Neighborhood · Ranked #77,226 of 84,120 nationally
Cushing Square Eviction Risk: Lower , Belmont
Tract 25017370201 ·
Middlesex County, MA · pop 4,278 · neighborhood within 0.5 mi
Tract 25017370201 covers the Cushing Square neighborhood of Belmont in Massachusetts. Home to 4,278 residents, it scores 4.9/10 on landlord eviction risk. That is riskier than roughly 35% of the 84,120 US census tracts we score.
45% of renter households here spend at least 30% of income on rent, a severe level, and 9% are severely burdened at 50% or more. The typical renter pays about $2,664 a month while the average household earns $141,176 a year, roughly 23% of income at the averages. About 38% of occupied units are renter-occupied.
Risk score
1.7
Lower
Confidence 80% · 1–10 scale
Household mix · 100 hh
Burdened renters 17%Stable renters 21%Owners 62%
Tract context
Occupied units1,808
Renter share37.6%
SVI overall0.23
Poverty rate1.8%
Median income$141,176
Percentile rank
Higher percentile = riskier than more peers.
Within neighborhood
60th percentile
#3 of 6 tracts In Cushing Square
Elevated
Within parent city
0th percentile
#10 of 10 tracts In Belmont
Very Low
Within county
35th percentile
#232 of 357 tracts In Middlesex County
Low
Within state
20th percentile
#1,294 of 1,613 tracts In Massachusetts
Very Low
Geographic context
Risk heat across Belmont and the region
Centroid at 42.3736, -71.1701 · click any tract to drill in
Why Cushing Square scores 1.7
9 axes · 1 = landlord-friendly
Local political climate
Inherited from Belmont
6.2
Regional political climate
2024 county presidential margin
7.3
State political climate
Massachusetts legislature & governorship
6.2
Economic stress
1.8% poverty · this tract
1.0
Supply constraint
$2,664 rent vs county FMR
4.4
Rent control risk
Inherited from Belmont
6.2
Eviction process difficulty
State law sets the calendar
5.0
Tenant organizing strength
Inherited from Belmont
4.0
Housing court bias
Inherited from Belmont
5.0
How Cushing Square compares
Risk score vs. parent city, county, state.
CDC Social Vulnerability Index
SVI percentile: 23
CDC/ATSDR 2022. Higher = more vulnerable. National percentile across 84k tracts.
19%Socioeconomic
23%Household composition
31%Racial/ethnic minority
45%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.
0%Grade A
99%Grade B
1%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)
23Total filings over 4 yrs
0.85%Avg annual filing rate
1.0%Peak (2013)
7Filings in 2016 (latest validated)
Filings by year2012 to 2016
Pandemic-era tracking (2020–2021)
0Total filings 2020-21
0.0Avg monthly (observed)
0.0Pre-pandemic baseline
0.00×Ratio to baseline
Monthly filings 2020–20212020-01-01 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.
Crude prevalence of conditions linked to housing loss. Source: CDC PLACES (cwsq-ngmh), 2023 model-based small-area estimates.
6.7%Housing insecurity
4.1%Utility-shutoff threat
6.0%Food insecurity
6.7%SNAP enrollment
4.7%Transit barriers
2.8%No health insurance
13.8%Frequent mental distress
21.0%Any disability
Analysis
What drives eviction risk in Cushing Square
The heaviest input here is rent-control risk at 6.2/10. 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 Belmont, 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.
The tract is predominantly White and ranks around the 23rd 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.
Princeton's Eviction Lab logged 23 eviction filings here over 4 tracked years, with about 0.8% of renter households facing a filing in a typical year. Filings peaked at 1.0% of renter households in 2013.
For a landlord, conditions here are middle-of-the-road. Standard screening and prompt, documented notices usually keep cases short.
Frequently asked
About tract 25017370201
Q1
What is the eviction-risk score for census tract 25017370201?
Census tract 25017370201 in the Cushing Square neighborhood scores 1.7/10 (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 25017370201?
Median gross rent is $2,664/month (ACS 5-year 2023, table B25064). 45% of renter households are cost-burdened.
Q3
What is the poverty rate in tract 25017370201?
1.8% of residents in tract 25017370201 live below the federal poverty line (ACS B17001, 2023). Population: 4,278.
Q4
How socially vulnerable is tract 25017370201?
CDC Social Vulnerability Index ranks this tract in the 23th percentile nationally. Sub-themes: socioeconomic 19th, household 23th, minority 31th, housing 45th.
Q5
Is tract 25017370201 considered part of Cushing Square?
Yes. Per Census Bureau 2020 Block Assignment Files, the plurality of blocks in tract 25017370201 fall within Cushing Square (neighborhood centroid within 0.5 miles, OSM data).
Q6
How many evictions are filed each year in tract 25017370201?
Princeton Eviction Lab recorded 23 eviction filings across 4 validated years in tract 25017370201 (2000-2018). The average annual filing rate is 0.85% of renter households, peaking at 1.0% in 2013. Source: Eviction Lab tract-validated 2024 release.
Q7
What share of households in tract 25017370201 struggle to pay rent?
About 6.7% 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. 4.1% also reported utility shutoff threats, a frequent precursor to eviction filings.
Q8
How does tract 25017370201 compare to Belmont overall?
Tract 25017370201 scores 1.7/10, 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.
Q9
Was tract 25017370201 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. 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 Belmont
Top eight tracts in Belmont ranked by composite eviction-risk score.