Neighborhood · Ranked #73,892 of 84,120 nationally
Meridian Kessler Eviction Risk: Lower , Indianapolis
Tract 18097321800 ·
Marion County, IN · pop 3,261 · neighborhood within 0.4 mi
With a score of 5.3/10, tract 18097321800 in the Meridian Kessler neighborhood of Indianapolis city (balance) ranks in the Moderate tier for landlord eviction risk. The tract is home to 3,261 residents. It lands near the 50th percentile nationally for landlord eviction risk.
Rent eats 30% or more of income for 47% of renter households, a severe level, and 19% are severely burdened at 50% or more. The typical renter pays about $1,429 a month while the average household earns $139,023 a year, roughly 12% of income at the averages. Renters make up 20% of occupied homes.
Risk score
2
Lower
Confidence 85% · 1–10 scale
Household mix · 100 hh
Burdened renters 9%Stable renters 10%Owners 81%
Tract context
Occupied units1,409
Renter share19.7%
SVI overall0.01
Poverty rate1.5%
Median income$139,023
Percentile rank
Higher percentile = riskier than more peers.
Within neighborhood
0th percentile
#2 of 2 tracts In Meridian Kessler
Very Low
Within parent city
1th percentile
#229 of 231 tracts In Indianapolis
Very Low
Within county
3th percentile
#245 of 253 tracts In Marion County
Very Low
Within state
11th percentile
#1,504 of 1,693 tracts In Indiana
Very Low
Geographic context
Risk heat across Indianapolis and the region
Centroid at 39.8503, -86.1533 · click any tract to drill in
Why Meridian Kessler scores 2
9 axes · 1 = landlord-friendly
Local political climate
Inherited from Indianapolis
6.8
Regional political climate
2024 county presidential margin
6.5
State political climate
Indiana legislature & governorship
2.0
Economic stress
1.5% poverty · this tract
1.0
Supply constraint
$1,429 rent vs county FMR
6.1
Rent control risk
Inherited from Indianapolis
6.6
Eviction process difficulty
State law sets the calendar
2.1
Tenant organizing strength
Inherited from Indianapolis
8.7
Housing court bias
Inherited from Indianapolis
6.8
How Meridian Kessler compares
Risk score vs. parent city, county, state.
CDC Social Vulnerability Index
SVI percentile: 1
CDC/ATSDR 2022. Higher = more vulnerable. National percentile across 84k tracts.
4%Socioeconomic
12%Household composition
11%Racial/ethnic minority
3%Housing & transportation
Historical context · 1930s redlining
HOLC grade: A: Best
This tract sits within an area graded by the Home Owners' Loan Corporation in the 1930s. Grade A meant wealthy, predominantly white neighborhoods favored for lending. These designations suppressed minority homeownership for generations and remain a documented predictor of present-day eviction filings and rent burden.
93%Grade A
5%Grade B
1%Grade C
0%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.
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
Pandemic-era tracking (2020–2021)
23Total filings 2020-21
0.3Avg monthly (observed)
0.6Pre-pandemic baseline
0.55×Ratio to baseline
Monthly filings 2020–20212020-01-01 to 2026-05-01
Pandemic filings ran far below baseline (moratorium effect). Eviction Lab tracked Indianapolis, IN as part of its 34-metro Eviction Tracking System.
Comparable tracts
Census tracts with similar eviction risk
Within Meridian Kessler. Closest by Eviction Risk Score.
Crude prevalence of conditions linked to housing loss. Source: CDC PLACES (cwsq-ngmh), 2023 model-based small-area estimates.
4.5%Housing insecurity
3.7%Utility-shutoff threat
4.4%Food insecurity
2.0%SNAP enrollment
3.3%Transit barriers
3.7%No health insurance
12.7%Frequent mental distress
17.4%Any disability
Analysis
What drives eviction risk in Meridian Kessler
The heaviest input here is tenant organizing strength at 8.7/10. 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 Indianapolis eviction risk city (balance), while the economic and supply signals are measured at the tract level.
Set against its neighbors, this tract scores about the same as the Marion County average of 5.4 and above the Indiana statewide average of 4.7. Within its own county it reads on the safer side for landlords.
HOLC surveyors mapped this tract in the 1930s with a dominant grade of A ("Best"), above the redlined D tier. The grading still shaped decades of lending and development in the surrounding area.
In CDC survey modeling, about 4.5% of adults here said they could not pay rent or mortgage at some point in the past year, and 3.7% faced a utility shutoff threat, a common early warning before a filing.
For a landlord, conditions here are middle-of-the-road. Standard screening and prompt, documented notices usually keep cases short.
Frequently asked
About tract 18097321800
Q1
What is the eviction-risk score for census tract 18097321800?
Census tract 18097321800 in the Meridian Kessler neighborhood scores 2/10 (Lower 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 18097321800?
Median gross rent is $1,429/month (ACS 5-year 2023, table B25064). 47% of renter households are cost-burdened.
Q3
What is the poverty rate in tract 18097321800?
1.5% of residents in tract 18097321800 live below the federal poverty line (ACS B17001, 2023). Population: 3,261.
Q4
How socially vulnerable is tract 18097321800?
CDC Social Vulnerability Index ranks this tract in the 1th percentile nationally. Sub-themes: socioeconomic 4th, household 12th, minority 11th, housing 3th.
Q5
Is tract 18097321800 considered part of Meridian Kessler?
Yes. Per Census Bureau 2020 Block Assignment Files, the plurality of blocks in tract 18097321800 fall within Meridian Kessler (neighborhood centroid within 0.4 miles, OSM data).
Q6
Did eviction filings in tract 18097321800 drop during COVID?
Pandemic-era filings ran 0.55× the pre-COVID monthly baseline. Filings dropped sharply, likely a moratorium effect. Tracked by the Eviction Lab Eviction Tracking System (Indianapolis eviction risk, IN), 2020-2021.
Q7
What share of households in tract 18097321800 struggle to pay rent?
About 4.5% 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. 3.7% also reported utility shutoff threats, a frequent precursor to eviction filings.
Q8
How does tract 18097321800 compare to Indianapolis overall?
Tract 18097321800 scores 2/10, lower than the parent city of Indianapolis at 2.7/10. City-scale signals (state law, local rent controls, court bias) are inherited from Indianapolis eviction risk; what makes this tract different are its tract-specific economic stress and supply-constraint sub-scores.
Q9
Was tract 18097321800 historically redlined?
Yes. This tract sits inside an area graded by the Home Owners' Loan Corporation in the 1930s, with a dominant grade of A. 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 Indianapolis
Top eight tracts in Indianapolis ranked by composite eviction-risk score.