Within neighborhood
0
th percentile
Very Low
Neighborhood · Ranked #82,639 of 84,120 nationally
Oak Square Eviction Risk: Lower , Newton
Tract 25017373500 · Middlesex County, MA · pop 6,117 · neighborhood within 0.9 mi
Landlord eviction risk in census tract 25017373500 (the Oak Square neighborhood of Newton, Massachusetts) comes in at $1/10, the Moderate tier. That is riskier than about 12% of US census tracts.
10% of renter households here spend at least 30% of income on rent, a modest level, and 6% are severely burdened at 50% or more. Average gross rent is $2,938 monthly, set against $250,001 in average yearly household income, roughly 14% of income at the averages. About 9% of occupied units are renter-occupied.
Risk score
1.1
Lower
Confidence 100% · 1–10 scale
Household mix · 100 hh
Burdened renters 1%
Stable renters 8%
Owners 91%
Tract context
Occupied units1,925
Renter share9.4%
SVI overall0.12
Poverty rate3.9%
Median income$250,001
Percentile rank
Higher percentile = riskier than more peers.Within parent city
6
th percentile
Very Low
Within county
6
th percentile
Very Low
Within state
5
th percentile
Very Low
Geographic context
Risk heat across Newton and the region
Centroid at 42.3440, -71.1835 · click any tract to drill in
Why Oak Square scores 1.1
9 axes · 1 = landlord-friendlyLocal political climate
Inherited from Newton
7.1
Regional political climate
2024 county presidential margin
7.3
State political climate
Massachusetts legislature & governorship
6.2
Economic stress
3.9% poverty · this tract
1.0
Supply constraint
$2,938 rent vs county FMR
5.4
Rent control risk
Inherited from Newton
4.8
Eviction process difficulty
State law sets the calendar
5.9
Tenant organizing strength
Inherited from Newton
6.3
Housing court bias
Inherited from Newton
3.9
How Oak Square compares
Risk score vs. parent city, county, state.CDC Social Vulnerability Index
SVI percentile: 12
CDC/ATSDR 2022. Higher = more vulnerable. National percentile across 84k tracts.
- 3%Socioeconomic
- 24%Household composition
- 31%Racial/ethnic minority
- 39%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.
- 39%Grade A
- 45%Grade B
- 2%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)
- 5Total filings over 3 yrs
- 0.58%Avg annual filing rate
- 0.7%Peak (2012)
- 2Filings in 2016 (latest validated)
Filings stayed roughly flat 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
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 Oak 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.
- 5.4%Housing insecurity
- 3.3%Utility-shutoff threat
- 5.3%Food insecurity
- 5.2%SNAP enrollment
- 4.5%Transit barriers
- 2.2%No health insurance
- 13.2%Frequent mental distress
- 20.4%Any disability
Analysis
What drives eviction risk in Oak Square
The heaviest input here is tenant organizing strength at 6.3/10. 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 Newton eviction risk, 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.
HOLC surveyors mapped this tract in the 1930s with a dominant grade of B ("Still Desirable"), above the redlined D tier. The grading still shaped decades of lending and development in the surrounding area.
During 2020 and 2021, eviction filings here ran at about 0.00x the pre-COVID monthly baseline, well below the pre-pandemic norm, the signature of an eviction moratorium at work.
For a landlord, conditions here are middle-of-the-road. Standard screening and prompt, documented notices usually keep cases short.
Frequently asked
About tract 25017373500
Q1
What is the eviction-risk score for census tract 25017373500?
Census tract 25017373500 in the Oak 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.
Q2
What is the average rent in tract 25017373500?
Median gross rent is $2,938/month (ACS 5-year 2023, table B25064). 10% of renter households are cost-burdened.
Q3
What is the poverty rate in tract 25017373500?
3.9% of residents in tract 25017373500 live below the federal poverty line (ACS B17001, 2023). Population: 6,117.
Q4
How socially vulnerable is tract 25017373500?
CDC Social Vulnerability Index ranks this tract in the 12th percentile nationally. Sub-themes: socioeconomic 3th, household 24th, minority 31th, housing 39th.
Q5
Is tract 25017373500 considered part of Oak Square?
Yes. Per Census Bureau 2020 Block Assignment Files, the plurality of blocks in tract 25017373500 fall within Oak Square (neighborhood centroid within 0.9 miles, OSM data).
Q6
How many evictions are filed each year in tract 25017373500?
Princeton Eviction Lab recorded 5 eviction filings across 3 validated years in tract 25017373500 (2000-2018). The average annual filing rate is 0.58% of renter households, peaking at 0.7% in 2012. Source: Eviction Lab tract-validated 2024 release.
Q7
Did eviction filings in tract 25017373500 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.
Q8
What share of households in tract 25017373500 struggle to pay rent?
About 5.4% 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. 3.3% also reported utility shutoff threats, a frequent precursor to eviction filings.
Q9
How does tract 25017373500 compare to Newton overall?
Tract 25017373500 scores 1.1/10, lower than the parent city of Newton at 5.6/10. City-scale signals (state law, local rent controls, court bias) are inherited from Newton eviction risk; what makes this tract different are its tract-specific economic stress and supply-constraint sub-scores.
Q10
Was tract 25017373500 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 Newton
Top eight tracts in Newton ranked by composite eviction-risk score.
Tract · MA
Newton Highlands
1.9
/ 10 · Very Low
Tract · MA
The Island
1.5
/ 10 · Very Low
Tract · MA
Bemis
1.5
/ 10 · Very Low
Tract · MA
Cleveland Circle
1.5
/ 10 · Very Low
Tract · MA
Night Caps Corner
1.4
/ 10 · Very Low
Tract · MA
Oak Square
1.3
/ 10 · Very Low
Tract · MA
Thompsonville
1.3
/ 10 · Very Low
Tract · MA
Nonantum
1.2
/ 10 · Very Low
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