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Neighborhood · Ranked #35,899 of 84,120 nationally

Linden Heights Eviction Risk: Moderate , Des Moines

Tract 19153004001 · Polk County, IA · pop 4,093 · neighborhood within 0.9 mi

Linden Heights in Des Moines is where census tract 19153004001 sits, home to 4,093 residents. Its landlord eviction-risk score is 5.2/10. That is riskier than about 46% of US census tracts.

About 53% of renters carry a rent burden of 30% of income or higher, a severe level, and 29% are severely burdened at 50% or more. Average gross rent is $1,100 monthly, set against $56,300 in average yearly household income, roughly 23% of income at the averages. Renters make up 54% of occupied homes, a renter-majority tract.

Risk score
4.3
Moderate
Confidence 100% · 1–10 scale
Household mix · 100 hh
Burdened renters 29% Stable renters 25% Owners 46%
Tract context
Occupied units1,590
Renter share54.4%
SVI overall0.82
Poverty rate15.1%
Median income$56,300

Percentile rank

Higher percentile = riskier than more peers.
Within neighborhood
50 th percentile
Rank, 50th percentileLowHigh
#1 of 1 tracts In Linden Heights
Moderate
Within parent city
58 th percentile
Rank, 58th percentileLowHigh
#26 of 60 tracts In Des Moines
Elevated
Within county
78 th percentile
Rank, 78th percentileLowHigh
#25 of 112 tracts In Polk County
High
Within state
83 th percentile
Rank, 83rd percentileLowHigh
#155 of 896 tracts In Iowa
High
Geographic context

Risk heat across Des Moines and the region

Centroid at 41.5624, -93.6750 · click any tract to drill in

Why Linden Heights scores 4.3

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
15.1% poverty · this tract
3.8
Supply constraint
$1,100 rent vs county FMR
4.0
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 Linden Heights compares

Risk score vs. parent city, county, state.
Linden Heights risk score vs. parent city / county / stateThis tract: 4.34.3This tracttract 004001Des Moines: 2.62.6Des Moinesparent cityCounty: 3.23.2Countyavg tract in countyState: 3.33.3Stateavg tract in state
CDC Social Vulnerability Index

SVI percentile: 82

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

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.

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)

  • 2,007Total filings over 10 yrs
  • 23.37%Avg annual filing rate
  • 34.8%Peak (2012)
  • 191Filings in 2015 (latest validated)
Filings by year 2006 to 2015
Year-by-year eviction filings in tract 191530040012006: 169 filings (20.84/100 renter HHs)2007: 187 filings (23.06/100 renter HHs)2008: 159 filings (19.61/100 renter HHs)2009: 150 filings (18.50/100 renter HHs)2010: 158 filings (19.43/100 renter HHs)2011: 191 filings (21.34/100 renter HHs)2012: 311 filings (34.75/100 renter HHs)2013: 264 filings (29.50/100 renter HHs)2014: 227 filings (25.36/100 renter HHs)2015: 191 filings (21.34/100 renter HHs)
Filings stayed roughly flat over the past 10 months.
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 Linden Heights

What moves this score most is supply constraint at $1/10. 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 riskier side for landlords.

The tract is predominantly White and ranks around the 82nd percentile nationally on the CDC Social Vulnerability Index, a measure of how exposed residents are to housing and economic shocks. High vulnerability tends to track with higher eviction-filing rates when rents climb.

Princeton's Eviction Lab logged 2,007 eviction filings here over 10 tracked years, with about 23.4% of renter households facing a filing in a typical year. Filings peaked at 34.8% of renter households in 2012.

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

Frequently asked

About tract 19153004001

Q1

What is the eviction-risk score for census tract 19153004001?

Census tract 19153004001 in the Linden Heights neighborhood scores 4.3/10 (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 19153004001?

Median gross rent is $1,100/month (ACS 5-year 2023, table B25064). 53% of renter households are cost-burdened.
Q3

What is the poverty rate in tract 19153004001?

15.1% of residents in tract 19153004001 live below the federal poverty line (ACS B17001, 2023). Population: 4,093.
Q4

How socially vulnerable is tract 19153004001?

CDC Social Vulnerability Index ranks this tract in the 82th percentile nationally. Sub-themes: socioeconomic 79th, household 86th, minority 56th, housing 71th.
Q5

Is tract 19153004001 considered part of Linden Heights?

Yes. Per Census Bureau 2020 Block Assignment Files, the plurality of blocks in tract 19153004001 fall within Linden Heights (neighborhood centroid within 0.9 miles, OSM data).
Q6

How many evictions are filed each year in tract 19153004001?

Princeton Eviction Lab recorded 2,007 eviction filings across 10 validated years in tract 19153004001 (2000-2018). The average annual filing rate is 23.37% of renter households, peaking at 34.8% in 2012. Source: Eviction Lab tract-validated 2024 release.
Q7

What share of households in tract 19153004001 struggle to pay rent?

About 15.8% 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. 10.8% also reported utility shutoff threats, a frequent precursor to eviction filings.
Q8

How does tract 19153004001 compare to Des Moines overall?

Tract 19153004001 scores 4.3/10, 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 19153004001 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 Des Moines

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

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