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Census Tract · Ranked #4,782 of 84,120 nationally

Plainfield Eviction Risk: Elevated

Tract 34039039200 · Union County, NJ · pop 6,057

Census tract 34039039200 runs through Plainfield in Union County. With 6,057 residents, it scores 7.5/10 for landlords. It lands near the 98th percentile nationally for landlord eviction risk.

66% of renter households here spend at least 30% of income on rent, a severe level, and 25% are severely burdened at 50% or more. The typical renter pays about $1,518 a month while the average household earns $81,287 a year, roughly 22% of income at the averages. About 58% of occupied units are renter-occupied, a renter-majority tract.

Risk score
7
Elevated
Confidence 100% · 1–10 scale
Household mix · 100 hh
Burdened renters 38% Stable renters 19% Owners 43%
Tract context
Occupied units1,701
Renter share57.7%
SVI overall0.92
Poverty rate19.7%
Median income$81,287

Percentile rank

Higher percentile = riskier than more peers.
Within parent city
73 th percentile
Rank, 73rd percentileLowHigh
#4 of 12 tracts In Plainfield
Elevated
Within county
80 th percentile
Rank, 80th percentileLowHigh
#25 of 120 tracts In Union County
High
Within state
82 th percentile
Rank, 82nd percentileLowHigh
#386 of 2,175 tracts In New Jersey
High
National
94 th percentile
Rank, 94th percentileLowHigh
#4,782 of 84,120 tracts In U.S.
Very High
Geographic context

Risk heat across Plainfield and the region

Centroid at 40.6179, -74.4086 · click any tract to drill in

Why Plainfield scores 7

9 axes · 1 = landlord-friendly
Local political climate
Inherited from Plainfield
7.1
Regional political climate
2024 county presidential margin
6.8
State political climate
New Jersey legislature & governorship
6.8
Economic stress
19.7% poverty · this tract
4.9
Supply constraint
$1,518 rent vs county FMR
2.1
Rent control risk
Inherited from Plainfield
7.8
Eviction process difficulty
State law sets the calendar
6.7
Tenant organizing strength
Inherited from Plainfield
9.5
Housing court bias
Inherited from Plainfield
7.6

How Plainfield compares

Risk score vs. parent city, county, state.
Plainfield risk score vs. parent city / county / stateThis tract: 7.07.0This tracttract 039200Plainfield: 8.28.2Plainfieldparent cityCounty: 4.74.7Countyavg tract in countyState: 4.34.3Stateavg tract in state
CDC Social Vulnerability Index

SVI percentile: 92

CDC/ATSDR 2022. Higher = more vulnerable. National percentile across 84k tracts.

Historical context · 1930s redlining

HOLC grade: C: Definitely Declining

This tract sits within an area graded by the Home Owners' Loan Corporation in the 1930s. Grade C meant mixed-race / working-class neighborhoods rated as risky. These designations suppressed minority homeownership for generations and remain a documented predictor of present-day eviction filings and rent burden.

Source: Mapping Inequality (americanpanorama.org), 1935-1940 HOLC residential security maps, aggregated to 2020 census tracts by area share. CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.

Eviction filings

Court-record eviction history

Court-validated eviction filings collected from county clerks and consolidated by the Eviction Lab at Princeton University. Filing rate is filings per 100 renter households.1

Historic baseline (2000–2018)

  • 764Total filings over 4 yrs
  • 17.18%Avg annual filing rate
  • 21.8%Peak (2013)
  • 159Filings in 2018 (latest validated)
Filings by year 2013 to 2018
Year-by-year eviction filings in tract 340390392002013: 241 filings (21.79/100 renter HHs)2016: 171 filings (15.34/100 renter HHs)2017: 193 filings (17.31/100 renter HHs)2018: 159 filings (14.26/100 renter HHs)
Filings dropped 34% over the past 4 months.
Comparable tracts

Census tracts with similar eviction risk

Closest by Eviction Risk Score.

CDC PLACES 2023 · health & economic stress

Eviction-adjacent indicators

Crude prevalence of conditions linked to housing loss. Source: CDC PLACES (cwsq-ngmh), 2023 model-based small-area estimates.

Analysis

What drives eviction risk in Plainfield

What moves this score most is tenant organizing strength at 9.5/10. That part comes from the wider legal climate rather than the tract itself. Statewide and court-level factors such as eviction-process speed and rent-control exposure are inherited from Plainfield eviction risk, while the economic and supply signals are measured at the tract level.

Set against its neighbors, this tract scores above the Union County average of 6.6 and above the New Jersey statewide average of 6.6. Within its own county it reads on the riskier side for landlords.

The tract is Hispanic or Latino and Black and ranks around the 92nd percentile nationally on the CDC Social Vulnerability Index, a measure of how exposed residents are to housing and economic shocks. High vulnerability tends to track with higher eviction-filing rates when rents climb.

Princeton eviction risk's Eviction Lab logged 764 eviction filings here over 4 tracked years, with about 17.2% of renter households facing a filing in a typical year. Filings peaked at 21.8% of renter households in 2013.

For a landlord, this is a tract where process discipline pays off. Clean paperwork and steady screening keep the elevated risk manageable.

Frequently asked

About tract 34039039200

Q1

What is the eviction-risk score for census tract 34039039200?

Census tract 34039039200 in Plainfield scores 7/10 (Elevated tier). The Eviction Risk Score blends state law, county filing rates, parent-city politics, and tract-specific rent-to-income ratios + poverty signals.
Q2

What is the average rent in tract 34039039200?

Median gross rent is $1,518/month (ACS 5-year 2023, table B25064). 66% of renter households are cost-burdened.
Q3

What is the poverty rate in tract 34039039200?

19.7% of residents in tract 34039039200 live below the federal poverty line (ACS B17001, 2023). Population: 6,057.
Q4

How socially vulnerable is tract 34039039200?

CDC Social Vulnerability Index ranks this tract in the 92th percentile nationally. Sub-themes: socioeconomic 97th, household 60th, minority 89th, housing 80th.
Q5

How many evictions are filed each year in tract 34039039200?

Princeton eviction risk Eviction Lab recorded 764 eviction filings across 4 validated years in tract 34039039200 (2000-2018). The average annual filing rate is 17.18% of renter households, peaking at 21.8% in 2013. Source: Eviction Lab tract-validated 2024 release.
Q6

What share of households in tract 34039039200 struggle to pay rent?

About 28.7% of adults in this tract reported housing insecurity (could not pay rent or mortgage in the past 12 months), per the CDC PLACES 2023 model-based small-area estimate. 17.3% also reported utility shutoff threats, a frequent precursor to eviction filings.
Q7

How does tract 34039039200 compare to Plainfield overall?

Tract 34039039200 scores 7/10, lower than the parent city of Plainfield at 8.2/10. City-scale signals (state law, local rent controls, court bias) are inherited from Plainfield eviction risk; what makes this tract different are its tract-specific economic stress and supply-constraint sub-scores.
Q8

Was tract 34039039200 historically redlined?

Yes. This tract sits inside an area graded by the Home Owners' Loan Corporation in the 1930s, with a dominant grade of C. 0% of the tract's area was rated D ("Hazardous"), the redlined tier. HOLC redlining systematically denied mortgage credit to Black, immigrant, and working-class neighborhoods and remains a documented predictor of present-day eviction filings, rent burden, and homeownership gaps. Source: Mapping Inequality (americanpanorama.org), Robert K. Nelson et al.
Sibling tracts

Highest-risk tracts in Plainfield

Top eight tracts in Plainfield ranked by composite eviction-risk score.

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