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Neighborhood · Ranked #15,522 of 84,120 nationally

"Cheese Box" Eviction Risk: Moderate , Muncie

Tract 18035002800 · Delaware County, IN · pop 1,901 · neighborhood within 1.5 mi

Tract 18035002800 covers the "Cheese Box" neighborhood of Muncie in Indiana. Home to 1,901 residents, it scores $1/10 on landlord eviction risk. It lands near the 75th percentile nationally for landlord eviction risk.

53% of renter households here spend at least 30% of income on rent, a severe level, and 30% are severely burdened at 50% or more. Average gross rent is $802 monthly, set against $38,203 in average yearly household income, roughly 25% of income at the averages. Renters make up 55% of occupied homes, a renter-majority tract.

Risk score
5.7
Moderate
Confidence 85% · 1–10 scale
Household mix · 100 hh
Burdened renters 29% Stable renters 26% Owners 45%
Tract context
Occupied units1,052
Renter share55.1%
SVI overall0.66
Poverty rate33.2%
Median income$38,203

Percentile rank

Higher percentile = riskier than more peers.
Within neighborhood
50 th percentile
Rank, 50th percentileLowHigh
#3 of 5 tracts In "Cheese Box"
Moderate
Within parent city
68 th percentile
Rank, 68th percentileLowHigh
#8 of 23 tracts In Muncie
Elevated
Within county
79 th percentile
Rank, 79th percentileLowHigh
#8 of 34 tracts In Delaware County
High
Within state
96 th percentile
Rank, 96th percentileLowHigh
#62 of 1,693 tracts In Indiana
Very High
Geographic context

Risk heat across Muncie and the region

Centroid at 40.1962, -85.3811 · click any tract to drill in

Why "Cheese Box" scores 5.7

9 axes · 1 = landlord-friendly
Local political climate
Inherited from Muncie
4.9
Regional political climate
2024 county presidential margin
4.3
State political climate
Indiana legislature & governorship
2.0
Economic stress
33.2% poverty · this tract
8.3
Supply constraint
$802 rent vs county FMR
3.2
Rent control risk
Inherited from Muncie
7.4
Eviction process difficulty
State law sets the calendar
1.5
Tenant organizing strength
Inherited from Muncie
9.0
Housing court bias
Inherited from Muncie
8.3

How "Cheese Box" compares

Risk score vs. parent city, county, state.
"Cheese Box" risk score vs. parent city / county / stateThis tract: 5.75.7This tracttract 002800Muncie: 2.82.8Muncieparent cityCounty: 4.54.5Countyavg tract in countyState: 3.63.6Stateavg tract in state
CDC Social Vulnerability Index

SVI percentile: 66

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

Within "Cheese Box". 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 "Cheese Box"

The score leans hardest on tenant organizing strength at $1/10. 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 Muncie eviction risk, while the economic and supply signals are measured at the tract level.

Set against its neighbors, this tract scores above the Delaware County average of 5.1 and above the Indiana statewide average of 4.7. Within its own county it reads on the riskier side for landlords.

HOLC surveyors mapped this tract in the 1930s with a dominant grade of C ("Declining"), above the redlined D tier. The grading still shaped decades of lending and development in the surrounding area.

The tract is predominantly White and ranks around the 66th percentile nationally on the CDC Social Vulnerability Index, a measure of how exposed residents are to housing and economic shocks. That is a middle-of-the-pack reading for social vulnerability.

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 18035002800

Q1

What is the eviction-risk score for census tract 18035002800?

Census tract 18035002800 in the "Cheese Box" neighborhood scores 5.7/10 (Moderate 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 18035002800?

Median gross rent is $802/month (ACS 5-year 2023, table B25064). 53% of renter households are cost-burdened.
Q3

What is the poverty rate in tract 18035002800?

33.2% of residents in tract 18035002800 live below the federal poverty line (ACS B17001, 2023). Population: 1,901.
Q4

How socially vulnerable is tract 18035002800?

CDC Social Vulnerability Index ranks this tract in the 66th percentile nationally. Sub-themes: socioeconomic 72th, household 12th, minority 31th, housing 91th.
Q5

Is tract 18035002800 considered part of "Cheese Box"?

Yes. Per Census Bureau 2020 Block Assignment Files, the plurality of blocks in tract 18035002800 fall within "Cheese Box" (neighborhood centroid within 1.5 miles, OSM data).
Q6

What share of households in tract 18035002800 struggle to pay rent?

About 20.8% 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. 17.3% also reported utility shutoff threats, a frequent precursor to eviction filings.
Q7

How does tract 18035002800 compare to Muncie overall?

Tract 18035002800 scores 5.7/10, higher than the parent city of Muncie at 2.8/10. City-scale signals (state law, local rent controls, court bias) are inherited from Muncie eviction risk; what makes this tract different are its tract-specific economic stress and supply-constraint sub-scores.
Q8

Was tract 18035002800 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. 0% 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 Muncie

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

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