Within neighborhood
100
th percentile
Very High
Neighborhood · Ranked #1 of 84,120 nationally
Harlow Square Eviction Risk: High , Cambridge
Tract 25017352400 · Middlesex County, MA · pop 1,896 · neighborhood within 0.2 mi
25017352400 is a census tract in the Harlow Square area of Cambridge, MA. It scores 9.9/10 for landlords. Population here is 1,896. Against the Middlesex County average of 6.3, this tract reads riskier for landlords by 3.6 points.
Risk score
9.9
High
Confidence 100% · 1–10 scale
Household mix · 100 hh
Burdened renters 45%
Stable renters 45%
Owners 10%
Tract context
Occupied units697
Renter share89.8%
SVI overall0.77
Poverty rate22.3%
Median income$55,489
Percentile rank
Higher percentile = riskier than more peers.Within parent city
75
th percentile
High
Within county
99
th percentile
Very High
Within state
100
th percentile
Very High
Geographic context
Risk heat across Cambridge and the region
Centroid at 42.3650, -71.0934 · click any tract to drill in
Why Harlow Square scores 9.9
9 axes · 1 = landlord-friendlyLocal political climate
Inherited from Cambridge
9.0
Regional political climate
2024 county presidential margin
7.3
State political climate
Massachusetts legislature & governorship
6.2
Economic stress
22.3% poverty · this tract
5.6
Supply constraint
$1,205 rent vs county FMR
1.0
Rent control risk
Inherited from Cambridge
8.5
Eviction process difficulty
State law sets the calendar
8.5
Tenant organizing strength
Inherited from Cambridge
8.5
Housing court bias
Inherited from Cambridge
8.0
How Harlow Square compares
Risk score vs. parent city, county, state.CDC Social Vulnerability Index
SVI percentile: 77
CDC/ATSDR 2022. Higher = more vulnerable. National percentile across 84k tracts.
- 77%Socioeconomic
- 60%Household composition
- 86%Racial/ethnic minority
- 63%Housing & transportation
Historical context · 1930s redlining
HOLC grade: D: Hazardous (Redlined)
This tract sits within an area graded by the Home Owners' Loan Corporation in the 1930s. Grade D meant Black, immigrant, and poor neighborhoods systematically denied mortgage credit. These designations suppressed minority homeownership for generations and remain a documented predictor of present-day eviction filings and rent burden.
- 0%Grade A
- 0%Grade B
- 0%Grade C
- 39%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
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)
- 323Total filings over 5 yrs
- 10.74%Avg annual filing rate
- 14.5%Peak (2013)
- 42Filings in 2016 (latest validated)
Filings dropped 24% over the past 5 months.
Pandemic-era tracking (2020–2021)
- 0Total filings 2020-21
- 0.0Avg monthly (observed)
- 5.0Pre-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 Harlow Square. 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.
- 23.2%Housing insecurity
- 15.9%Utility-shutoff threat
- 28.9%Food insecurity
- 35.3%SNAP enrollment
- 17.0%Transit barriers
- 8.3%No health insurance
- 19.8%Frequent mental distress
- 33.9%Any disability
Analysis
What drives eviction risk in Harlow Square
At $1,205 a month, rents run 57% under what the rest of Cambridge commands. This is renter territory: 90% of occupied units are tenant-occupied. The score leans hardest on local political climate at 9/10.
SNAP participation runs 35.3% against 15.2% nationally. On the softer side, supply constraint reads 1/10.
On the high side, rent-regulation exposure reads 8.5/10. The severe-burden share is 15%, and it is the single best predictor in this model of a filing that actually reaches judgment.
Against Middlesex County at 43.0%, 50% of renters here are cost-burdened. The poverty rate is 22%. Judgments in high-poverty tracts are collectible far less often than filing counts suggest. Housing insecurity runs 23.2% against 14.2% nationally.
Court records carry 323 eviction filings across 5 observed years. The worst year on record was 2013, when 14.5% of renter households were served. This ground was mapped D ("Hazardous") on the 1930s HOLC security maps for Cambridge. That grading determined who could get a mortgage, and its imprint on tenure and rent burden is still visible in the ACS data above.
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 25017352400
Q1
What is the eviction-risk score for census tract 25017352400?
Census tract 25017352400 in the Harlow Square neighborhood scores 9.9/10 (High 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 25017352400?
Median gross rent is $1,205/month (ACS 5-year 2023, table B25064). 50% of renter households are cost-burdened.
Q3
What is the poverty rate in tract 25017352400?
22.3% of residents in tract 25017352400 live below the federal poverty line (ACS B17001, 2023). Population: 1,896.
Q4
How socially vulnerable is tract 25017352400?
CDC Social Vulnerability Index ranks this tract in the 77th percentile nationally. Sub-themes: socioeconomic 77th, household 60th, minority 86th, housing 63th.
Q5
Is tract 25017352400 considered part of Harlow Square?
Yes. Per Census Bureau 2020 Block Assignment Files, the plurality of blocks in tract 25017352400 fall within Harlow Square (neighborhood centroid within 0.2 miles, OSM data).
Q6
How many evictions are filed each year in tract 25017352400?
Princeton Eviction Lab recorded 323 eviction filings across 5 validated years in tract 25017352400 (2000-2018). The average annual filing rate is 10.74% of renter households, peaking at 14.5% in 2013. Source: Eviction Lab tract-validated 2024 release.
Q7
Did eviction filings in tract 25017352400 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.
Q8
What share of households in tract 25017352400 struggle to pay rent?
About 23.2% 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. 15.9% also reported utility shutoff threats, a frequent precursor to eviction filings.
Q9
How does tract 25017352400 compare to Cambridge overall?
Tract 25017352400 scores 9.9/10, higher than the parent city of Cambridge at 8.9/10. 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 25017352400 historically redlined?
Yes. This tract sits inside an area graded by the Home Owners' Loan Corporation in the 1930s, with a dominant grade of D. 39% 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
Harvard Yard
9.9
/ 10 · Very High
Tract · MA
Brickbottom
9.9
/ 10 · Very High
Tract · MA
Old Cambridge
9.9
/ 10 · Very High
Tract · MA
Inman Square
9.9
/ 10 · Very High
Tract · MA
Huron Village
9.9
/ 10 · Very High
Tract · MA
Central Square
9.9
/ 10 · Very High
Tract · MA
Harlow Square
9.9
/ 10 · Very High
Tract · MA
West Somerville
9.9
/ 10 · Very High
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