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Neighborhood · Ranked #7,836 of 84,120 nationally

Somerville Eviction Risk: High , Philadelphia

Tract 42101027901 · Philadelphia County, PA · pop 3,256 · neighborhood within 0.4 mi

42101027901 is a census tract in the Somerville area of Philadelphia, PA. It scores 8/10 for landlords. Population here is 3,256. Cost burden runs 64% here against 49.1% across Philadelphia County.

Risk score
8
High
Confidence 100% · 1–10 scale
Household mix · 100 hh
Burdened renters 30% Stable renters 16% Owners 54%
Tract context
Occupied units1,485
Renter share46.3%
SVI overall0.75
Poverty rate29.8%
Median income$36,135

Percentile rank

Higher percentile = riskier than more peers.
Within neighborhood
0 th percentile
Rank, 0th percentileLowHigh
#2 of 2 tracts In Somerville
Very Low
Within parent city
96 th percentile
Rank, 96th percentileLowHigh
#17 of 408 tracts In Philadelphia
Very High
Within county
83 th percentile
Rank, 83rd percentileLowHigh
#69 of 408 tracts In Philadelphia County
High
Within state
100 th percentile
Rank, 100th percentileLowHigh
#2 of 3,445 tracts In Pennsylvania
Very High
Geographic context

Risk heat across Philadelphia and the region

Centroid at 40.0459, -75.1544 · click any tract to drill in

Why Somerville scores 8

9 axes · 1 = landlord-friendly
Local political climate
Inherited from Philadelphia
8.0
Regional political climate
2024 county presidential margin
8.2
State political climate
Pennsylvania legislature & governorship
3.4
Economic stress
29.8% poverty · this tract
7.4
Supply constraint
$1,171 rent vs county FMR
1.5
Rent control risk
Inherited from Philadelphia
6.0
Eviction process difficulty
State law sets the calendar
7.5
Tenant organizing strength
Inherited from Philadelphia
7.5
Housing court bias
Inherited from Philadelphia
7.5

How Somerville compares

Risk score vs. parent city, county, state.
Somerville risk score vs. parent city / county / state8.0This tracttract 0279016.6Philadelphiaparent city6.6Countyavg tract in county4.6Stateavg tract in state
CDC Social Vulnerability Index

SVI percentile: 75

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)

  • 376Total filings over 4 yrs
  • 21.50%Avg annual filing rate
  • 29.9%Peak (2012)
  • 84Filings in 2016 (latest validated)
Filings by year 2010 to 2016
Year-by-year eviction filings in tract 42101027901
Filings dropped 18% over the past 4 months.

Pandemic-era tracking (2020–2021)

  • 226Total filings 2020-21
  • 2.9Avg monthly (observed)
  • 6.9Pre-pandemic baseline
  • 0.43×Ratio to baseline
Monthly filings 2020–2021 2020-01-01 to 2026-05-01
Monthly eviction filings vs pre-pandemic baseline

Pandemic filings ran far below baseline (moratorium effect). Eviction Lab tracked Palm Beach as part of its 34-metro Eviction Tracking System.

Comparable tracts

Census tracts with similar eviction risk

Within Somerville. Closest by Eviction Risk Score.

Analysis

What drives eviction risk in Somerville

The severe-burden share is 30%, and it is the single best predictor in this model of a filing that actually reaches judgment. Set annual rent against average income of $36,135 and the ratio lands at 39%, above the conventional 30% ceiling. The main counterweight is supply constraint at 1.5/10.

The poverty rate is 30%. Judgments in high-poverty tracts are collectible far less often than filing counts suggest. Running hot, court filing pressure reads 8.2/10. On the high side, regional political climate reads 8.2/10.

Against the Philadelphia County average of 6.6, this tract reads riskier for landlords by 1.4 points. Average gross rent is $1,171, 16% below the Philadelphia average. The filing record is not thin: 376 evictions over 4 years of observation.

Filings peaked in 2012 at 29.9% of renter households. This ground was mapped C ("Definitely Declining") on the 1930s HOLC security maps for Philadelphia. That grading determined who could get a mortgage, and its imprint on tenure and rent burden is still visible in the ACS data above. In a typical year about 21.5% of renter households face a filing.

These are ACS 5-year estimates; the score moves when the ACS, court-record, or statute inputs behind it move.

Frequently asked

About tract 42101027901

Q1

What is the eviction-risk score for census tract 42101027901?

Census tract 42101027901 in the Somerville neighborhood scores 8/10 (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 42101027901?

Median gross rent is $1,171/month (ACS 5-year 2023, table B25064). 64% of renter households are cost-burdened.
Q3

What is the poverty rate in tract 42101027901?

29.8% of residents in tract 42101027901 live below the federal poverty line (ACS B17001, 2023). Population: 3,256.
Q4

How socially vulnerable is tract 42101027901?

CDC Social Vulnerability Index ranks this tract in the 75th percentile nationally. Sub-themes: socioeconomic 92th, household 51th, minority 99th, housing 29th.
Q5

Is tract 42101027901 considered part of Somerville?

Yes. Per Census Bureau 2020 Block Assignment Files, the plurality of blocks in tract 42101027901 fall within Somerville (neighborhood centroid within 0.4 miles, OSM data).
Q6

How many evictions are filed each year in tract 42101027901?

Princeton Eviction Lab recorded 376 eviction filings across 4 validated years in tract 42101027901 (2000-2018). The average annual filing rate is 21.50% of renter households, peaking at 29.9% in 2012. Source: Eviction Lab tract-validated 2024 release.
Q7

Did eviction filings in tract 42101027901 drop during COVID?

Pandemic-era filings ran 0.43× the pre-COVID monthly baseline. Filings dropped sharply, likely a moratorium effect. Tracked by the Eviction Lab Eviction Tracking System (Palm Beach), 2020-2021.
Q8

How does tract 42101027901 compare to Philadelphia overall?

Tract 42101027901 scores 8/10, higher than the parent city of Philadelphia at 6.6/10. City-scale signals (state law, local rent controls, court bias) are inherited from Philadelphia eviction risk; what makes this tract different are its tract-specific economic stress and supply-constraint sub-scores.
Q9

Was tract 42101027901 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. 29% 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 Philadelphia

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

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