Neighborhood · Union City, NJ

The Shades Eviction Risk: Elevated

16 census tracts · pop 58,472 · pop-weighted Eviction Risk Score 7.6/10 · range 6.2–9

The Shades is a 16-tract neighborhood of Union City, NJ, population 58,472. That produces an Eviction Risk Score of 7.6/10, Elevated tier. Cost burden runs 49% against 32.3% citywide, putting The Shades 16.6% over its own city.

The 16 tracts inside this boundary do not behave alike. Individual scores run 6.2 to 9, a 2.8-point gap wide enough that the area average misleads on any specific address. The severe-burden share is 27%. Those renters are past the 50% mark, and they miss rent for reasons that have nothing to do with willingness to pay. This is a renter market: 75% of occupied units are tenant-occupied.

25.4% of adults carry no health insurance against 11.3% nationally, a common route into sudden unpayable debt. The main counterweight is supply constraint, at 2.3/10. The poverty rate is 21%. Judgments in high-poverty tracts are collectible far less often than the filing statistics suggest.

Court records carry 4,982 eviction filings across its 14 observed tracts. CDC survey data puts housing insecurity at 21.9% of adults, against 14.2% nationally. Filing activity peaked in 2017 at 23.7% of renter households.

The most recent observed rate, 7.5% in 2018, is well off that peak. Average gross rent is $1,657, 8% above the Union City average of $1,537.

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. Scores move when the ACS release, the court-record feed, or the statute ledger behind them moves.

Risk score

7.6

Elevated

16 tracts · population-weighted

The Shades vs Union City How this neighborhood stacks against the citywide average

% of income on rent

48.9% +51%

Union City: 32.3%

Average gross rent

$1,657 +8%

Union City: $1,537

Average HH income

$86,583 +30%

Union City: $66,492

Poverty rate

20.5% -4%

Union City: 21.3%

Renter share

75.3% -7%

Union City: 80.9%

Peer neighborhoods

Neighborhoods with similar eviction risk

Same county, closest by Eviction Risk Score.

Geographic context

Risk heat across The Shades and the region

Click any tract to drill in · 16 tracts span score 6.2–9

Why The Shades scores 7.6

9 axes · pop-weighted · 1 = landlord-friendly

State political climate

legislature & governorship · Range 6.8–6.8 across tracts

6.8

Regional political climate

County-level mix · 2024 presidential margin · Range 7.3–7.3 across tracts

7.3

Local political climate

Parent city governance · Range 6.8–7.6 across tracts

7.4

Rent control risk

49% of income on rent · Range 5.5–8.5 across tracts

6.0

Eviction process difficulty

State notice requirements & court backlog · Range 5.0–7.5 across tracts

6.0

Tenant organizing strength

75% renter households · Range 4.0–7.0 across tracts

5.0

Housing court bias

County bench composition · Range 5.0–7.5 across tracts

5.2

Economic stress

20.5% below poverty line · Range 1.0–10.0 across tracts

5.1

Supply constraint

Rent-to-FMR gap & zoning friction · Range 1.0–10.0 across tracts

2.3

Risk score comparison

The Shades vs. parent city, state, U.S.

Eviction Risk Score (0–10 scale).

Variance across tracts

How uniformly does eviction risk play out in The Shades?

Left: distribution of constituent tract scores. Right: every tract as a heat square. Click any square to drill in.

Score distribution

0246810

Spread of 2.8 points from 6.2 to 9. This neighborhood crosses multiple risk tiers, so block-by-block conditions vary substantially.

Tracts as heat grid

9.0 8.7 8.2 8.2 8.2 8.2 8.2 7.9 7.8 7.8 7.4 7.2 7.1 6.8 6.4 6.2

Each square = one census tract. Color tracks the same green→red ramp as the chloropleth map above.

