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Neighborhood · Worcester, MA

Rice Square Eviction Risk: Elevated

1 census tracts · pop 4,352 · pop-weighted Eviction Risk Score 7.8/10 · range 7.8–7.8

Rice Square is a one-tract neighborhood of Worcester, MA and houses 4,352 people. The Eviction Risk Score is 7.8/10, in the Elevated tier. Cost burden runs 64% against 32.0% citywide, putting Rice Square 31.8% over its own city.

The severe-burden share is 25%. Those renters are past the 50% mark, and they miss rent for reasons that have nothing to do with willingness to pay. The dominant input is eviction-process difficulty at 7/10.

Court records for this tract carry 40 eviction filings. Running hot is tenant-organizing strength at 7/10. SNAP participation is 23.7% of households versus 15.2% nationally.

Filing activity peaked in 2015 at 4.7% of renter households. Sitting well above the midpoint is housing-court posture at 7/10.

That places it #7 of 17 neighborhoods in Worcester. Judgments average 1.8% of renter households a year, the share of filings that actually convert to an order. For a like-for-like read, Beaver Street Historic District and Providence Street Historic District score within a fraction of it.

Social vulnerability runs high at 8.8/10, concentrating the disaster- and displacement-exposure this model treats as a lagging risk input. Average gross rent runs $1,575, close to the Worcester average.

Because the boundary contains one tract, 7.8/10 is simultaneously the area figure and the address-level figure. The number is rebuilt whenever its ACS, court-record, or statutory inputs change.

Risk score
7.8
Elevated
1 tracts · population-weighted
Rice Square vs Worcester How this neighborhood stacks against the citywide average
% of income on rent
63.8% +99%
Worcester: 32.0%
Average gross rent
$1,575 +6%
Worcester: $1,487
Average HH income
$64,864 -4%
Worcester: $67,544
Poverty rate
13.5% -32%
Worcester: 19.8%
Renter share
56.9% -1%
Worcester: 57.3%
Peer neighborhoods

Neighborhoods with similar eviction risk

Same county, closest by Eviction Risk Score.

Geographic context

Risk heat across Rice Square and the region

Click any tract to drill in · 1 tracts span score 7.8–7.8

Why Rice Square scores 7.8

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 5.9–5.9 across tracts
5.9
Local political climate
Parent city governance · Range 7.0–7.0 across tracts
7.0
Rent control risk
64% of income on rent · Range 6.0–6.0 across tracts
6.0
Eviction process difficulty
State notice requirements & court backlog · Range 7.0–7.0 across tracts
7.0
Tenant organizing strength
57% renter households · Range 7.0–7.0 across tracts
7.0
Housing court bias
County bench composition · Range 7.0–7.0 across tracts
7.0
Economic stress
13.5% below poverty line · Range 3.4–3.4 across tracts
3.4
Supply constraint
Rent-to-FMR gap & zoning friction · Range 3.5–3.5 across tracts
3.5
Risk score comparison

Rice Square vs. parent city, state, U.S.

Eviction Risk Score (0–10 scale).

Rice Square score vs. parent city, state, U.S.Rice Square: 7.87.8Rice SquareNeighborhoodParent city: 6.66.6Parent cityhost cityState: 6.46.4Stateavg in stateU.S.: 5.15.1U.S.national avgU.S. avg = 5.0
Census tracts

1 tracts in Rice Square

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

Tract Score Pop % over 30% on rent Average rent
25027732302 7.8 4,352 64% $1,575
Social Vulnerability Index

CDC SVI percentile: 86

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

Socioeconomic status 64%ile
Poverty, unemployment, no-HS-diploma, housing cost burden
Household characteristics 96%ile
Single-parent HH, disability, language barriers, age 17- / 65+
Racial/ethnic minority 65%ile
Hispanic + non-white share of population
Housing & transport 87%ile
Multi-unit structures, mobile homes, crowding, no vehicle
Eviction filings · Princeton Eviction Lab

Court-record eviction history in Rice Square

Aggregated across 1 validated constituent tract. Filing rate is filings per 100 renter households, pop-weighted.

Historic baseline (2000–2018)

  • 40Total filings (sum)
  • 4.68%Avg annual filing rate
  • 4.7%Peak year (2015)
  • 4.68%Latest filed (2015)
CDC PLACES 2023 · pop-weighted

Eviction-adjacent indicators in Rice Square

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

Frequently asked

About Rice Square

Q1

What is the eviction-risk score for Rice Square?

Rice Square scores 7.8/10 (Elevated 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 Rice Square compare to Worcester overall?

Rice Square scores 1.2 points higher than Worcester overall (6.6/10). Renters spend 64% of income on rent vs 32% citywide. Average rent: $1,575 vs $1,487.
Q3

What is the average rent in Rice Square?

Average gross rent in Rice Square is $1,575/month (pop-weighted across 1 census tracts, ACS 5-year 2023). 64% of renter households are cost-burdened.
Q4

What percentage of Rice Square residents are renters?

57% of Rice Square households are renter-occupied (vs 57% in Worcester). The neighborhood has 4,352 residents.
Q5

Is Rice Square a high social-vulnerability area?

Rice 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

How safe is Rice Square for landlords?

Rice Square carries a elevated-tier eviction-risk profile for landlords (7.8/10). 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 Worcester as a whole (6.6/10), this neighborhood is higher-risk.
Q7

What is the demographic breakdown of Rice Square?

Rice Square has 4,558 residents. Top groups: White (non-Hispanic) (46.9%), Hispanic / Latino (32%), Other / Multiracial (9.2%). Source: ACS 5-year 2023, table B03002.
Nearby

Other neighborhoods near Rice Square

Sibling neighborhoods

Other neighborhoods inside Worcester

Same parent city, ranked by score similarity to Rice Square.

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