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Neighborhood · Mercerville, NJ

Colonial Lakes Eviction Risk: Moderate

3 census tracts · pop 13,055 · pop-weighted Eviction Risk Score 4.1/10 · range 3–5.6

Colonial Lakes is a 3-tract neighborhood of Mercerville, NJ, population 13,055. It carries an Eviction Risk Score of 4.1/10, in the Moderate tier. Against a Mercerville baseline of 24.6%, 45% of renters here cross the 30%-of-income line.

The 3 tracts inside this boundary do not behave alike. Individual scores run 3 to 5.6, a 2.6-point gap wide enough that the area average misleads on any specific address. 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 main counterweight is economic stress, at 1.5/10. Court records carry 1,243 eviction filings across its 3 observed tracts. Filing activity peaked in 2016 at 24.0% of renter households.

The most recent observed rate, 10.0% in 2018, is well off that peak. Average gross rent is $1,724, 6% above the Mercerville average of $1,621. That places it #2 of 4 neighborhoods in Mercerville.

For a like-for-like read, Mercerville and Hamilton Square score within a fraction of it. Poverty sits at 6%, low enough that arrears here usually reflect a specific shock rather than a structural income gap.

Annual rent works out to 20% of average household income of $101,280. 31% of occupied units are renter-occupied.

For a specific building, read the per-tract breakdown below rather than the 4.1 headline, because the internal range is too wide to average safely. Scores move when the ACS release, the court-record feed, or the statute ledger behind them moves.

Risk score
4.1
Moderate
3 tracts · population-weighted
Colonial Lakes vs Mercerville How this neighborhood stacks against the citywide average
% of income on rent
44.8% +82%
Mercerville: 24.6%
Average gross rent
$1,724 +6%
Mercerville: $1,621
Average HH income
$101,280 -19%
Mercerville: $125,678
Poverty rate
5.6% +101%
Mercerville: 2.8%
Renter share
30.8% +101%
Mercerville: 15.3%
Peer neighborhoods

Neighborhoods with similar eviction risk

Same county, closest by Eviction Risk Score.

Geographic context

Risk heat across Colonial Lakes and the region

Click any tract to drill in · 3 tracts span score 3–5.6

Why Colonial Lakes scores 4.1

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 7.0–7.0 across tracts
7.0
Local political climate
Parent city governance · Range 6.8–7.3 across tracts
7.1
Rent control risk
45% of income on rent · Range 4.2–6.8 across tracts
5.1
Eviction process difficulty
State notice requirements & court backlog · Range 5.0–6.2 across tracts
5.8
Tenant organizing strength
31% renter households · Range 3.9–4.0 across tracts
3.9
Housing court bias
County bench composition · Range 3.2–5.0 across tracts
3.8
Economic stress
5.6% below poverty line · Range 1.0–2.4 across tracts
1.5
Supply constraint
Rent-to-FMR gap & zoning friction · Range 1.5–7.7 across tracts
3.5
Risk score comparison

Colonial Lakes vs. parent city, state, U.S.

Eviction Risk Score (0–10 scale).

Colonial Lakes score vs. parent city, state, U.S.4.1Colonial LakesNeighborhood4.3Parent cityhost city6.4Stateavg in state5.1U.S.national avgU.S. avg = 5.0
Variance across tracts

How uniformly does eviction risk play out in Colonial Lakes?

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

Score distribution
0246810
Spread of 2.6 points from 3 to 5.6. This neighborhood crosses multiple risk tiers, so block-by-block conditions vary substantially.
Tracts as heat grid
Each square = one census tract. Color tracks the same green→red ramp as the chloropleth map above.
Census tracts

3 tracts in Colonial Lakes

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

Tract Score Pop % over 30% on rent Average rent
34021003100 5.6 4,281 48% $1,327
34021002902 3.8 4,766 54% $1,365
34021002903 3 4,008 30% $2,576
Social Vulnerability Index

CDC SVI percentile: 53

Pop-weighted across 3 tracts. Higher = more vulnerable to disaster, displacement, and rent shocks. Source: CDC/ATSDR SVI 2022.

Socioeconomic status 43%ile
Poverty, unemployment, no-HS-diploma, housing cost burden
Household characteristics 83%ile
Single-parent HH, disability, language barriers, age 17- / 65+
Racial/ethnic minority 60%ile
Hispanic + non-white share of population
Housing & transport 38%ile
Multi-unit structures, mobile homes, crowding, no vehicle
Eviction filings · Princeton Eviction Lab

Court-record eviction history in Colonial Lakes

Aggregated across 3 validated constituent tracts. Filing rate is filings per 100 renter households, pop-weighted.

Historic baseline (2000–2018)

  • 1,243Total filings (sum)
  • 10.60%Avg annual filing rate
  • 24.0%Peak year (2016)
  • 10.74%Latest filed (2018)
CDC PLACES 2023 · pop-weighted

Eviction-adjacent indicators in Colonial Lakes

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

Frequently asked

About Colonial Lakes

Q1

What is the eviction-risk score for Colonial Lakes?

Colonial Lakes scores 4.1/10 (Moderate tier) across 3 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 Colonial Lakes compare to Mercerville overall?

Colonial Lakes scores 0.2 points lower than Mercerville overall (4.3/10). Renters spend 45% of income on rent vs 25% citywide. Average rent: $1,724 vs $1,621.
Q3

What is the average rent in Colonial Lakes?

Average gross rent in Colonial Lakes is $1,724/month (pop-weighted across 3 census tracts, ACS 5-year 2023). 45% of renter households are cost-burdened.
Q4

What percentage of Colonial Lakes residents are renters?

31% of Colonial Lakes households are renter-occupied (vs 15% in Mercerville). The neighborhood has 13,055 residents.
Q5

Is Colonial Lakes a high social-vulnerability area?

Colonial Lakes sits in the 53rd percentile nationally on the CDC Social Vulnerability Index (moderately 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 Colonial Lakes have the highest eviction risk?

The highest-risk constituent tract in Colonial Lakes is census tract 34021003100 (score 5.6/10). Across the 3 tracts in this neighborhood the score ranges from 3 to 5.6, a spread of 2.6 points.
Q7

How safe is Colonial Lakes for landlords?

Colonial Lakes carries a moderate-tier eviction-risk profile for landlords (4.1/10). Pop-weighted across 3 constituent tracts, the score blends parent-city rent-control posture, county eviction-process timelines, and tract-specific rent-to-income / poverty signals. Compared to Mercerville as a whole (4.3/10), this neighborhood is in line with the citywide level.
Q8

What is the demographic breakdown of Colonial Lakes?

Colonial Lakes has 13,355 residents. Top groups: White (non-Hispanic) (55.1%), Hispanic / Latino (21.9%), Black (non-Hispanic) (12.4%). Source: ACS 5-year 2023, table B03002.
Nearby

Other neighborhoods near Colonial Lakes

Sibling neighborhoods

Other neighborhoods inside Mercerville

Same parent city, ranked by score similarity to Colonial Lakes.

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