Neighborhood · Ranked #23,426 of 84,120 nationally

West Somerville Eviction Risk: Elevated , Cambridge

Tract 25017354902 · Middlesex County, MA · pop 5,390 · neighborhood within 0.7 mi

Census tract 25017354902 runs through West Somerville in Cambridge. With 5,390 residents, it scores 6.1/10 for landlords. That is riskier than roughly 78% of the 84,120 US census tracts we score.

Rent eats 30% or more of income for 43% of renter households, a severe level, and 12% are severely burdened at 50% or more. Average gross rent is $1,776 monthly, set against $90,046 in average yearly household income, roughly 24% of income at the averages. Renters make up 58% of occupied homes, a renter-majority tract.

Risk score

6.1

Elevated

Confidence 100% · 1-10 scale

Household mix · 100 hh

Burdened renters 24% Stable renters 33% Owners 43%

Tract context

Occupied units2,360

Renter share57.5%

SVI overall0.64

Poverty rate17.0%

Median income$90,046

Percentile rank

Higher percentile = riskier than more peers.

Geographic context

Risk heat across Cambridge and the region

Centroid at 42.3947, -71.1357 · click any tract to drill in

Why West Somerville scores 6.1

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

17.0% poverty · this tract

4.3

Supply constraint

$1,776 rent vs county FMR

1.3

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 West Somerville compares

Risk score vs. parent city, county, state.

CDC Social Vulnerability Index

SVI percentile: 64

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

45%Socioeconomic
67%Household composition
70%Racial/ethnic minority
72%Housing & transportation

Historical context · 1930s redlining

HOLC grade: C: Definitely Declining

This tract sits within an area graded by the Home Owners' Loan Corporation in the 1930s. Grade C meant mixed-race / working-class neighborhoods rated as risky. 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
43%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)
3.9Pre-pandemic baseline
0.00×Ratio to baseline

Monthly filings 2020-2021 2020-01-01 to 2023-11-01

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.

14.0%Housing insecurity
8.8%Utility-shutoff threat
16.1%Food insecurity
18.7%SNAP enrollment
9.7%Transit barriers
5.2%No health insurance
15.8%Frequent mental distress
26.5%Any disability

Analysis

What drives eviction risk in West Somerville

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.

The tract is White and Asian and ranks around the 64th percentile nationally on the CDC Social Vulnerability Index, a measure of how exposed residents are to housing and economic shocks. That is a middle-of-the-pack reading for social vulnerability.

In CDC survey modeling, about 14.0% of adults here said they could not pay rent or mortgage at some point in the past year, and 8.8% faced a utility shutoff threat, a common early warning before a filing.

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 25017354902

What is the eviction-risk score for census tract 25017354902?

Census tract 25017354902 in the West Somerville neighborhood scores 6.1/10 (Elevated tier). The Eviction Risk Score blends state law, county filing rates, parent-city politics, and tract-specific rent-to-income ratios + poverty signals.

What is the average rent in tract 25017354902?

Median gross rent is $1,776/month (ACS 5-year 2023, table B25064). 43% of renter households are cost-burdened.

What is the poverty rate in tract 25017354902?

17.0% of residents in tract 25017354902 live below the federal poverty line (ACS B17001, 2023). Population: 5,390.

How socially vulnerable is tract 25017354902?

CDC Social Vulnerability Index ranks this tract in the 64th percentile nationally. Sub-themes: socioeconomic 45th, household 67th, minority 70th, housing 72th.

Is tract 25017354902 considered part of West Somerville?

Yes. Per Census Bureau 2020 Block Assignment Files, the plurality of blocks in tract 25017354902 fall within West Somerville (neighborhood centroid within 0.7 miles, OSM data).

Did eviction filings in tract 25017354902 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.

What share of households in tract 25017354902 struggle to pay rent?

About 14.0% 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. 8.8% also reported utility shutoff threats, a frequent precursor to eviction filings.

How does tract 25017354902 compare to Cambridge overall?

Tract 25017354902 scores 6.1/10, higher 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.

Was tract 25017354902 historically redlined?

Yes. This tract sits inside an area graded by the Home Owners' Loan Corporation in the 1930s, with a dominant grade of C. 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.