Within neighborhood
67
th percentile
Elevated
Neighborhood · Ranked #29,336 of 84,120 nationally
Watson Park Eviction Risk: Moderate , Indianapolis
Tract 18097322500 · Marion County, IN · pop 1,626 · neighborhood within 1.0 mi
Census tract 18097322500 covers part of the Watson Park area of Indianapolis, IN, and scores 5.2/10 on landlord eviction risk. Population here is 1,626. The severe-burden share is 36%, and it is the single best predictor in this model of a filing that actually reaches judgment.
Risk score
5.2
Moderate
Confidence 85% · 1–10 scale
Household mix · 100 hh
Burdened renters 41%
Stable renters 36%
Owners 23%
Tract context
Occupied units770
Renter share76.5%
SVI overall0.80
Poverty rate20.5%
Median income$40,000
Percentile rank
Higher percentile = riskier than more peers.Within parent city
70
th percentile
Elevated
Within county
72
th percentile
Elevated
Within state
87
th percentile
High
Geographic context
Risk heat across Indianapolis and the region
Centroid at 39.8337, -86.1323 · click any tract to drill in
Why Watson Park scores 5.2
9 axes · 1 = landlord-friendlyLocal 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
20.5% poverty · this tract
5.1
Supply constraint
$1,019 rent vs county FMR
2.9
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 Watson Park compares
Risk score vs. parent city, county, state.CDC Social Vulnerability Index
SVI percentile: 80
CDC/ATSDR 2022. Higher = more vulnerable. National percentile across 84k tracts.
- 81%Socioeconomic
- 77%Household composition
- 82%Racial/ethnic minority
- 55%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.
- 0%Grade A
- 0%Grade B
- 100%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)
- 325Total filings 2020-21
- 4.2Avg monthly (observed)
- 15.4Pre-pandemic baseline
- 0.27×Ratio to baseline
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 Watson Park. 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.
- 19.1%Housing insecurity
- 15.5%Utility-shutoff threat
- 24.8%Food insecurity
- 17.3%SNAP enrollment
- 12.4%Transit barriers
- 11.7%No health insurance
- 20.0%Frequent mental distress
- 32.2%Any disability
Analysis
What drives eviction risk in Watson Park
The score leans hardest on tenant-organizing strength at 8.7/10. 76% 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. Running cool, state political climate reads 2/10.
Well under the midpoint, eviction-process difficulty reads 2.1/10. Against Marion County at 46.3%, 53% of renters here are cost-burdened.
The poverty rate is 20%. Judgments in high-poverty tracts are collectible far less often than filing counts suggest. It sits 1.0 points above the Marion County average of 4.2.
Food insecurity runs 24.8% against 17.8% nationally. Average gross rent is $1,019, 12% below the Indianapolis average.
Inability to pay a utility bill runs 15.5% against 9.2% nationally. Utility arrears usually lead rent arrears by a month or two. In the 1930s the federal Home Owners' Loan Corporation graded this ground C ("Definitely Declining"). Redlining cut off mortgage credit to whole blocks for decades, and the areas graded D still carry measurably lower ownership and higher rent burden today.
On the national scale it lands near the 65th percentile of the 84,120 tracts scored. Social vulnerability reads 8.2/10 on the CDC index, a measure of exposure to housing and economic shocks.
These are ACS 5-year estimates; the score moves when the ACS, court-record, or statute inputs behind it move.
Frequently asked
About tract 18097322500
Q1
What is the eviction-risk score for census tract 18097322500?
Census tract 18097322500 in the Watson Park neighborhood scores 5.2/10 (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 18097322500?
Median gross rent is $1,019/month (ACS 5-year 2023, table B25064). 53% of renter households are cost-burdened.
Q3
What is the poverty rate in tract 18097322500?
20.5% of residents in tract 18097322500 live below the federal poverty line (ACS B17001, 2023). Population: 1,626.
Q4
How socially vulnerable is tract 18097322500?
CDC Social Vulnerability Index ranks this tract in the 80th percentile nationally. Sub-themes: socioeconomic 81th, household 77th, minority 82th, housing 55th.
Q5
Is tract 18097322500 considered part of Watson Park?
Yes. Per Census Bureau 2020 Block Assignment Files, the plurality of blocks in tract 18097322500 fall within Watson Park (neighborhood centroid within 1.0 miles, OSM data).
Q6
Did eviction filings in tract 18097322500 drop during COVID?
Pandemic-era filings ran 0.27× 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 18097322500 struggle to pay rent?
About 19.1% 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. 15.5% also reported utility shutoff threats, a frequent precursor to eviction filings.
Q8
How does tract 18097322500 compare to Indianapolis overall?
Tract 18097322500 scores 5.2/10, higher than the parent city of Indianapolis at 4/10. 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 18097322500 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 Indianapolis
Top eight tracts in Indianapolis ranked by composite eviction-risk score.
Tract · IN
Little Flower
5.4
/ 10 · Moderate
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Emerson Heights
5.4
/ 10 · Moderate
Tract · IN
Old Speedway
5.4
/ 10 · Moderate
Tract · IN
Fountain Square
5.4
/ 10 · Moderate
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North Meridian Street Historic District
5.4
/ 10 · Moderate
Tract · IN
North Brookside
5.4
/ 10 · Moderate
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18097340108
5.4
/ 10 · Moderate
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Riverside
5.4
/ 10 · Moderate
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