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Census Tract · Ranked #1,608 of 84,120 nationally

Plainfield Eviction Risk: High

Tract 34039039301 · Union County, NJ · pop 3,067

Landlord eviction risk in census tract 34039039301 (Plainfield, New Jersey) comes in at 8.1/10, the High tier. That puts it among the highest-scoring tracts in the entire country, the top 1% nationally for landlord eviction difficulty.

About 50% of renters carry a rent burden of 30% of income or higher, a severe level, and 36% are severely burdened at 50% or more. Average rent runs $1,449 a month against an average household income of $53,024 a year, roughly 33% of income at the averages. About 89% of occupied units are renter-occupied, a renter-majority tract.

Risk score
8.2
High
Confidence 100% · 1–10 scale
Household mix · 100 hh
Burdened renters 44% Stable renters 45% Owners 11%
Tract context
Occupied units889
Renter share89.3%
SVI overall0.99
Poverty rate42.5%
Median income$53,024

Percentile rank

Higher percentile = riskier than more peers.
Within parent city
91 th percentile
Rank, 91st percentileLowHigh
#2 of 12 tracts In Plainfield
Very High
Within county
94 th percentile
Rank, 94th percentileLowHigh
#8 of 120 tracts In Union County
Very High
Within state
92 th percentile
Rank, 92nd percentileLowHigh
#171 of 2,175 tracts In New Jersey
Very High
National
98 th percentile
Rank, 98th percentileLowHigh
#1,608 of 84,120 tracts In U.S.
Very High
Geographic context

Risk heat across Plainfield and the region

Centroid at 40.6136, -74.4262 · click any tract to drill in

Why Plainfield scores 8.2

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
42.5% poverty · this tract
10.0
Supply constraint
$1,449 rent vs county FMR
1.8
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: 8.28.2This tracttract 039301Plainfield: 8.28.2Plainfieldparent cityCounty: 4.74.7Countyavg tract in countyState: 4.34.3Stateavg tract in state
CDC Social Vulnerability Index

SVI percentile: 99

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

Historical context · 1930s redlining

HOLC grade: D: Hazardous (Redlined)

This tract sits within an area graded by the Home Owners' Loan Corporation in the 1930s. Grade D meant Black, immigrant, and poor neighborhoods systematically denied mortgage credit. 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.

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 economic stress at $1/10. That part is specific to this tract, computed from its own rent, income, and poverty figures. 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 well 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.

In CDC survey modeling, about 43.1% of adults here said they could not pay rent or mortgage at some point in the past year, and 26.4% faced a utility shutoff threat, a common early warning before a filing.

The tract is predominantly Hispanic or Latino and ranks around the 99th 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.

For a landlord underwriting a deal here, treat timelines and legal costs as the real risk: Plainfield eviction risk sits in territory where contested cases drag and tenant defenses are well organized, so airtight notices and screening matter more than usual.

Frequently asked

About tract 34039039301

Q1

What is the eviction-risk score for census tract 34039039301?

Census tract 34039039301 in Plainfield scores 8.2/10 (High 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 34039039301?

Median gross rent is $1,449/month (ACS 5-year 2023, table B25064). 50% of renter households are cost-burdened.
Q3

What is the poverty rate in tract 34039039301?

42.5% of residents in tract 34039039301 live below the federal poverty line (ACS B17001, 2023). Population: 3,067.
Q4

How socially vulnerable is tract 34039039301?

CDC Social Vulnerability Index ranks this tract in the 99th percentile nationally. Sub-themes: socioeconomic 100th, household 76th, minority 99th, housing 92th.
Q5

What share of households in tract 34039039301 struggle to pay rent?

About 43.1% 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. 26.4% also reported utility shutoff threats, a frequent precursor to eviction filings.
Q6

How does tract 34039039301 compare to Plainfield overall?

Tract 34039039301 scores 8.2/10, right in line with 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.
Q7

Was tract 34039039301 historically redlined?

Yes. This tract sits inside an area graded by the Home Owners' Loan Corporation in the 1930s, with a dominant grade of D. 62% 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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