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Neighborhood · Ranked #15,434 of 84,120 nationally

Harlow Square Eviction Risk: Elevated , Cambridge

Tract 25017352500 · Middlesex County, MA · pop 3,136 · neighborhood within 0.2 mi

Census tract 25017352500 sits in the Harlow Square neighborhood of Cambridge, Massachusetts. It has a population of 3,136 and an eviction-risk score of 6.2/10 (Elevated tier). 47% of renters here pay 30%+ of their household income on rent, with 13% severely cost-burdened (≥50%). Median gross rent is $2,636/month against a median household income of $102,464 — roughly 31% rent-to-income at the medians.

Risk score
6.2
Elevated
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 neighborhood
25 th percentile
Rank — 25th percentileBottomTop
#4 of 5 tracts In Harlow Square
Low
Within parent city
53 th percentile
Rank — 53th percentileBottomTop
#16 of 33 tracts In Cambridge
Moderate
Within county
94 th percentile
Rank — 94th percentileBottomTop
#24 of 357 tracts In Middlesex County
Very High
Within state
65 th percentile
Rank — 65th percentileBottomTop
#563 of 1,613 tracts In Massachusetts
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 6.2

9 axes · 1 = landlord-friendly
Local 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.
Harlow Square risk score vs. parent city / county / stateThis tract: 6.26.2This tracttract 352500Cambridge: 8.28.2Cambridgeparent cityCounty: 5.25.2Countyavg tract in countyState: 5.95.9Stateavg tract in state
CDC Social Vulnerability Index

SVI percentile: 25

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

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.

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)

  • 114Total filings over 5 yrs
  • 3.11%Avg annual filing rate
  • 4.2%Peak (2013)
  • 24Filings in 2016 (latest validated)
Filings by year 2012 — 2016
Year-by-year eviction filings in tract 250173525002012: 16 filings (2.23/100 renter HHs)2013: 30 filings (4.17/100 renter HHs)2014: 19 filings (2.64/100 renter HHs)2015: 25 filings (3.48/100 renter HHs)2016: 24 filings (3.02/100 renter HHs)
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
Monthly filings 2020–2021 2020-01-01 — 2023-11-01
Monthly eviction filings vs pre-pandemic baseline2020-01-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2020-02-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2020-03-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2020-04-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2020-05-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2020-06-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2020-07-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2020-08-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2020-09-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2020-10-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2020-11-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2020-12-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2021-01-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2021-02-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2021-03-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2021-04-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2021-05-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2021-06-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2021-07-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2021-08-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2021-09-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2021-10-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2021-11-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2021-12-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2022-01-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2022-02-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2022-03-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2022-04-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2022-05-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2022-06-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2022-07-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2022-08-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2022-09-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2022-10-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2022-11-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2022-12-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2023-01-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2023-02-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2023-03-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2023-04-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2023-05-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2023-06-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2023-07-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2023-08-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2023-09-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2023-10-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2023-11-01: 0 filings (0.00× 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.

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 6.2/10 (Elevated 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 6.2/10 — lower than the parent city of Cambridge at 8.2/10. 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.

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