Neighborhood · Ranked #82,639 of 84,120 nationally

Cushing Square Eviction Risk: Lower , Belmont

Tract 25017357200 · Middlesex County, MA · pop 3,270 · neighborhood within 0.8 mi

Census tract 25017357200 covers Cushing Square in Belmont, home to 3,270 residents. For landlords it grades 4.4/10, a moderate reading. That is riskier than about 20% of US census tracts.

23% of renter households here spend at least 30% of income on rent, a moderate level, and 7% are severely burdened at 50% or more. Average gross rent is $2,264 monthly, set against $228,281 in average yearly household income, roughly 12% of income at the averages. Renters make up 18% of occupied homes.

Risk score

1.1

Lower

Confidence 100% · 1–10 scale

Household mix · 100 hh

Burdened renters 4% Stable renters 14% Owners 82%

Tract context

Occupied units1,153

Renter share18.2%

SVI overall0.07

Poverty rate1.6%

Median income$228,281

Percentile rank

Higher percentile = riskier than more peers.

Geographic context

Risk heat across Belmont and the region

Centroid at 42.3904, -71.1659 · click any tract to drill in

Why Cushing Square scores 1.1

9 axes · 1 = landlord-friendly

Local political climate

Inherited from Belmont

8.3

Regional political climate

2024 county presidential margin

7.3

State political climate

Massachusetts legislature & governorship

6.2

Economic stress

1.6% poverty · this tract

1.0

Supply constraint

$2,264 rent vs county FMR

3.0

Rent control risk

Inherited from Belmont

4.2

Eviction process difficulty

State law sets the calendar

5.8

Tenant organizing strength

Inherited from Belmont

7.5

Housing court bias

Inherited from Belmont

3.4

How Cushing Square compares

Risk score vs. parent city, county, state.

CDC Social Vulnerability Index

SVI percentile: 7

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

3%Socioeconomic
44%Household composition
46%Racial/ethnic minority
7%Housing & transportation

Historical context · 1930s redlining

HOLC grade: B: Still Desirable

This tract sits within an area graded by the Home Owners' Loan Corporation in the 1930s. Grade B meant middle-class areas with mortgage access. These designations suppressed minority homeownership for generations and remain a documented predictor of present-day eviction filings and rent burden.

17%Grade A
44%Grade B
4%Grade C
10%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)

5Total filings over 4 yrs
0.47%Avg annual filing rate
0.8%Peak (2012)
1Filings in 2015 (latest validated)

Filings by year 2012 to 2016

Filings dropped 100% over the past 5 months.

Pandemic-era tracking (2020–2021)

0Total filings 2020-21
0.0Avg monthly (observed)
0.1Pre-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 Cushing 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.

4.7%Housing insecurity
3.0%Utility-shutoff threat
4.5%Food insecurity
4.3%SNAP enrollment
3.7%Transit barriers
2.0%No health insurance
11.3%Frequent mental distress
18.9%Any disability

Analysis

What drives eviction risk in Cushing Square

The heaviest input here is tenant organizing strength at 7.5/10. 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 Belmont, while the economic and supply signals are measured at the tract level.

Set against its neighbors, this tract scores below the Middlesex County average of 5.2 and below the Massachusetts statewide average of 5.9. Within its own county it reads on the safer side for landlords.

Part of this tract, about 10% of its area, sat in the redlined grade-D zone on 1930s HOLC maps, though its dominant grade was B ("Still Desirable"). That lending history still correlates with present-day rent burden.

The tract is predominantly White and ranks around the 7th 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 25017357200

What is the eviction-risk score for census tract 25017357200?

Census tract 25017357200 in the Cushing Square neighborhood scores 1.1/10 (Lower tier). The Eviction Risk Score blends state law, county filing rates, parent-city politics, and tract-specific rent-to-income ratios + poverty signals.

What is the average rent in tract 25017357200?

Median gross rent is $2,264/month (ACS 5-year 2023, table B25064). 23% of renter households are cost-burdened.

What is the poverty rate in tract 25017357200?

1.6% of residents in tract 25017357200 live below the federal poverty line (ACS B17001, 2023). Population: 3,270.

How socially vulnerable is tract 25017357200?

CDC Social Vulnerability Index ranks this tract in the 7th percentile nationally. Sub-themes: socioeconomic 3th, household 44th, minority 46th, housing 7th.

Is tract 25017357200 considered part of Cushing Square?

Yes. Per Census Bureau 2020 Block Assignment Files, the plurality of blocks in tract 25017357200 fall within Cushing Square (neighborhood centroid within 0.8 miles, OSM data).

How many evictions are filed each year in tract 25017357200?

Princeton Eviction Lab recorded 5 eviction filings across 4 validated years in tract 25017357200 (2000-2018). The average annual filing rate is 0.47% of renter households, peaking at 0.8% in 2012. Source: Eviction Lab tract-validated 2024 release.

Did eviction filings in tract 25017357200 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 25017357200 struggle to pay rent?

About 4.7% 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. 3.0% also reported utility shutoff threats, a frequent precursor to eviction filings.

How does tract 25017357200 compare to Belmont overall?

Tract 25017357200 scores 1.1/10, lower than the parent city of Belmont at 5.9/10. City-scale signals (state law, local rent controls, court bias) are inherited from Belmont; what makes this tract different are its tract-specific economic stress and supply-constraint sub-scores.

Q10

Was tract 25017357200 historically redlined?

Yes. This tract sits inside an area graded by the Home Owners' Loan Corporation in the 1930s, with a dominant grade of B. 10% 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 Belmont

Top eight tracts in Belmont ranked by composite eviction-risk score.

Eviction Lab tract-level court records (2000-2018) and Eviction Tracking System, Princeton University. Open Data Commons Attribution license. evictionlab.org