2 census tracts · pop 10,992 · pop-weighted Eviction Risk Score 7.7/10
· range 6.5–8.6
Cary Square spans 2 census tracts of Chelsea, MA, population 10,992. That produces an Eviction Risk Score of 7.7/10, Elevated tier. Against a Chelsea baseline of 34.7%, 59% of renters here cross the 30%-of-income line.
35% 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. The dominant input is tenant-organizing strength at 9.8/10. This is a renter market: 68% of occupied units are tenant-occupied.
The 2 tracts inside this boundary do not behave alike. Individual scores run 6.5 to 8.6, a 2.1-point gap wide enough that the area average misleads on any specific address. On the softer side is supply constraint, at 1.7/10.
On the high side is housing-court posture at 7.9/10. CDC survey data puts housing insecurity at 23.2% of adults, against 14.2% nationally. Court records carry 471 eviction filings across its 2 observed tracts.
SNAP participation is 25.7% of households versus 15.2% nationally. Filing activity peaked in 2016 at 5.4% of renter households.
That places it #7 of 7 neighborhoods in Chelsea.
For a specific building, read the per-tract breakdown below rather than the 7.7 headline, because the internal range is too wide to average safely. The number is rebuilt whenever its ACS, court-record, or statutory inputs change.
Risk score
7.7
Elevated
2 tracts · population-weighted
Cary Square vs ChelseaHow this neighborhood stacks against the citywide average
Single-parent HH, disability, language barriers, age 17- / 65+
Racial/ethnic minority86%ile
Hispanic + non-white share of population
Housing & transport83%ile
Multi-unit structures, mobile homes, crowding, no vehicle
Eviction filings · Princeton Eviction Lab
Court-record eviction history in Cary Square
Aggregated across 2 validated constituent tracts. Filing rate is filings per 100 renter households, pop-weighted.
Historic baseline (2000–2018)
471Total filings (sum)
3.95%Avg annual filing rate
5.4%Peak year (2016)
3.76%Latest filed (2016)
Pandemic-era tracking (2020–2021)
223Total filings 2020-21
2.5Avg monthly observed
3.9Pre-pandemic baseline
0.64×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 Cary Square
Average across all constituent tracts, population-weighted. Source: CDC PLACES (cwsq-ngmh) crude prevalence.
23.7%Housing insecurity
12.8%Utility shutoff threat
26.8%Food insecurity
26.2%SNAP enrollment
15.5%No health insurance
31.4%Any disability
Frequently asked
About Cary Square
Q1
What is the eviction-risk score for Cary Square?
Cary Square scores 7.7/10 (Elevated tier) across 2 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 Cary Square compare to Chelsea overall?
Cary Square scores 0.1 points lower than Chelsea overall (7.8/10). Renters spend 59% of income on rent vs 35% citywide. Average rent: $1,912 vs $1,956.
Q3
What is the average rent in Cary Square?
Average gross rent in Cary Square is $1,912/month (pop-weighted across 2 census tracts, ACS 5-year 2023). 59% of renter households are cost-burdened.
Q4
What percentage of Cary Square residents are renters?
68% of Cary Square households are renter-occupied (vs 74% in Chelsea). The neighborhood has 10,992 residents.
Q5
Is Cary Square a high social-vulnerability area?
Cary Square sits in the 86th 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
Which tracts in Cary Square have the highest eviction risk?
The highest-risk constituent tract in Cary Square is census tract 25025160501 (score 8.6/10). Across the 2 tracts in this neighborhood the score ranges from 6.5 to 8.6, a spread of 2.1 points.
Q7
How safe is Cary Square for landlords?
Cary Square carries a elevated-tier eviction-risk profile for landlords (7.7/10). Pop-weighted across 2 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 in line with the citywide level.
Q8
What is the demographic breakdown of Cary Square?
Cary Square has 10,879 residents. Top groups: Hispanic / Latino (62.3%), White (non-Hispanic) (19.2%), Black (non-Hispanic) (8.7%). Source: ACS 5-year 2023, table B03002.
