Within neighborhood
80
th percentile
High
Neighborhood · Ranked #26,446 of 84,120 nationally
Central Square Eviction Risk: Moderate , Cambridge
Tract 25017359400 · Middlesex County, MA · pop 7,020 · neighborhood within 0.4 mi
The Central Square neighborhood of Cambridge anchors census tract 25017359400, which lands at 6.1/10 on landlord eviction risk. On the national scale it ranks #18,745 of 84,120 for landlord eviction difficulty.
Rent eats 30% or more of income for 40% of renter households, a high level, and 19% are severely burdened at 50% or more. The typical renter pays about $2,566 a month while the average household earns $115,259 a year, roughly 27% of income at the averages. About 66% of occupied units are renter-occupied, a renter-majority tract.
Risk score
4.9
Moderate
Confidence 100% · 1–10 scale
Household mix · 100 hh
Burdened renters 26%
Stable renters 40%
Owners 34%
Tract context
Occupied units3,306
Renter share66.1%
SVI overall0.47
Poverty rate14.7%
Median income$115,259
Percentile rank
Higher percentile = riskier than more peers.Within parent city
66
th percentile
Elevated
Within county
90
th percentile
Very High
Within state
77
th percentile
High
Geographic context
Risk heat across Cambridge and the region
Centroid at 42.3636, -71.1122 · click any tract to drill in
Why Central Square scores 4.9
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
14.7% poverty · this tract
3.7
Supply constraint
$2,566 rent vs county FMR
4.0
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: 47
CDC/ATSDR 2022. Higher = more vulnerable. National percentile across 84k tracts.
- 30%Socioeconomic
- 12%Household composition
- 67%Racial/ethnic minority
- 86%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
- 67%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
Pandemic-era tracking (2020–2021)
- 0Total filings 2020-21
- 0.0Avg monthly (observed)
- 5.1Pre-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.
- 10.0%Housing insecurity
- 6.2%Utility-shutoff threat
- 10.4%Food insecurity
- 11.5%SNAP enrollment
- 7.4%Transit barriers
- 4.0%No health insurance
- 15.6%Frequent mental distress
- 21.9%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 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 racially mixed and ranks around the 47th 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 10.0% of adults here said they could not pay rent or mortgage at some point in the past year, and 6.2% 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 25017359400
Q1
What is the eviction-risk score for census tract 25017359400?
Census tract 25017359400 in the Central Square neighborhood scores 4.9/10 (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 25017359400?
Median gross rent is $2,566/month (ACS 5-year 2023, table B25064). 40% of renter households are cost-burdened.
Q3
What is the poverty rate in tract 25017359400?
14.7% of residents in tract 25017359400 live below the federal poverty line (ACS B17001, 2023). Population: 7,020.
Q4
How socially vulnerable is tract 25017359400?
CDC Social Vulnerability Index ranks this tract in the 47th percentile nationally. Sub-themes: socioeconomic 30th, household 12th, minority 67th, housing 86th.
Q5
Is tract 25017359400 considered part of Central Square?
Yes. Per Census Bureau 2020 Block Assignment Files, the plurality of blocks in tract 25017359400 fall within Central Square (neighborhood centroid within 0.4 miles, OSM data).
Q6
Did eviction filings in tract 25017359400 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.
Q7
What share of households in tract 25017359400 struggle to pay rent?
About 10.0% 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. 6.2% also reported utility shutoff threats, a frequent precursor to eviction filings.
Q8
How does tract 25017359400 compare to Cambridge overall?
Tract 25017359400 scores 4.9/10, 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.
Q9
Was tract 25017359400 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. 67% 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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