Skip to content
Census Tract · Ranked #8,653 of 84,120 nationally

Plainfield Eviction Risk: Elevated

Tract 34039039501 · Union County, NJ · pop 3,296

Census tract 34039039501 covers part of Plainfield, NJ, and scores 7.9/10 on landlord eviction risk. It is home to 3,296 residents. What pushes it up most is tenant-organizing strength at 9.5/10.

Risk score
7.9
Elevated
Confidence 100% · 1–10 scale
Household mix · 100 hh
Burdened renters 24% Stable renters 26% Owners 50%
Tract context
Occupied units874
Renter share49.4%
SVI overall0.95
Poverty rate13.1%
Median income$88,224

Percentile rank

Higher percentile = riskier than more peers.
Within parent city
18 th percentile
Rank, 18th percentileLowHigh
#10 of 12 tracts In Plainfield
Very Low
Within county
69 th percentile
Rank, 69th percentileLowHigh
#38 of 120 tracts In Union County
Elevated
Within state
81 th percentile
Rank, 81st percentileLowHigh
#421 of 2,175 tracts In New Jersey
High
National
90 th percentile
Rank, 90th percentileLowHigh
#8,653 of 84,120 tracts In U.S.
High
Geographic context

Risk heat across Plainfield and the region

Centroid at 40.6021, -74.4364 · click any tract to drill in

Why Plainfield scores 7.9

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
13.1% poverty · this tract
3.3
Supply constraint
$1,712 rent vs county FMR
3.0
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 / state7.9This tracttract 0395017.2Plainfieldparent city6.6Countyavg tract in county6.0Stateavg tract in state
CDC Social Vulnerability Index

SVI percentile: 95

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.

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

Sitting well above the midpoint, court filing pressure reads 8.9/10. 23% are severely burdened past the 50% mark. That cohort absorbs no shock: one repair bill or one cut shift converts straight into arrears.

Adults with no health insurance runs 28.1% against 11.3% nationally. Food insecurity runs 31.3% against 17.8% nationally.

Against the Union County average of 6.6, this tract reads riskier for landlords by 1.3 points. Running hot, rent-regulation exposure reads 7.8/10. This ground was mapped C ("Definitely Declining") on the 1930s HOLC security maps for Union Co. That grading determined who could get a mortgage, and its imprint on tenure and rent burden is still visible in the ACS data above.

Nationally it ranks #8,653 of 84,120 for landlord eviction difficulty. On the CDC Social Vulnerability Index the tract reads 9.5/10, which tracks how hard a shock lands on the households already here. Statewide the NJ average is 6.0, so this tract runs 1.9 points hotter.

Of its three components the socioeconomic standing measure is the most pressured. 48% of renter households spend at least 30% of income on rent.

All figures here are ACS 5-year estimates for this tract, refreshed as the underlying releases land.

Frequently asked

About tract 34039039501

Q1

What is the eviction-risk score for census tract 34039039501?

Census tract 34039039501 in Plainfield scores 7.9/10 (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 34039039501?

Median gross rent is $1,712/month (ACS 5-year 2023, table B25064). 48% of renter households are cost-burdened.
Q3

What is the poverty rate in tract 34039039501?

13.1% of residents in tract 34039039501 live below the federal poverty line (ACS B17001, 2023). Population: 3,296.
Q4

How socially vulnerable is tract 34039039501?

CDC Social Vulnerability Index ranks this tract in the 95th percentile nationally. Sub-themes: socioeconomic 99th, household 66th, minority 99th, housing 79th.
Q5

What share of households in tract 34039039501 struggle to pay rent?

About 27.3% 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. 13.9% also reported utility shutoff threats, a frequent precursor to eviction filings.
Q6

How does tract 34039039501 compare to Plainfield overall?

Tract 34039039501 scores 7.9/10, higher than the parent city of Plainfield at 7.2/10. 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 34039039501 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. 41% 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.

Related