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

Midtown Eviction Risk: Moderate , Gary

Tract 18089011900 · Lake County, IN · pop 1,192 · neighborhood within 0.4 mi

For landlords sizing up the Midtown neighborhood of Gary, census tract 18089011900 carries an elevated eviction-risk score of 6.2/10. It lands near the 81st percentile nationally for landlord eviction risk.

Rent eats 30% or more of income for 38% of renter households, a high level, and 11% are severely burdened at 50% or more. Average household income is about $15,871 a year. About 52% of occupied units are renter-occupied, a renter-majority tract.

Risk score

5.7

Moderate

Confidence 70% · 1–10 scale

Household mix · 100 hh

Burdened renters 19% Stable renters 32% Owners 49%

Tract context

Occupied units528

Renter share51.5%

SVI overall0.86

Poverty rate62.0%

Median income$15,871

Percentile rank

Higher percentile = riskier than more peers.

Geographic context

Risk heat across Gary and the region

Centroid at 41.5769, -87.3465 · click any tract to drill in

Why Midtown scores 5.7

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

62.0% poverty · this tract

10.0

Supply constraint

tract rent vs county FMR

5.0

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 Midtown compares

Risk score vs. parent city, county, state.

CDC Social Vulnerability Index

SVI percentile: 86

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

96%Socioeconomic
92%Household composition
96%Racial/ethnic minority
27%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
0%Grade C
79%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.

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.

40.2%Housing insecurity
40.1%Utility-shutoff threat
61.2%Food insecurity
60.7%SNAP enrollment
30.7%Transit barriers
18.0%No health insurance
24.0%Frequent mental distress
53.1%Any disability

Analysis

What drives eviction risk in Midtown

What moves this score most is economic stress at $1/10. That part is specific to this tract, computed from its own rent, income, and poverty figures. Statewide and court-level factors such as eviction-process speed and rent-control exposure are inherited from Gary eviction risk, while the economic and supply signals are measured at the tract level.

Set against its neighbors, this tract scores above the Lake County average of 5.2 and above the Indiana statewide average of 4.7. Within its own county it reads on the riskier side for landlords.

In CDC survey modeling, about 40.2% of adults here said they could not pay rent or mortgage at some point in the past year, and 40.1% faced a utility shutoff threat, a common early warning before a filing.

This tract overlaps land the federal Home Owners' Loan Corporation redlined in the 1930s, a dominant grade of D ("Hazardous") across 79% 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 18089011900

What is the eviction-risk score for census tract 18089011900?

Census tract 18089011900 in the Midtown 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.

What is the poverty rate in tract 18089011900?

62.0% of residents in tract 18089011900 live below the federal poverty line (ACS B17001, 2023). Population: 1,192.

How socially vulnerable is tract 18089011900?

CDC Social Vulnerability Index ranks this tract in the 86th percentile nationally. Sub-themes: socioeconomic 96th, household 92th, minority 96th, housing 27th.

Is tract 18089011900 considered part of Midtown?

Yes. Per Census Bureau 2020 Block Assignment Files, the plurality of blocks in tract 18089011900 fall within Midtown (neighborhood centroid within 0.4 miles, OSM data).

What share of households in tract 18089011900 struggle to pay rent?

About 40.2% 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. 40.1% also reported utility shutoff threats, a frequent precursor to eviction filings.

How does tract 18089011900 compare to Gary overall?

Tract 18089011900 scores 5.7/10, higher than the parent city of Gary at 3.1/10. 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 18089011900 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. 79% 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.