Within neighborhood
40
th percentile
Moderate
Neighborhood · Ranked #31,898 of 84,120 nationally
West Somerville Eviction Risk: Moderate , Cambridge
Tract 25017350702 · Middlesex County, MA · pop 3,319 · neighborhood within 0.1 mi
With a score of 6.4/10, tract 25017350702 in the West Somerville neighborhood of Cambridge ranks in the Elevated tier for landlord eviction risk. The tract is home to 3,319 residents. It lands near the 85th percentile nationally for landlord eviction risk.
46% of renter households here spend at least 30% of income on rent, a severe level, and 28% are severely burdened at 50% or more. The typical renter pays about $1,080 a month while the average household earns $37,011 a year, roughly 35% of income at the averages. Renters make up 82% of occupied homes, a renter-majority tract.
Risk score
5.4
Moderate
Confidence 100% · 1-10 scale
Household mix · 100 hh
Burdened renters 38%
Stable renters 44%
Owners 18%
Tract context
Occupied units1,603
Renter share82.4%
SVI overall0.79
Poverty rate29.2%
Median income$37,011
Percentile rank
Higher percentile = riskier than more peers.Within parent city
96
th percentile
Very High
Within county
45
th percentile
Moderate
Within state
28
th percentile
Low
Geographic context
Risk heat across Cambridge and the region
Centroid at 42.4106, -71.1298 · click any tract to drill in
Why West Somerville scores 5.4
9 axes · 1 = landlord-friendlyLocal political climate
Inherited from Cambridge
8.5
Regional political climate
2024 county presidential margin
7.3
State political climate
Massachusetts legislature & governorship
6.2
Economic stress
29.2% poverty · this tract
7.3
Supply constraint
$1,080 rent vs county FMR
1.0
Rent control risk
Inherited from Cambridge
7.5
Eviction process difficulty
State law sets the calendar
8.0
Tenant organizing strength
Inherited from Cambridge
8.0
Housing court bias
Inherited from Cambridge
8.0
How West Somerville compares
Risk score vs. parent city, county, state.CDC Social Vulnerability Index
SVI percentile: 79
CDC/ATSDR 2022. Higher = more vulnerable. National percentile across 84k tracts.
- 53%Socioeconomic
- 97%Household composition
- 63%Racial/ethnic minority
- 74%Housing & transportation
Historical context · 1930s redlining
HOLC grade: B: Still Desirable
This tract sits within an area graded by the Home Owners' Loan Corporation in the 1930s. Grade B meant middle-class areas with mortgage access. These designations suppressed minority homeownership for generations and remain a documented predictor of present-day eviction filings and rent burden.
- 0%Grade A
- 34%Grade B
- 11%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.
Pandemic-era tracking (2020-2021)
- 0Total filings 2020-21
- 0.0Avg monthly (observed)
- 6.0Pre-pandemic baseline
- 0.00×Ratio to baseline
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.
- 16.6%Housing insecurity
- 11.3%Utility-shutoff threat
- 19.9%Food insecurity
- 26.1%SNAP enrollment
- 12.3%Transit barriers
- 6.5%No health insurance
- 19.0%Frequent mental distress
- 33.5%Any disability
Analysis
What drives eviction risk in West Somerville
The score leans hardest on eviction process difficulty at $1/10. 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 above the Middlesex County average of 5.2 and above the Massachusetts statewide average of 5.9. Within its own county it reads on the riskier side for landlords.
HOLC surveyors mapped this tract in the 1930s with a dominant grade of B ("Still Desirable"), above the redlined D tier. The grading still shaped decades of lending and development in the surrounding area.
During 2020 and 2021, eviction filings here ran at about 0.00x the pre-COVID monthly baseline, well below the pre-pandemic norm, the signature of an eviction moratorium at work.
For a landlord, this is a tract where process discipline pays off. Clean paperwork and steady screening keep the elevated risk manageable.
Frequently asked
About tract 25017350702
Q1
What is the eviction-risk score for census tract 25017350702?
Census tract 25017350702 in the West Somerville neighborhood scores 5.4/10 (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 25017350702?
Median gross rent is $1,080/month (ACS 5-year 2023, table B25064). 46% of renter households are cost-burdened.
Q3
What is the poverty rate in tract 25017350702?
29.2% of residents in tract 25017350702 live below the federal poverty line (ACS B17001, 2023). Population: 3,319.
Q4
How socially vulnerable is tract 25017350702?
CDC Social Vulnerability Index ranks this tract in the 79th percentile nationally. Sub-themes: socioeconomic 53th, household 97th, minority 63th, housing 74th.
Q5
Is tract 25017350702 considered part of West Somerville?
Yes. Per Census Bureau 2020 Block Assignment Files, the plurality of blocks in tract 25017350702 fall within West Somerville (neighborhood centroid within 0.1 miles, OSM data).
Q6
Did eviction filings in tract 25017350702 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.
Q7
What share of households in tract 25017350702 struggle to pay rent?
About 16.6% 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. 11.3% also reported utility shutoff threats, a frequent precursor to eviction filings.
Q8
How does tract 25017350702 compare to Cambridge overall?
Tract 25017350702 scores 5.4/10, 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.
Q9
Was tract 25017350702 historically redlined?
Yes. This tract sits inside an area graded by the Home Owners' Loan Corporation in the 1930s, with a dominant grade of B. 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.
Tract · MA
Brickbottom
5.4
/ 10 · Moderate
Tract · MA
Winter Hill
5.2
/ 10 · Moderate
Tract · MA
East Somerville
5.2
/ 10 · Moderate
Tract · MA
Ten Hills
4.9
/ 10 · Moderate
Tract · MA
Magoun Square
4.9
/ 10 · Moderate
Tract · MA
Teele Square
4.7
/ 10 · Moderate
Tract · MA
East Somerville
4.7
/ 10 · Moderate
Tract · MA
Prospect Hill
4.7
/ 10 · Moderate
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