Within neighborhood
75
th percentile
High
Neighborhood · Ranked #56,048 of 84,120 nationally
Merle Hay Eviction Risk: Lower , Des Moines
Tract 19153010411 · Polk County, IA · pop 4,688 · neighborhood within 1.5 mi
Census tract 19153010411 covers part of the Merle Hay area of Urbandale, IA, and scores 3.6/10 on landlord eviction risk. It is home to 4,688 residents. Severe burden reaches 23%. Those are renters paying half their income or more, and that is where non-payment filings originate.
Risk score
3.6
Lower
Confidence 100% · 1–10 scale
Household mix · 100 hh
Burdened renters 21%
Stable renters 32%
Owners 47%
Tract context
Occupied units1,964
Renter share53.6%
SVI overall0.69
Poverty rate8.3%
Median income$69,308
Percentile rank
Higher percentile = riskier than more peers.Within parent city
100
th percentile
Very High
Within county
48
th percentile
Moderate
Within state
56
th percentile
Elevated
Geographic context
Risk heat across Des Moines and the region
Centroid at 41.6220, -93.7267 · click any tract to drill in
Why Merle Hay scores 3.6
9 axes · 1 = landlord-friendlyLocal political climate
Inherited from Des Moines
6.2
Regional political climate
2024 county presidential margin
5.8
State political climate
Iowa legislature & governorship
2.3
Economic stress
8.3% poverty · this tract
2.1
Supply constraint
$1,214 rent vs county FMR
5.0
Rent control risk
Inherited from Des Moines
3.9
Eviction process difficulty
State law sets the calendar
2.6
Tenant organizing strength
Inherited from Des Moines
5.1
Housing court bias
Inherited from Des Moines
3.8
How Merle Hay compares
Risk score vs. parent city, county, state.CDC Social Vulnerability Index
SVI percentile: 69
CDC/ATSDR 2022. Higher = more vulnerable. National percentile across 84k tracts.
- 50%Socioeconomic
- 43%Household composition
- 54%Racial/ethnic minority
- 94%Housing & transportation
Comparable tracts
Census tracts with similar eviction risk
Within Merle Hay. 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.
- 9.7%Housing insecurity
- 6.3%Utility-shutoff threat
- 12.0%Food insecurity
- 9.5%SNAP enrollment
- 6.7%Transit barriers
- 7.4%No health insurance
- 16.6%Frequent mental distress
- 27.9%Any disability
Analysis
What drives eviction risk in Merle Hay
The dominant input is court filing pressure at 8.2/10. On the softer side, economic stress reads 2.1/10.
Well under the midpoint, state political climate reads 2.3/10. Nationally it ranks #56,048 of 84,120 for landlord eviction difficulty. Social vulnerability reads 7.2/10 on the CDC index, a measure of exposure to housing and economic shocks.
Of its three components the housing type and transport measure is the most pressured. 39% of renter households spend at least 30% of income on rent. It tracks the Polk County average of 3.8 closely.
Average gross rent is $1,214, close to the Urbandale average. Annual rent works out to 21% of average household income of $69,308. 54% of occupied units are renter-occupied.
Tract-level figures come from the ACS 5-year release and are rebuilt whenever that, the court-record feed, or the statutory ledger behind the score changes.
Frequently asked
About tract 19153010411
Q1
What is the eviction-risk score for census tract 19153010411?
Census tract 19153010411 in the Merle Hay 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 19153010411?
Median gross rent is $1,214/month (ACS 5-year 2023, table B25064). 39% of renter households are cost-burdened.
Q3
What is the poverty rate in tract 19153010411?
8.3% of residents in tract 19153010411 live below the federal poverty line (ACS B17001, 2023). Population: 4,688.
Q4
How socially vulnerable is tract 19153010411?
CDC Social Vulnerability Index ranks this tract in the 69th percentile nationally. Sub-themes: socioeconomic 50th, household 43th, minority 54th, housing 94th.
Q5
Is tract 19153010411 considered part of Merle Hay?
Yes. Per Census Bureau 2020 Block Assignment Files, the plurality of blocks in tract 19153010411 fall within Merle Hay (neighborhood centroid within 1.5 miles, OSM data).
Q6
What share of households in tract 19153010411 struggle to pay rent?
About 9.7% 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. 6.3% also reported utility shutoff threats, a frequent precursor to eviction filings.
Q7
How does tract 19153010411 compare to Des Moines overall?
Tract 19153010411 scores 3.6/10, right in line with the parent city of Des Moines at 3.4/10. 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.
Sibling tracts
Highest-risk tracts in Des Moines
Top eight tracts in Des Moines ranked by composite eviction-risk score.
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