Within neighborhood
0
th percentile
Very Low
Neighborhood · Ranked #71,178 of 84,120 nationally
Pigeon Hill Eviction Risk: Lower , Waltham
Tract 25017368901 · Middlesex County, MA · pop 6,175 · neighborhood within 0.3 mi
Pigeon Hill in Waltham anchors census tract 25017368901, which lands at $1/10 on landlord eviction risk. It lands near the 39th percentile nationally for landlord eviction risk.
Rent eats 30% or more of income for 35% of renter households, a high level, and 23% are severely burdened at 50% or more. The typical renter pays about $2,276 a month while the average household earns $134,813 a year, roughly 20% of income at the averages. About 33% of occupied units are renter-occupied.
Risk score
2.2
Lower
Confidence 100% · 1–10 scale
Household mix · 100 hh
Burdened renters 12%
Stable renters 22%
Owners 66%
Tract context
Occupied units2,837
Renter share33.3%
SVI overall0.47
Poverty rate6.0%
Median income$134,813
Percentile rank
Higher percentile = riskier than more peers.Within parent city
8
th percentile
Very Low
Within county
48
th percentile
Moderate
Within state
32
th percentile
Low
Geographic context
Risk heat across Waltham and the region
Centroid at 42.3967, -71.2286 · click any tract to drill in
Why Pigeon Hill scores 2.2
9 axes · 1 = landlord-friendlyLocal political climate
Inherited from Waltham
7.5
Regional political climate
2024 county presidential margin
7.3
State political climate
Massachusetts legislature & governorship
6.2
Economic stress
6.0% poverty · this tract
1.5
Supply constraint
$2,276 rent vs county FMR
3.0
Rent control risk
Inherited from Waltham
5.1
Eviction process difficulty
State law sets the calendar
5.7
Tenant organizing strength
Inherited from Waltham
9.2
Housing court bias
Inherited from Waltham
4.9
How Pigeon Hill 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.
- 18%Socioeconomic
- 37%Household composition
- 46%Racial/ethnic minority
- 90%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
- 1%Grade B
- 5%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
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)
- 35Total filings over 4 yrs
- 1.65%Avg annual filing rate
- 1.8%Peak (2013)
- 8Filings in 2016 (latest validated)
Pandemic-era tracking (2020–2021)
- 0Total filings 2020-21
- 0.0Avg monthly (observed)
- 0.0Pre-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 Pigeon Hill. 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.
- 7.2%Housing insecurity
- 4.4%Utility-shutoff threat
- 7.3%Food insecurity
- 8.0%SNAP enrollment
- 5.2%Transit barriers
- 3.2%No health insurance
- 13.1%Frequent mental distress
- 24.6%Any disability
Analysis
What drives eviction risk in Pigeon Hill
The heaviest input here is tenant organizing strength at 9.2/10. 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 Waltham 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 safer side for landlords.
In CDC survey modeling, about 7.2% of adults here said they could not pay rent or mortgage at some point in the past year, and 4.4% faced a utility shutoff threat, a common early warning before a filing.
The tract is predominantly White 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.
For a landlord, conditions here are middle-of-the-road. Standard screening and prompt, documented notices usually keep cases short.
Frequently asked
About tract 25017368901
Q1
What is the eviction-risk score for census tract 25017368901?
Census tract 25017368901 in the Pigeon Hill neighborhood scores 2.2/10 (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 25017368901?
Median gross rent is $2,276/month (ACS 5-year 2023, table B25064). 35% of renter households are cost-burdened.
Q3
What is the poverty rate in tract 25017368901?
6.0% of residents in tract 25017368901 live below the federal poverty line (ACS B17001, 2023). Population: 6,175.
Q4
How socially vulnerable is tract 25017368901?
CDC Social Vulnerability Index ranks this tract in the 47th percentile nationally. Sub-themes: socioeconomic 18th, household 37th, minority 46th, housing 90th.
Q5
Is tract 25017368901 considered part of Pigeon Hill?
Yes. Per Census Bureau 2020 Block Assignment Files, the plurality of blocks in tract 25017368901 fall within Pigeon Hill (neighborhood centroid within 0.3 miles, OSM data).
Q6
How many evictions are filed each year in tract 25017368901?
Princeton Eviction Lab recorded 35 eviction filings across 4 validated years in tract 25017368901 (2000-2018). The average annual filing rate is 1.65% of renter households, peaking at 1.8% in 2013. Source: Eviction Lab tract-validated 2024 release.
Q7
What share of households in tract 25017368901 struggle to pay rent?
About 7.2% 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. 4.4% also reported utility shutoff threats, a frequent precursor to eviction filings.
Q8
How does tract 25017368901 compare to Waltham overall?
Tract 25017368901 scores 2.2/10, lower than the parent city of Waltham at 5.6/10. City-scale signals (state law, local rent controls, court bias) are inherited from Waltham eviction risk; what makes this tract different are its tract-specific economic stress and supply-constraint sub-scores.
Q9
Was tract 25017368901 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 Waltham
Top eight tracts in Waltham ranked by composite eviction-risk score.
Tract · MA
Pigeon Hill
5.9
/ 10 · Elevated
Tract · MA
Central Square
4.5
/ 10 · Moderate
Tract · MA
The Bleachery
3.7
/ 10 · Low
Tract · MA
South Side
3.4
/ 10 · Low
Tract · MA
Banks Square
3.3
/ 10 · Low
Tract · MA
The Island
2.8
/ 10 · Low
Tract · MA
The Bleachery
2.5
/ 10 · Low
Tract · MA
Prospectville
2.3
/ 10 · Low
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