Watrous South Eviction Risk: Moderate , Des Moines
Tract 19153004603 · Polk County, IA · pop 4,100 · neighborhood within 0.3 mi
Census tract 19153004603 runs through the Watrous South neighborhood of Des Moines. With 4,100 residents, it scores 5.1/10 for landlords. That is riskier than roughly 43% of the 84,120 US census tracts we score.
About 47% of renters carry a rent burden of 30% of income or higher, a severe level, and 9% are severely burdened at 50% or more. Average gross rent is $1,078 monthly, set against $71,000 in average yearly household income, roughly 18% of income at the averages. Renters make up 23% of occupied homes.
Percentile rank
Higher percentile = riskier than more peers.Risk heat across Des Moines and the region
Centroid at 41.5337, -93.6354 · click any tract to drill in
Why Watrous South scores 4.1
9 axes · 1 = landlord-friendlyHow Watrous South compares
Risk score vs. parent city, county, state.SVI percentile: 74
CDC/ATSDR 2022. Higher = more vulnerable. National percentile across 84k tracts.
- 52%Socioeconomic
- 97%Household composition
- 51%Racial/ethnic minority
- 65%Housing & transportation
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)
- 196Total filings over 10 yrs
- 7.26%Avg annual filing rate
- 7.8%Peak (2013)
- 22Filings in 2015 (latest validated)
Census tracts with similar eviction risk
Within Watrous South. Closest by Eviction Risk Score.
Eviction-adjacent indicators
Crude prevalence of conditions linked to housing loss. Source: CDC PLACES (cwsq-ngmh), 2023 model-based small-area estimates.
- 12.9%Housing insecurity
- 8.6%Utility-shutoff threat
- 16.6%Food insecurity
- 14.5%SNAP enrollment
- 8.6%Transit barriers
- 10.0%No health insurance
- 18.8%Frequent mental distress
- 32.4%Any disability
What drives eviction risk in Watrous South
What moves this score most is supply constraint at 3.9/10. 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 riskier side for landlords.
Princeton's Eviction Lab logged 196 eviction filings here over 10 tracked years, with about 7.3% of renter households facing a filing in a typical year. Filings peaked at 7.8% of renter households in 2013.
The tract is predominantly White and ranks around the 74th percentile nationally on the CDC Social Vulnerability Index, a measure of how exposed residents are to housing and economic shocks. That is a middle-of-the-pack reading for social vulnerability.
For a landlord, conditions here are middle-of-the-road. Standard screening and prompt, documented notices usually keep cases short.
About tract 19153004603
What is the eviction-risk score for census tract 19153004603?
What is the average rent in tract 19153004603?
What is the poverty rate in tract 19153004603?
How socially vulnerable is tract 19153004603?
Is tract 19153004603 considered part of Watrous South?
How many evictions are filed each year in tract 19153004603?
What share of households in tract 19153004603 struggle to pay rent?
How does tract 19153004603 compare to Des Moines overall?
Highest-risk tracts in Des Moines
Top eight tracts in Des Moines ranked by composite eviction-risk score.