Within neighborhood
33
th percentile
Low
Neighborhood · Ranked #29,578 of 84,120 nationally
Watson Park Eviction Risk: Moderate , Indianapolis
Tract 18097350400 · Marion County, IN · pop 2,486 · neighborhood within 0.1 mi
Tract 18097350400 covers the Watson Park area of Indianapolis city (balance) in Indiana. Home to 2,486 residents, it scores 5.6/10 on landlord eviction risk. That is riskier than roughly 61% of the 84,120 US census tracts we score.
Rent eats 30% or more of income for 43% of renter households, a severe level, and 16% are severely burdened at 50% or more. Average gross rent is $1,080 monthly, set against $56,184 in average yearly household income, roughly 23% of income at the averages. About 53% of occupied units are renter-occupied, a renter-majority tract.
Risk score
4.7
Moderate
Confidence 85% · 1–10 scale
Household mix · 100 hh
Burdened renters 22%
Stable renters 30%
Owners 48%
Tract context
Occupied units1,068
Renter share52.6%
SVI overall0.46
Poverty rate21.4%
Median income$56,184
Percentile rank
Higher percentile = riskier than more peers.Within parent city
67
th percentile
Elevated
Within county
69
th percentile
Elevated
Within state
80
th percentile
High
Geographic context
Risk heat across Indianapolis and the region
Centroid at 39.8218, -86.1443 · click any tract to drill in
Why Watson Park scores 4.7
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
21.4% poverty · this tract
5.4
Supply constraint
$1,080 rent vs county FMR
3.4
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: 46
CDC/ATSDR 2022. Higher = more vulnerable. National percentile across 84k tracts.
- 61%Socioeconomic
- 5%Household composition
- 71%Racial/ethnic minority
- 56%Housing & transportation
Historical context · 1930s redlining
HOLC grade: B: Still Desirable
This tract sits within an area graded by the Home Owners' Loan Corporation in the 1930s. Grade B meant middle-class areas with mortgage access. These designations suppressed minority homeownership for generations and remain a documented predictor of present-day eviction filings and rent burden.
- 0%Grade A
- 81%Grade B
- 19%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)
- 428Total filings 2020-21
- 5.6Avg monthly (observed)
- 9.1Pre-pandemic baseline
- 0.61×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.
- 16.5%Housing insecurity
- 13.5%Utility-shutoff threat
- 21.6%Food insecurity
- 14.7%SNAP enrollment
- 10.9%Transit barriers
- 9.8%No health insurance
- 17.5%Frequent mental distress
- 32.5%Any disability
Analysis
What drives eviction risk in Watson Park
The score leans hardest on 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 riskier side for landlords.
During 2020 and 2021, eviction filings here ran at about 0.61x the pre-COVID monthly baseline, well below the pre-pandemic norm, the signature of an eviction moratorium at work.
The tract is White and Black and ranks around the 46th 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, conditions here are middle-of-the-road. Standard screening and prompt, documented notices usually keep cases short.
Frequently asked
About tract 18097350400
Q1
What is the eviction-risk score for census tract 18097350400?
Census tract 18097350400 in the Watson Park neighborhood scores 4.7/10 (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 18097350400?
Median gross rent is $1,080/month (ACS 5-year 2023, table B25064). 43% of renter households are cost-burdened.
Q3
What is the poverty rate in tract 18097350400?
21.4% of residents in tract 18097350400 live below the federal poverty line (ACS B17001, 2023). Population: 2,486.
Q4
How socially vulnerable is tract 18097350400?
CDC Social Vulnerability Index ranks this tract in the 46th percentile nationally. Sub-themes: socioeconomic 61th, household 5th, minority 71th, housing 56th.
Q5
Is tract 18097350400 considered part of Watson Park?
Yes. Per Census Bureau 2020 Block Assignment Files, the plurality of blocks in tract 18097350400 fall within Watson Park (neighborhood centroid within 0.1 miles, OSM data).
Q6
Did eviction filings in tract 18097350400 drop during COVID?
Pandemic-era filings ran 0.61× 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 18097350400 struggle to pay rent?
About 16.5% 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. 13.5% also reported utility shutoff threats, a frequent precursor to eviction filings.
Q8
How does tract 18097350400 compare to Indianapolis overall?
Tract 18097350400 scores 4.7/10, higher 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 18097350400 historically redlined?
Yes. This tract sits inside an area graded by the Home Owners' Loan Corporation in the 1930s, with a dominant grade of B. 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
18097350600
6
/ 10 · Elevated
Tract · IN
Far Eastside
5.9
/ 10 · Elevated
Tract · IN
Christian Park
5.9
/ 10 · Elevated
Tract · IN
Friends and Neighbors
5.8
/ 10 · Elevated
Tract · IN
Meridian Park
5.8
/ 10 · Elevated
Tract · IN
18097360302
5.8
/ 10 · Elevated
Tract · IN
18097370203
5.8
/ 10 · Elevated
Tract · IN
Robson-Voorhees
5.8
/ 10 · Elevated
Related