Within neighborhood
25
th percentile
Low
Neighborhood · Ranked #29,578 of 84,120 nationally
Harlow Square Eviction Risk: Moderate , Cambridge
Tract 25017352500 · Middlesex County, MA · pop 3,136 · neighborhood within 0.2 mi
The Elevated-tier score of 6.2/10 for census tract 25017352500 reflects conditions in the Harlow Square neighborhood of Cambridge, Massachusetts. That is riskier than about 80% of US census tracts.
Rent eats 30% or more of income for 47% of renter households, a severe level, and 13% are severely burdened at 50% or more. The typical renter pays about $2,636 a month while the average household earns $102,464 a year, roughly 31% of income at the averages. About 60% of occupied units are renter-occupied, a renter-majority tract.
Risk score
4.7
Moderate
Confidence 100% · 1–10 scale
Household mix · 100 hh
Burdened renters 29%
Stable renters 32%
Owners 39%
Tract context
Occupied units1,351
Renter share60.3%
SVI overall0.25
Poverty rate9.7%
Median income$102,464
Percentile rank
Higher percentile = riskier than more peers.Within parent city
63
th percentile
Elevated
Within county
88
th percentile
High
Within state
74
th percentile
Elevated
Geographic context
Risk heat across Cambridge and the region
Centroid at 42.3682, -71.0979 · click any tract to drill in
Why Harlow Square scores 4.7
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
9.7% poverty · this tract
2.4
Supply constraint
$2,636 rent vs county FMR
4.3
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: 25
CDC/ATSDR 2022. Higher = more vulnerable. National percentile across 84k tracts.
- 25%Socioeconomic
- 3%Household composition
- 59%Racial/ethnic minority
- 68%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
- 92%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)
- 114Total filings over 5 yrs
- 3.11%Avg annual filing rate
- 4.2%Peak (2013)
- 24Filings in 2016 (latest validated)
Filings climbed 50% over the past 5 months.
Pandemic-era tracking (2020–2021)
- 0Total filings 2020-21
- 0.0Avg monthly (observed)
- 3.2Pre-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.
- 10.6%Housing insecurity
- 6.2%Utility-shutoff threat
- 10.7%Food insecurity
- 11.3%SNAP enrollment
- 7.7%Transit barriers
- 4.3%No health insurance
- 16.5%Frequent mental distress
- 21.0%Any disability
Analysis
What drives eviction risk in Harlow Square
What moves this score most is eviction process difficulty at 8.5/10. 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 in line with the Massachusetts statewide average of 5.9. Within its own county it reads on the riskier side for landlords.
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.
The tract is racially mixed and ranks around the 25th 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, this is a tract where process discipline pays off. Clean paperwork and steady screening keep the elevated risk manageable.
Frequently asked
About tract 25017352500
Q1
What is the eviction-risk score for census tract 25017352500?
Census tract 25017352500 in the Harlow Square neighborhood scores 4.7/10 (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 25017352500?
Median gross rent is $2,636/month (ACS 5-year 2023, table B25064). 47% of renter households are cost-burdened.
Q3
What is the poverty rate in tract 25017352500?
9.7% of residents in tract 25017352500 live below the federal poverty line (ACS B17001, 2023). Population: 3,136.
Q4
How socially vulnerable is tract 25017352500?
CDC Social Vulnerability Index ranks this tract in the 25th percentile nationally. Sub-themes: socioeconomic 25th, household 3th, minority 59th, housing 68th.
Q5
Is tract 25017352500 considered part of Harlow Square?
Yes. Per Census Bureau 2020 Block Assignment Files, the plurality of blocks in tract 25017352500 fall within Harlow Square (neighborhood centroid within 0.2 miles, OSM data).
Q6
How many evictions are filed each year in tract 25017352500?
Princeton Eviction Lab recorded 114 eviction filings across 5 validated years in tract 25017352500 (2000-2018). The average annual filing rate is 3.11% of renter households, peaking at 4.2% in 2013. Source: Eviction Lab tract-validated 2024 release.
Q7
Did eviction filings in tract 25017352500 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 25017352500 struggle to pay rent?
About 10.6% 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. 6.2% also reported utility shutoff threats, a frequent precursor to eviction filings.
Q9
How does tract 25017352500 compare to Cambridge overall?
Tract 25017352500 scores 4.7/10, lower than the parent city of Cambridge at 7.1/10. 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 25017352500 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. 92% 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
6.8
/ 10 · Elevated
Tract · MA
Central Square
6.5
/ 10 · Elevated
Tract · MA
Harlow Square
6.3
/ 10 · Elevated
Tract · MA
Harlow Square
6.2
/ 10 · Elevated
Tract · MA
Brickbottom
5.8
/ 10 · Elevated
Tract · MA
Old Cambridge
5.8
/ 10 · Elevated
Tract · MA
West Somerville
5.5
/ 10 · Elevated
Tract · MA
Inman Square
5.4
/ 10 · Moderate
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