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Neighborhood · Ranked #48,083 of 84,120 nationally

Waveland Park Eviction Risk: Lower , Des Moines

Tract 19153003001 · Polk County, IA · pop 2,044 · neighborhood within 0.5 mi

For landlords sizing up Waveland Park in Des Moines, census tract 19153003001 carries a moderate eviction-risk score of 4.8/10. That is riskier than roughly 32% of the 84,120 US census tracts we score.

Rent eats 30% or more of income for 34% of renter households, a high level, and 15% are severely burdened at 50% or more. Average rent runs $1,447 a month against an average household income of $79,879 a year, roughly 22% of income at the averages. Renters make up 25% of occupied homes.

Risk score
3.6
Lower
Confidence 100% · 1–10 scale
Household mix · 100 hh
Burdened renters 9% Stable renters 16% Owners 75%
Tract context
Occupied units941
Renter share24.7%
SVI overall0.12
Poverty rate11.5%
Median income$79,879

Percentile rank

Higher percentile = riskier than more peers.
Within neighborhood
100 th percentile
Rank, 100th percentileLowHigh
#1 of 2 tracts In Waveland Park
Very High
Within parent city
29 th percentile
Rank, 29th percentileLowHigh
#43 of 60 tracts In Des Moines
Low
Within county
60 th percentile
Rank, 60th percentileLowHigh
#45 of 112 tracts In Polk County
Elevated
Within state
66 th percentile
Rank, 66th percentileLowHigh
#310 of 896 tracts In Iowa
Elevated
Geographic context

Risk heat across Des Moines and the region

Centroid at 41.5963, -93.6885 · click any tract to drill in

Why Waveland Park scores 3.6

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
11.5% poverty · this tract
2.9
Supply constraint
$1,447 rent vs county FMR
6.9
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: 3.63.6This tracttract 003001Des Moines: 2.62.6Des Moinesparent cityCounty: 3.23.2Countyavg tract in countyState: 3.33.3Stateavg tract in state
CDC Social Vulnerability Index

SVI percentile: 12

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)

  • 110Total filings over 10 yrs
  • 5.87%Avg annual filing rate
  • 16.3%Peak (2007)
  • 9Filings in 2015 (latest validated)
Filings by year 2006 to 2015
Year-by-year eviction filings in tract 191530030012006: 18 filings (11.25/100 renter HHs)2007: 26 filings (16.25/100 renter HHs)2008: 12 filings (7.50/100 renter HHs)2009: 5 filings (3.12/100 renter HHs)2010: 4 filings (2.23/100 renter HHs)2011: 7 filings (2.86/100 renter HHs)2012: 8 filings (3.27/100 renter HHs)2013: 10 filings (4.08/100 renter HHs)2014: 11 filings (4.49/100 renter HHs)2015: 9 filings (3.67/100 renter HHs)
Filings dropped 50% 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

What moves this score most is supply constraint at 6.9/10. 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 about the same as the Polk County average of 5.0 and above 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 A ("Best"), above the redlined D tier. The grading still shaped decades of lending and development in the surrounding area.

The tract is predominantly White and ranks around the 12th 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.

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

Frequently asked

About tract 19153003001

Q1

What is the eviction-risk score for census tract 19153003001?

Census tract 19153003001 in the Waveland Park neighborhood scores 3.6/10 (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 19153003001?

Median gross rent is $1,447/month (ACS 5-year 2023, table B25064). 34% of renter households are cost-burdened.
Q3

What is the poverty rate in tract 19153003001?

11.5% of residents in tract 19153003001 live below the federal poverty line (ACS B17001, 2023). Population: 2,044.
Q4

How socially vulnerable is tract 19153003001?

CDC Social Vulnerability Index ranks this tract in the 12th percentile nationally. Sub-themes: socioeconomic 17th, household 12th, minority 18th, housing 26th.
Q5

Is tract 19153003001 considered part of Waveland Park?

Yes. Per Census Bureau 2020 Block Assignment Files, the plurality of blocks in tract 19153003001 fall within Waveland Park (neighborhood centroid within 0.5 miles, OSM data).
Q6

How many evictions are filed each year in tract 19153003001?

Princeton Eviction Lab recorded 110 eviction filings across 10 validated years in tract 19153003001 (2000-2018). The average annual filing rate is 5.87% of renter households, peaking at 16.3% in 2007. Source: Eviction Lab tract-validated 2024 release.
Q7

What share of households in tract 19153003001 struggle to pay rent?

About 6.9% 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. 4.8% also reported utility shutoff threats, a frequent precursor to eviction filings.
Q8

How does tract 19153003001 compare to Des Moines overall?

Tract 19153003001 scores 3.6/10, 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 19153003001 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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