Census tracts

16 tracts in The Shades

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

Tract↕	Score↕	Pop↕	% over 30% on rent↕	Average rent↕
34017014801	9	4,755	53%	$1,193
34017014900	8.7	3,057	55%	$1,712
34017017000	8.2	5,407	47%	$1,461
34017016800	8.2	3,671	50%	$1,547
34017017200	8.2	3,225	50%	$1,473
34017016900	8.2	3,160	44%	$1,341
34017017400	8.2	2,280	56%	$1,319
34017017600	7.9	3,081	65%	$1,521
34017017500	7.8	4,479	51%	$1,636
34017016700	7.8	1,660	56%	$1,549
34017017100	7.4	5,075	58%	$1,662
34017017700	7.2	1,627	51%	$1,440
34017017300	7.1	2,316	37%	$1,621
34017018402	6.8	3,242	23%	$3,501
34017017800	6.4	6,420	49%	$1,356
34017018200	6.2	5,017	40%	$2,239

Social Vulnerability Index

CDC SVI percentile: 82

Pop-weighted across 16 tracts. Higher = more vulnerable to disaster, displacement, and rent shocks. Source: CDC/ATSDR SVI 2022.

Socioeconomic status 84%ile

Poverty, unemployment, no-HS-diploma, housing cost burden

Household characteristics 61%ile

Single-parent HH, disability, language barriers, age 17- / 65+

Racial/ethnic minority 85%ile

Hispanic + non-white share of population

Housing & transport 77%ile

Multi-unit structures, mobile homes, crowding, no vehicle

Eviction filings · Princeton Eviction Lab

Court-record eviction history in The Shades

Aggregated across 14 validated constituent tracts. Filing rate is filings per 100 renter households, pop-weighted.

Historic baseline (2000–2018)

4,982Total filings (sum)
9.14%Avg annual filing rate
23.7%Peak year (2017)
7.65%Latest filed (2018)

CDC PLACES 2023 · pop-weighted

Eviction-adjacent indicators in The Shades

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

21.8%Housing insecurity
11.8%Utility shutoff threat
28.0%Food insecurity
17.0%SNAP enrollment
25.2%No health insurance
31.0%Any disability

Frequently asked

About The Shades

What is the eviction-risk score for The Shades?

The Shades scores 7.6/10 (Elevated tier) across 16 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.

How does The Shades compare to Union City overall?

The Shades scores 0.8 points higher than Union City overall (6.8/10). Renters spend 49% of income on rent vs 32% citywide. Average rent: $1,657 vs $1,537.

What is the average rent in The Shades?

Average gross rent in The Shades is $1,657/month (pop-weighted across 16 census tracts, ACS 5-year 2023). 49% of renter households are cost-burdened.

What percentage of The Shades residents are renters?

75% of The Shades households are renter-occupied (vs 81% in Union City). The neighborhood has 58,472 residents.

Is The Shades a high social-vulnerability area?

The Shades sits in the 82nd 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.

Which tracts in The Shades have the highest eviction risk?

The highest-risk constituent tract in The Shades is census tract 34017014801 (score 9/10). Across the 16 tracts in this neighborhood the score ranges from 6.2 to 9, a spread of 2.8 points.

How safe is The Shades for landlords?

The Shades carries a elevated-tier eviction-risk profile for landlords (7.6/10). Pop-weighted across 16 constituent tracts, the score blends parent-city rent-control posture, county eviction-process timelines, and tract-specific rent-to-income / poverty signals. Compared to Union City as a whole (6.8/10), this neighborhood is higher-risk.

What is the demographic breakdown of The Shades?

The Shades has 58,420 residents. Top groups: Hispanic / Latino (73.2%), White (non-Hispanic) (17.7%), Asian (non-Hispanic) (4.8%). Source: ACS 5-year 2023, table B03002.

Nearby

Other neighborhoods near The Shades

7.3 Lincoln Harbor 10 tracts · pop 42,377 7.9 The Heights 13 tracts · pop 45,141 7 Uptown 7 tracts · pop 26,520 6.9 Downtown 9 tracts · pop 33,113 8.3 Indian Square 6 tracts · pop 21,429 6.6 Lincoln Square 3 tracts · pop 8,413

Sibling neighborhoods

Other neighborhoods inside Union City

Same parent city, ranked by score similarity to The Shades.

7.2 Lincoln Harbor 10 tracts · pop 42,377

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