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Neighborhood · Ranked #61,757 of 84,120 nationally

Waveland Park Eviction Risk: Lower , Des Moines

Tract 19153000902 · Polk County, IA · pop 3,975 · neighborhood within 0.3 mi

Tract 19153000902 covers the Waveland Park area of Des Moines in Iowa. Home to 3,975 residents, it scores 4.4/10 on landlord eviction risk. That is riskier than about 21% of US census tracts.

About 37% of renters carry a rent burden of 30% of income or higher, a high level, and 21% are severely burdened at 50% or more. Average gross rent is $933 monthly, set against $96,163 in average yearly household income, roughly 12% of income at the averages. About 21% of occupied units are renter-occupied.

Risk score
2.8
Lower
Confidence 100% · 1–10 scale
Household mix · 100 hh
Burdened renters 8% Stable renters 13% Owners 79%
Tract context
Occupied units1,632
Renter share20.8%
SVI overall0.35
Poverty rate4.9%
Median income$96,163

Percentile rank

Higher percentile = riskier than more peers.
Within neighborhood
0 th percentile
Rank, 0th percentileLowHigh
#2 of 2 tracts In Waveland Park
Very Low
Within parent city
7 th percentile
Rank, 7th percentileLowHigh
#56 of 60 tracts In Des Moines
Very Low
Within county
43 th percentile
Rank, 43rd percentileLowHigh
#64 of 112 tracts In Polk County
Moderate
Within state
41 th percentile
Rank, 41st percentileLowHigh
#533 of 896 tracts In Iowa
Moderate
Geographic context

Risk heat across Des Moines and the region

Centroid at 41.6058, -93.6820 · click any tract to drill in

Why Waveland Park scores 2.8

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
4.9% poverty · this tract
1.2
Supply constraint
$933 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 Waveland Park compares

Risk score vs. parent city, county, state.
Waveland Park risk score vs. parent city / county / stateThis tract: 2.82.8This tracttract 000902Des Moines: 2.62.6Des Moinesparent cityCounty: 3.23.2Countyavg tract in countyState: 3.33.3Stateavg tract in state
CDC Social Vulnerability Index

SVI percentile: 35

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

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.

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)

  • 84Total filings over 10 yrs
  • 1.70%Avg annual filing rate
  • 2.7%Peak (2006)
  • 8Filings in 2015 (latest validated)
Filings by year 2006 to 2015
Year-by-year eviction filings in tract 191530009022006: 13 filings (2.71/100 renter HHs)2007: 11 filings (2.30/100 renter HHs)2008: 7 filings (1.46/100 renter HHs)2009: 5 filings (1.04/100 renter HHs)2010: 4 filings (0.89/100 renter HHs)2011: 8 filings (1.56/100 renter HHs)2012: 12 filings (2.33/100 renter HHs)2013: 13 filings (2.53/100 renter HHs)2014: 3 filings (0.58/100 renter HHs)2015: 8 filings (1.56/100 renter HHs)
Filings dropped 38% over the past 10 months.
Comparable tracts

Census tracts with similar eviction risk

Within Waveland 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 Waveland Park

The heaviest input here is tenant organizing strength at $1/10. 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 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.

The tract is predominantly White and ranks around the 35th percentile nationally on the CDC Social Vulnerability Index, a measure of how exposed residents are to housing and economic shocks. That is a relatively low-vulnerability reading.

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.

For a landlord, conditions here are middle-of-the-road. Standard screening and prompt, documented notices usually keep cases short.

Frequently asked

About tract 19153000902

Q1

What is the eviction-risk score for census tract 19153000902?

Census tract 19153000902 in the Waveland Park neighborhood scores 2.8/10 (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 19153000902?

Median gross rent is $933/month (ACS 5-year 2023, table B25064). 37% of renter households are cost-burdened.
Q3

What is the poverty rate in tract 19153000902?

4.9% of residents in tract 19153000902 live below the federal poverty line (ACS B17001, 2023). Population: 3,975.
Q4

How socially vulnerable is tract 19153000902?

CDC Social Vulnerability Index ranks this tract in the 35th percentile nationally. Sub-themes: socioeconomic 17th, household 82th, minority 29th, housing 39th.
Q5

Is tract 19153000902 considered part of Waveland Park?

Yes. Per Census Bureau 2020 Block Assignment Files, the plurality of blocks in tract 19153000902 fall within Waveland Park (neighborhood centroid within 0.3 miles, OSM data).
Q6

How many evictions are filed each year in tract 19153000902?

Princeton Eviction Lab recorded 84 eviction filings across 10 validated years in tract 19153000902 (2000-2018). The average annual filing rate is 1.70% of renter households, peaking at 2.7% in 2006. Source: Eviction Lab tract-validated 2024 release.
Q7

What share of households in tract 19153000902 struggle to pay rent?

About 7.2% 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. 4.7% also reported utility shutoff threats, a frequent precursor to eviction filings.
Q8

How does tract 19153000902 compare to Des Moines overall?

Tract 19153000902 scores 2.8/10, right in line with 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 19153000902 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 Des Moines

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

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