Neighborhood · Ranked #34,613 of 84,120 nationally

West Somerville Eviction Risk: Moderate , Cambridge

Tract 25017339300 · Middlesex County, MA · pop 3,179 · neighborhood within 0.8 mi

For landlords sizing up West Somerville in Cambridge, census tract 25017339300 carries a moderate eviction-risk score of 4.6/10. That is riskier than about 26% of US census tracts.

Rent eats 30% or more of income for 25% of renter households, a moderate level, and 7% are severely burdened at 50% or more. Average gross rent is $1,803 monthly, set against $108,889 in average yearly household income, roughly 20% of income at the averages. Renters make up 49% of occupied homes.

Risk score

5.2

Moderate

Confidence 100% · 1-10 scale

Household mix · 100 hh

Burdened renters 12% Stable renters 37% Owners 51%

Tract context

Occupied units1,208

Renter share49.1%

SVI overall0.38

Poverty rate5.9%

Median income$108,889

Percentile rank

Higher percentile = riskier than more peers.

Geographic context

Risk heat across Cambridge and the region

Centroid at 42.4190, -71.1341 · click any tract to drill in

Why West Somerville scores 5.2

9 axes · 1 = landlord-friendly

Local political climate

Inherited from Cambridge

8.3

Regional political climate

2024 county presidential margin

7.3

State political climate

Massachusetts legislature & governorship

6.2

Economic stress

5.9% poverty · this tract

1.5

Supply constraint

$1,803 rent vs county FMR

1.4

Rent control risk

Inherited from Cambridge

4.8

Eviction process difficulty

State law sets the calendar

6.1

Tenant organizing strength

Inherited from Cambridge

8.9

Housing court bias

Inherited from Cambridge

4.6

How West Somerville compares

Risk score vs. parent city, county, state.

CDC Social Vulnerability Index

SVI percentile: 38

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

12%Socioeconomic
40%Household composition
64%Racial/ethnic minority
73%Housing & transportation

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.

0%Grade A
5%Grade B
79%Grade C
0%Grade D · redlined

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 · Princeton Eviction Lab

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.

Historic baseline (2000-2018)

35Total filings over 5 yrs
1.56%Avg annual filing rate
2.5%Peak (2015)
4Filings in 2016 (latest validated)

Filings by year 2012 to 2016

Filings dropped 20% over the past 5 months.

Pandemic-era tracking (2020-2021)

0Total filings 2020-21
0.0Avg monthly (observed)
0.6Pre-pandemic baseline
0.00×Ratio to baseline

Monthly filings 2020-2021 2020-01-01 to 2023-11-01

Pandemic filings ran far below baseline (moratorium effect). Eviction Lab tracked Boston, MA as part of its 34-metro Eviction Tracking System.

Comparable tracts

Census tracts with similar eviction risk

Within West Somerville. 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.

10.7%Housing insecurity
6.7%Utility-shutoff threat
10.7%Food insecurity
12.6%SNAP enrollment
7.5%Transit barriers
3.8%No health insurance
15.8%Frequent mental distress
25.4%Any disability

Analysis

What drives eviction risk in West Somerville

The heaviest input here is tenant organizing strength at 8.9/10. That part comes from the wider legal climate rather than the tract itself. Statewide and court-level factors such as eviction-process speed and rent-control exposure are inherited from Cambridge eviction risk, while the economic and supply signals are measured at the tract level.

Set against its neighbors, this tract scores below the Middlesex County average of 5.2 and below the Massachusetts statewide average of 5.9. 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 C ("Declining"), above the redlined D tier. The grading still shaped decades of lending and development in the surrounding area.

The tract is White and Black and ranks around the 38th 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 25017339300

What is the eviction-risk score for census tract 25017339300?

Census tract 25017339300 in the West Somerville neighborhood scores 5.2/10 (Moderate tier). The Eviction Risk Score blends state law, county filing rates, parent-city politics, and tract-specific rent-to-income ratios + poverty signals.

What is the average rent in tract 25017339300?

Median gross rent is $1,803/month (ACS 5-year 2023, table B25064). 25% of renter households are cost-burdened.

What is the poverty rate in tract 25017339300?

5.9% of residents in tract 25017339300 live below the federal poverty line (ACS B17001, 2023). Population: 3,179.

How socially vulnerable is tract 25017339300?

CDC Social Vulnerability Index ranks this tract in the 38th percentile nationally. Sub-themes: socioeconomic 12th, household 40th, minority 64th, housing 73th.

Is tract 25017339300 considered part of West Somerville?

Yes. Per Census Bureau 2020 Block Assignment Files, the plurality of blocks in tract 25017339300 fall within West Somerville (neighborhood centroid within 0.8 miles, OSM data).

How many evictions are filed each year in tract 25017339300?

Princeton Eviction Lab recorded 35 eviction filings across 5 validated years in tract 25017339300 (2000-2018). The average annual filing rate is 1.56% of renter households, peaking at 2.5% in 2015. Source: Eviction Lab tract-validated 2024 release.

Did eviction filings in tract 25017339300 drop during COVID?

Pandemic-era filings ran 0.00× the pre-COVID monthly baseline. Filings dropped sharply, likely a moratorium effect. Tracked by the Eviction Lab Eviction Tracking System (Boston eviction risk, MA), 2020-2021.

What share of households in tract 25017339300 struggle to pay rent?

About 10.7% 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. 6.7% also reported utility shutoff threats, a frequent precursor to eviction filings.

How does tract 25017339300 compare to Cambridge overall?

Tract 25017339300 scores 5.2/10, lower than the parent city of Cambridge at 5.8/10. City-scale signals (state law, local rent controls, court bias) are inherited from Cambridge eviction risk; what makes this tract different are its tract-specific economic stress and supply-constraint sub-scores.

Q10

Was tract 25017339300 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 Cambridge

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