Within neighborhood
0
th percentile
Very Low
Neighborhood · Ranked #42,763 of 84,120 nationally
Central Square Eviction Risk: Lower , Cambridge
Tract 25017353300 · Middlesex County, MA · pop 4,302 · neighborhood within 0.6 mi
Census tract 25017353300 covers Central Square in Cambridge, home to 4,302 residents. For landlords it grades 5.5/10, a moderate reading. That is riskier than roughly 57% of the 84,120 US census tracts we score.
About 27% of renters carry a rent burden of 30% of income or higher, a moderate level, and 5% are severely burdened at 50% or more. Average gross rent is $2,832 monthly, set against $167,338 in average yearly household income, roughly 20% of income at the averages. About 47% of occupied units are renter-occupied.
Risk score
3.9
Lower
Confidence 100% · 1–10 scale
Household mix · 100 hh
Burdened renters 13%
Stable renters 34%
Owners 53%
Tract context
Occupied units1,869
Renter share47.0%
SVI overall0.13
Poverty rate6.6%
Median income$167,338
Percentile rank
Higher percentile = riskier than more peers.Within parent city
16
th percentile
Very Low
Within county
76
th percentile
High
Within state
62
th percentile
Elevated
Geographic context
Risk heat across Cambridge and the region
Centroid at 42.3585, -71.1111 · click any tract to drill in
Why Central Square scores 3.9
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
6.6% poverty · this tract
1.7
Supply constraint
$2,832 rent vs county FMR
5.0
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 Central Square compares
Risk score vs. parent city, county, state.CDC Social Vulnerability Index
SVI percentile: 13
CDC/ATSDR 2022. Higher = more vulnerable. National percentile across 84k tracts.
- 5%Socioeconomic
- 3%Household composition
- 56%Racial/ethnic minority
- 65%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
- 13%Grade C
- 42%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)
- 47Total filings over 5 yrs
- 1.14%Avg annual filing rate
- 1.9%Peak (2013)
- 4Filings in 2016 (latest validated)
Filings dropped 56% over the past 5 months.
Pandemic-era tracking (2020–2021)
- 0Total filings 2020-21
- 0.0Avg monthly (observed)
- 0.8Pre-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 Central 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.
- 6.6%Housing insecurity
- 4.1%Utility-shutoff threat
- 5.9%Food insecurity
- 6.1%SNAP enrollment
- 5.0%Transit barriers
- 2.5%No health insurance
- 13.8%Frequent mental distress
- 18.2%Any disability
Analysis
What drives eviction risk in Central Square
The heaviest input here 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 about the same as the Middlesex County average of 5.2 and below the Massachusetts statewide average of 5.9. Within its own county it reads on the riskier side for landlords.
This tract overlaps land the federal Home Owners' Loan Corporation redlined in the 1930s, a dominant grade of D ("Hazardous") across 42% of the tract. Redlining cut off mortgage credit to Black, immigrant, and working-class blocks, and those areas still tend to carry higher rent burden and eviction filings today.
The tract is predominantly White and ranks around the 13th 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 25017353300
Q1
What is the eviction-risk score for census tract 25017353300?
Census tract 25017353300 in the Central Square neighborhood scores 3.9/10 (Lower 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 25017353300?
Median gross rent is $2,832/month (ACS 5-year 2023, table B25064). 27% of renter households are cost-burdened.
Q3
What is the poverty rate in tract 25017353300?
6.6% of residents in tract 25017353300 live below the federal poverty line (ACS B17001, 2023). Population: 4,302.
Q4
How socially vulnerable is tract 25017353300?
CDC Social Vulnerability Index ranks this tract in the 13th percentile nationally. Sub-themes: socioeconomic 5th, household 3th, minority 56th, housing 65th.
Q5
Is tract 25017353300 considered part of Central Square?
Yes. Per Census Bureau 2020 Block Assignment Files, the plurality of blocks in tract 25017353300 fall within Central Square (neighborhood centroid within 0.6 miles, OSM data).
Q6
How many evictions are filed each year in tract 25017353300?
Princeton Eviction Lab recorded 47 eviction filings across 5 validated years in tract 25017353300 (2000-2018). The average annual filing rate is 1.14% of renter households, peaking at 1.9% in 2013. Source: Eviction Lab tract-validated 2024 release.
Q7
Did eviction filings in tract 25017353300 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 25017353300 struggle to pay rent?
About 6.6% 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. 4.1% also reported utility shutoff threats, a frequent precursor to eviction filings.
Q9
How does tract 25017353300 compare to Cambridge overall?
Tract 25017353300 scores 3.9/10, 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 25017353300 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. 42% 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
Old Cambridge
5.8
/ 10 · Elevated
Tract · MA
Brickbottom
5.8
/ 10 · Elevated
Tract · MA
West Somerville
5.5
/ 10 · Elevated
Tract · MA
Inman Square
5.4
/ 10 · Moderate
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