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Neighborhood · Ranked #53,267 of 84,120 nationally

Grays Lake Eviction Risk: Lower , Des Moines

Tract 19153004100 · Polk County, IA · pop 3,179 · neighborhood within 0.3 mi

Census tract 19153004100 sits in the Grays Lake neighborhood of Des Moines eviction risk, Iowa eviction laws, and carries an eviction-risk score of 4.9/10. On the national scale it ranks #54,313 of 84,120 for landlord eviction difficulty.

About 84% of renters carry a rent burden of 30% of income or higher, a severe level, and 20% are severely burdened at 50% or more. Average rent runs $978 a month against an average household income of $81,438 a year, roughly 14% of income at the averages. Renters make up 12% of occupied homes.

Risk score
3.3
Lower
Confidence 100% · 1–10 scale
Household mix · 100 hh
Burdened renters 10% Stable renters 2% Owners 88%
Tract context
Occupied units1,541
Renter share11.6%
SVI overall0.28
Poverty rate7.8%
Median income$81,438

Percentile rank

Higher percentile = riskier than more peers.
Within neighborhood
50 th percentile
Rank, 50th percentileLowHigh
#1 of 1 tracts In Grays Lake
Moderate
Within parent city
25 th percentile
Rank, 25th percentileLowHigh
#45 of 60 tracts In Des Moines
Low
Within county
56 th percentile
Rank, 56th percentileLowHigh
#50 of 112 tracts In Polk County
Elevated
Within state
57 th percentile
Rank, 57th percentileLowHigh
#387 of 896 tracts In Iowa
Elevated
Geographic context

Risk heat across Des Moines and the region

Centroid at 41.5647, -93.6332 · click any tract to drill in

Why Grays Lake scores 3.3

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
7.8% poverty · this tract
2.0
Supply constraint
$978 rent vs county FMR
3.0
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 Grays Lake compares

Risk score vs. parent city, county, state.
Grays Lake risk score vs. parent city / county / stateThis tract: 3.33.3This tracttract 004100Des Moines: 2.62.6Des Moinesparent cityCounty: 3.23.2Countyavg tract in countyState: 3.33.3Stateavg tract in state
CDC Social Vulnerability Index

SVI percentile: 28

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)

  • 178Total filings over 10 yrs
  • 6.36%Avg annual filing rate
  • 13.6%Peak (2010)
  • 25Filings in 2015 (latest validated)
Filings by year 2006 to 2015
Year-by-year eviction filings in tract 191530041002006: 19 filings (7.51/100 renter HHs)2007: 19 filings (7.51/100 renter HHs)2008: 15 filings (5.93/100 renter HHs)2009: 16 filings (6.32/100 renter HHs)2010: 32 filings (13.62/100 renter HHs)2011: 14 filings (4.13/100 renter HHs)2012: 18 filings (5.31/100 renter HHs)2013: 6 filings (1.77/100 renter HHs)2014: 14 filings (4.13/100 renter HHs)2015: 25 filings (7.37/100 renter HHs)
Filings climbed 32% 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 Grays Lake

The score leans hardest on 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 safer side for landlords.

The tract is predominantly White and ranks around the 28th 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 C ("Declining"), 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 19153004100

Q1

What is the eviction-risk score for census tract 19153004100?

Census tract 19153004100 in the Grays Lake neighborhood scores 3.3/10 (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 19153004100?

Median gross rent is $978/month (ACS 5-year 2023, table B25064). 84% of renter households are cost-burdened.
Q3

What is the poverty rate in tract 19153004100?

7.8% of residents in tract 19153004100 live below the federal poverty line (ACS B17001, 2023). Population: 3,179.
Q4

How socially vulnerable is tract 19153004100?

CDC Social Vulnerability Index ranks this tract in the 28th percentile nationally. Sub-themes: socioeconomic 32th, household 64th, minority 23th, housing 19th.
Q5

Is tract 19153004100 considered part of Grays Lake?

Yes. Per Census Bureau 2020 Block Assignment Files, the plurality of blocks in tract 19153004100 fall within Grays Lake (neighborhood centroid within 0.3 miles, OSM data).
Q6

How many evictions are filed each year in tract 19153004100?

Princeton Eviction Lab recorded 178 eviction filings across 10 validated years in tract 19153004100 (2000-2018). The average annual filing rate is 6.36% of renter households, peaking at 13.6% in 2010. Source: Eviction Lab tract-validated 2024 release.
Q7

What share of households in tract 19153004100 struggle to pay rent?

About 9.3% 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. 6.0% also reported utility shutoff threats, a frequent precursor to eviction filings.
Q8

How does tract 19153004100 compare to Des Moines overall?

Tract 19153004100 scores 3.3/10, 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 19153004100 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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