Skip to content
Neighborhood · Ranked #32,735 of 84,120 nationally

Highland Park Eviction Risk: Moderate , Des Moines

Tract 19153000400 · Polk County, IA · pop 4,763 · neighborhood within 0.3 mi

Census tract 19153000400 covers the Highland Park area of Des Moines, home to 4,763 residents. For landlords it grades 4.6/10, a moderate reading. It lands near the 26th percentile nationally for landlord eviction risk.

Rent eats 30% or more of income for 29% of renter households, a moderate level, and 24% are severely burdened at 50% or more. The typical renter pays about $939 a month while the average household earns $58,152 a year, roughly 19% of income at the averages. Renters make up 26% of occupied homes.

Risk score
4.5
Moderate
Confidence 100% · 1–10 scale
Household mix · 100 hh
Burdened renters 7% Stable renters 18% Owners 75%
Tract context
Occupied units1,862
Renter share25.5%
SVI overall0.84
Poverty rate16.9%
Median income$58,152

Percentile rank

Higher percentile = riskier than more peers.
Within neighborhood
100 th percentile
Rank, 100th percentileLowHigh
#1 of 2 tracts In Highland Park
Very High
Within parent city
73 th percentile
Rank, 73rd percentileLowHigh
#17 of 60 tracts In Des Moines
Elevated
Within county
86 th percentile
Rank, 86th percentileLowHigh
#17 of 112 tracts In Polk County
High
Within state
86 th percentile
Rank, 86th percentileLowHigh
#129 of 896 tracts In Iowa
High
Geographic context

Risk heat across Des Moines and the region

Centroid at 41.6322, -93.6127 · click any tract to drill in

Why Highland Park scores 4.5

9 axes · 1 = landlord-friendly
Local political climate
Inherited from Des Moines
4.5
Regional political climate
2024 county presidential margin
5.8
State political climate
Iowa legislature & governorship
2.3
Economic stress
16.9% poverty · this tract
4.2
Supply constraint
$939 rent vs county FMR
2.7
Rent control risk
Inherited from Des Moines
1.0
Eviction process difficulty
State law sets the calendar
2.5
Tenant organizing strength
Inherited from Des Moines
3.0
Housing court bias
Inherited from Des Moines
2.5

How Highland Park compares

Risk score vs. parent city, county, state.
Highland Park risk score vs. parent city / county / stateThis tract: 4.54.5This tracttract 000400Des Moines: 2.62.6Des Moinesparent cityCounty: 3.23.2Countyavg tract in countyState: 3.33.3Stateavg tract in state
CDC Social Vulnerability Index

SVI percentile: 84

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

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.

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

Historic baseline (2000–2018)

  • 578Total filings over 10 yrs
  • 11.10%Avg annual filing rate
  • 16.2%Peak (2008)
  • 45Filings in 2015 (latest validated)
Filings by year 2006 to 2015
Year-by-year eviction filings in tract 191530004002006: 49 filings (10.32/100 renter HHs)2007: 59 filings (12.42/100 renter HHs)2008: 77 filings (16.21/100 renter HHs)2009: 64 filings (13.47/100 renter HHs)2010: 65 filings (12.31/100 renter HHs)2011: 28 filings (4.91/100 renter HHs)2012: 61 filings (10.70/100 renter HHs)2013: 68 filings (11.93/100 renter HHs)2014: 62 filings (10.88/100 renter HHs)2015: 45 filings (7.89/100 renter HHs)
Filings stayed roughly flat over the past 10 months.
Comparable tracts

Census tracts with similar eviction risk

Within Highland 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.

Analysis

What drives eviction risk in Highland Park

The score leans hardest on economic stress at 4.2/10. 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 Des Moines eviction risk, while the economic and supply signals are measured at the tract level.

Set against its neighbors, this tract scores below the Polk County average of 5.0 and in line with the Iowa statewide average of 4.3. 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 B ("Still Desirable"), above the redlined D tier. The grading still shaped decades of lending and development in the surrounding area.

In CDC survey modeling, about 18.7% of adults here said they could not pay rent or mortgage at some point in the past year, and 12.8% 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 19153000400

Q1

What is the eviction-risk score for census tract 19153000400?

Census tract 19153000400 in the Highland Park neighborhood scores 4.5/10 (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 19153000400?

Median gross rent is $939/month (ACS 5-year 2023, table B25064). 29% of renter households are cost-burdened.
Q3

What is the poverty rate in tract 19153000400?

16.9% of residents in tract 19153000400 live below the federal poverty line (ACS B17001, 2023). Population: 4,763.
Q4

How socially vulnerable is tract 19153000400?

CDC Social Vulnerability Index ranks this tract in the 84th percentile nationally. Sub-themes: socioeconomic 85th, household 90th, minority 63th, housing 60th.
Q5

Is tract 19153000400 considered part of Highland Park?

Yes. Per Census Bureau 2020 Block Assignment Files, the plurality of blocks in tract 19153000400 fall within Highland Park (neighborhood centroid within 0.3 miles, OSM data).
Q6

How many evictions are filed each year in tract 19153000400?

Princeton Eviction Lab recorded 578 eviction filings across 10 validated years in tract 19153000400 (2000-2018). The average annual filing rate is 11.10% of renter households, peaking at 16.2% in 2008. Source: Eviction Lab tract-validated 2024 release.
Q7

What share of households in tract 19153000400 struggle to pay rent?

About 18.7% 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. 12.8% also reported utility shutoff threats, a frequent precursor to eviction filings.
Q8

How does tract 19153000400 compare to Des Moines overall?

Tract 19153000400 scores 4.5/10, higher than the parent city of Des Moines at 2.6/10. City-scale signals (state law, local rent controls, court bias) are inherited from Des Moines eviction risk; what makes this tract different are its tract-specific economic stress and supply-constraint sub-scores.
Q9

Was tract 19153000400 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 Des Moines

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

Related