Neighborhood · Ranked #18,163 of 84,120 nationally

Downtown Gary Eviction Risk: Elevated

Tract 18089010205 · Lake County, IN · pop 1,745 · neighborhood within 1.1 mi

Census tract 18089010205 covers part of the Downtown Gary area of Gary, IN, and scores 6/10 on landlord eviction risk. It is home to 1,745 residents. The dominant input is economic stress at 10/10.

Risk score

Elevated

Confidence 85% · 1–10 scale

Household mix · 100 hh

Burdened renters 44% Stable renters 37% Owners 19%

Tract context

Occupied units595

Renter share81.8%

SVI overall0.98

Poverty rate40.0%

Median income$28,356

Percentile rank

Higher percentile = riskier than more peers.

Geographic context

Risk heat across Gary and the region

Centroid at 41.6118, -87.3194 · click any tract to drill in

Why Downtown Gary scores 6

9 axes · 1 = landlord-friendly

Local political climate

Inherited from Gary

6.2

Regional political climate

2024 county presidential margin

5.8

State political climate

Indiana legislature & governorship

2.0

Economic stress

40.0% poverty · this tract

10.0

Supply constraint

$914 rent vs county FMR

2.6

Rent control risk

Inherited from Gary

8.2

Eviction process difficulty

State law sets the calendar

2.3

Tenant organizing strength

Inherited from Gary

9.3

Housing court bias

Inherited from Gary

8.7

How Downtown Gary compares

Risk score vs. parent city, county, state.

CDC Social Vulnerability Index

SVI percentile: 98

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

87%Socioeconomic
99%Household composition
94%Racial/ethnic minority
91%Housing & transportation

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.

1%Grade A
0%Grade B
4%Grade C
1%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

Within Downtown Gary. 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.

27.7%Housing insecurity
25.3%Utility-shutoff threat
41.6%Food insecurity
34.8%SNAP enrollment
19.4%Transit barriers
12.6%No health insurance
19.9%Frequent mental distress
43.2%Any disability

Analysis

What drives eviction risk in Downtown Gary

The poverty rate is 40%, which in this model reads as reduced rent-recovery odds after a judgment. The severe-burden share is 28%, and it is the single best predictor in this model of a filing that actually reaches judgment. On the high side, tenant-organizing strength reads 9.3/10.

SNAP participation runs 34.8% against 15.2% nationally. Set annual rent against average income of $28,356 and the ratio lands at 39%, above the conventional 30% ceiling.

82% of occupied units are rented, so comparables are plentiful and vacancy risk is low, but a mispriced renewal loses the tenant to a building nearby. Cost burden runs 54% here against 43.0% across Lake County. Running hot, housing-court posture reads 8.7/10.

Against the Lake County average of 4.4, this tract reads riskier for landlords by 1.6 points. Housing insecurity runs 27.7% against 14.2% nationally.

Average gross rent is $914, 10% below the Gary average. This ground was mapped C ("Definitely Declining") on the 1930s HOLC security maps for Lake Co. Gary. That grading determined who could get a mortgage, and its imprint on tenure and rent burden is still visible in the ACS data above.

Tract-level figures come from the ACS 5-year release and are rebuilt whenever that, the court-record feed, or the statutory ledger behind the score changes.

Frequently asked

About tract 18089010205

What is the eviction-risk score for census tract 18089010205?

Census tract 18089010205 in the Downtown Gary neighborhood scores 6/10 (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 18089010205?

Median gross rent is $914/month (ACS 5-year 2023, table B25064). 54% of renter households are cost-burdened.

What is the poverty rate in tract 18089010205?

40.0% of residents in tract 18089010205 live below the federal poverty line (ACS B17001, 2023). Population: 1,745.

How socially vulnerable is tract 18089010205?

CDC Social Vulnerability Index ranks this tract in the 98th percentile nationally. Sub-themes: socioeconomic 87th, household 99th, minority 94th, housing 91th.

Is tract 18089010205 considered part of Downtown Gary?

Yes. Per Census Bureau 2020 Block Assignment Files, the plurality of blocks in tract 18089010205 fall within Downtown Gary (neighborhood centroid within 1.1 miles, OSM data).

What share of households in tract 18089010205 struggle to pay rent?

About 27.7% 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. 25.3% also reported utility shutoff threats, a frequent precursor to eviction filings.

How does tract 18089010205 compare to Gary overall?

Tract 18089010205 scores 6/10, higher than the parent city of Gary at 4.6/10. City-scale signals (state law, local rent controls, court bias) are inherited from Gary eviction risk; what makes this tract different are its tract-specific economic stress and supply-constraint sub-scores.

Was tract 18089010205 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. 1% 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 Gary

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