Census Tract · Ranked #5,198 of 84,120 nationally

Plainfield Eviction Risk: Elevated

Tract 34039039502 · Union County, NJ · pop 3,741

Census tract 34039039502 belongs to Plainfield, New Jersey. It is home to 3,741 residents and scores 7.5/10, an elevated reading for landlords. That is riskier than roughly 98% of the 84,120 US census tracts we score.

59% of renter households here spend at least 30% of income on rent, a severe level, and 28% are severely burdened at 50% or more. The typical renter pays about $1,858 a month while the average household earns $72,554 a year, roughly 31% of income at the averages. Renters make up 50% of occupied homes, a renter-majority tract.

Risk score

6.9

Elevated

Confidence 100% · 1–10 scale

Household mix · 100 hh

Burdened renters 30% Stable renters 21% Owners 49%

Tract context

Occupied units901

Renter share50.3%

SVI overall0.84

Poverty rate16.6%

Median income$72,554

Percentile rank

Higher percentile = riskier than more peers.

Geographic context

Risk heat across Plainfield and the region

Centroid at 40.6012, -74.4442 · click any tract to drill in

Why Plainfield scores 6.9

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

16.6% poverty · this tract

4.2

Supply constraint

$1,858 rent vs county FMR

3.7

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.

CDC Social Vulnerability Index

SVI percentile: 84

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

99%Socioeconomic
65%Household composition
97%Racial/ethnic minority
30%Housing & transportation

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.

0%Grade A
0%Grade B
13%Grade C
45%Grade D · redlined

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.

30.9%Housing insecurity
17.0%Utility-shutoff threat
36.6%Food insecurity
24.1%SNAP enrollment
17.1%Transit barriers
30.8%No health insurance
19.0%Frequent mental distress
32.9%Any disability

Analysis

What drives eviction risk in Plainfield

The heaviest input here 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 predominantly Hispanic or Latino and ranks around the 84th 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.

This tract overlaps land the federal Home Owners' Loan Corporation redlined in the 1930s, a dominant grade of D ("Hazardous") across 45% of the tract. Redlining cut off mortgage credit to Black, immigrant, and working-class blocks, and those areas still tend to carry higher rent burden and eviction filings today.

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 34039039502

What is the eviction-risk score for census tract 34039039502?

Census tract 34039039502 in Plainfield scores 6.9/10 (Elevated tier). The Eviction Risk Score blends state law, county filing rates, parent-city politics, and tract-specific rent-to-income ratios + poverty signals.

What is the average rent in tract 34039039502?

Median gross rent is $1,858/month (ACS 5-year 2023, table B25064). 59% of renter households are cost-burdened.

What is the poverty rate in tract 34039039502?

16.6% of residents in tract 34039039502 live below the federal poverty line (ACS B17001, 2023). Population: 3,741.

How socially vulnerable is tract 34039039502?

CDC Social Vulnerability Index ranks this tract in the 84th percentile nationally. Sub-themes: socioeconomic 99th, household 65th, minority 97th, housing 30th.

What share of households in tract 34039039502 struggle to pay rent?

About 30.9% 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. 17.0% also reported utility shutoff threats, a frequent precursor to eviction filings.

How does tract 34039039502 compare to Plainfield overall?

Tract 34039039502 scores 6.9/10, 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.

Was tract 34039039502 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. 45% 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.