4 census tracts · pop 16,073 · pop-weighted Eviction Risk Score 3.6/10
· range 3–4.4
Sunset Hills spans 4 census tracts of Castle Shannon, PA and houses 16,073 people. That produces an Eviction Risk Score of 3.6/10, Lower tier. around a third of renters here are cost-burdened at the 30% threshold, clearly above the Castle Shannon rate of 24.6%.
At $1,502 a month, rents sit 33% over what the rest of Castle Shannon commands. The severe-burden share is 24%. Those renters are past the 50% mark, and they miss rent for reasons that have nothing to do with willingness to pay.
Pulling the other way is economic stress, at 1.6/10. The 4 tracts inside this boundary do not behave alike. Individual scores run 3 to 4.4, a 1.4-point gap wide enough that the area average misleads on any specific address. The voucher gap is 17.3%: households holding assistance that local rents will not absorb, which shows up as churn rather than arrears.
Filings are well documented here: 557 across 4 observed tracts. Filing activity peaked in 2005 at 9.1% of renter households. The most recent observed rate, 3.1% in 2006, is well off that peak.
Rent takes 19% of average household income, comfortably inside the 30% line and unusually low for a rental sub-market. Poverty sits at 6%, low enough that arrears here usually reflect a specific shock rather than a structural income gap.
29% of occupied units are renter-occupied.
Underwrite the address, not the area: with 1.4 points between its best and worst tract, the per-tract table below is the operative number. Scores move when the ACS release, the court-record feed, or the statute ledger behind them moves.
Risk score
3.6
Lower
4 tracts · population-weighted
Sunset Hills vs Castle ShannonHow this neighborhood stacks against the citywide average
Single-parent HH, disability, language barriers, age 17- / 65+
Racial/ethnic minority20%ile
Hispanic + non-white share of population
Housing & transport48%ile
Multi-unit structures, mobile homes, crowding, no vehicle
Eviction filings · Princeton Eviction Lab
Court-record eviction history in Sunset Hills
Aggregated across 4 validated constituent tracts. Filing rate is filings per 100 renter households, pop-weighted.
Historic baseline (2000–2018)
557Total filings (sum)
3.73%Avg annual filing rate
9.1%Peak year (2005)
3.07%Latest filed (2006)
Frequently asked
About Sunset Hills
Q1
What is the eviction-risk score for Sunset Hills?
Sunset Hills scores 3.6/10 (Lower tier) across 4 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 Sunset Hills compare to Castle Shannon overall?
Sunset Hills scores 0.4 points lower than Castle Shannon overall (4/10). Renters spend 36% of income on rent vs 25% citywide. Average rent: $1,502 vs $1,126.
Q3
What is the average rent in Sunset Hills?
Average gross rent in Sunset Hills is $1,502/month (pop-weighted across 4 census tracts, ACS 5-year 2023). 36% of renter households are cost-burdened.
Q4
What percentage of Sunset Hills residents are renters?
29% of Sunset Hills households are renter-occupied (vs 41% in Castle Shannon). The neighborhood has 16,073 residents.
Q5
Is Sunset Hills a high social-vulnerability area?
Sunset Hills sits in the 22nd percentile nationally on the CDC Social Vulnerability Index (low vulnerability). The index combines poverty, unemployment, household composition, racial/ethnic minority share, and housing/transportation factors across all US census tracts.
Q6
Which tracts in Sunset Hills have the highest eviction risk?
The highest-risk constituent tract in Sunset Hills is census tract 42003476100 (score 4.4/10). Across the 4 tracts in this neighborhood the score ranges from 3 to 4.4, a spread of 1.4 points.
Q7
How safe is Sunset Hills for landlords?
Sunset Hills carries a lower-tier eviction-risk profile for landlords (3.6/10). Pop-weighted across 4 constituent tracts, the score blends parent-city rent-control posture, county eviction-process timelines, and tract-specific rent-to-income / poverty signals. Compared to Castle Shannon as a whole (4/10), this neighborhood is lower-risk.
Q8
What is the demographic breakdown of Sunset Hills?
Sunset Hills has 15,868 residents. Top groups: White (non-Hispanic) (89.2%), Black (non-Hispanic) (3%), Hispanic / Latino (2.9%). Source: ACS 5-year 2023, table B03002.
