
23.8% below poverty line · Range 5.9–5.9 across tracts
5.9
Supply constraint
Rent-to-FMR gap & zoning friction · Range 1.8–1.8 across tracts
1.8
Risk score comparison

Bellingham Square Historic District vs. parent city, state, U.S.

Eviction Risk Score (0–10 scale).

Bellingham Square Historic District score vs. parent city, state, U.S.8.8Bellingham Square Neighborhood7.8Parent cityhost city6.4Stateavg in state5.1U.S.national avgU.S. avg = 5.0
Census tracts

1 tracts in Bellingham Square Historic District

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

Tract Score Pop % over 30% on rent Average rent
25025160103 8.8 4,845 62% $1,940
Social Vulnerability Index

CDC SVI percentile: 96

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

Socioeconomic status 91%ile
Poverty, unemployment, no-HS-diploma, housing cost burden
Household characteristics 78%ile
Single-parent HH, disability, language barriers, age 17- / 65+
Racial/ethnic minority 89%ile
Hispanic + non-white share of population
Housing & transport 95%ile
Multi-unit structures, mobile homes, crowding, no vehicle
Eviction filings · Princeton Eviction Lab

Court-record eviction history in Bellingham Square Historic District

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

Pandemic-era tracking (2020–2021)

  • 50Total filings 2020-21
  • 1.1Avg monthly observed
  • 2.3Pre-pandemic baseline
  • 0.47×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 Square Historic District

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

Frequently asked

About Bellingham Square Historic District

Q1

What is the eviction-risk score for Bellingham Square Historic District?

Bellingham Square Historic District scores 8.8/10 (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 Square Historic District compare to Chelsea overall?

Bellingham Square Historic District scores 1.0 points higher than Chelsea overall (7.8/10). Renters spend 62% of income on rent vs 35% citywide. Average rent: $1,940 vs $1,956.
Q3

What is the average rent in Bellingham Square Historic District?

Average gross rent in Bellingham Square Historic District is $1,940/month (pop-weighted across 1 census tracts, ACS 5-year 2023). 62% of renter households are cost-burdened.
Q4

What percentage of Bellingham Square Historic District residents are renters?

54% of Bellingham Square Historic District households are renter-occupied (vs 74% in Chelsea). The neighborhood has 4,845 residents.
Q5

Is Bellingham Square Historic District a high social-vulnerability area?

Bellingham Square Historic District sits in the 96th 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 Square Historic District for landlords?

Bellingham Square Historic District carries a high-tier eviction-risk profile for landlords (8.8/10). 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 Square Historic District?

Bellingham Square Historic District has 4,730 residents. Top groups: Hispanic / Latino (73.8%), White (non-Hispanic) (12.6%), Black (non-Hispanic) (7.9%). Source: ACS 5-year 2023, table B03002.
Nearby

Other neighborhoods near Bellingham Square Historic District

Sibling neighborhoods

Other neighborhoods inside Chelsea

Same parent city, ranked by score similarity to Bellingham Square Historic District.

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