Frederick Douglass Square Historic District Eviction Risk: Elevated , Boston
Tract 25025010403 ·
Suffolk County, MA · pop 2,665 · neighborhood within 0.7 mi
Tract 25025010403, home to 2,665 residents in the Frederick Douglass Square Historic District neighborhood of Boston, scores 7.7/10 for landlord eviction risk. That puts it among the highest-scoring tracts in the entire country, the top 1% nationally for landlord eviction difficulty.
71% of renter households here spend at least 30% of income on rent, a severe level, and 38% are severely burdened at 50% or more. The typical renter pays about $2,209 a month while the average household earns $40,581 a year, roughly 65% of income at the averages. About 90% of occupied units are renter-occupied, a renter-majority tract.
Risk score
7.9
Elevated
Confidence 100% · 1–10 scale
Household mix · 100 hh
Burdened renters 64%Stable renters 26%Owners 10%
Tract context
Occupied units1,672
Renter share90.4%
SVI overall0.47
Poverty rate51.1%
Median income$40,581
Percentile rank
Higher percentile = riskier than more peers.
Within neighborhood
72th percentile
#6 of 19 tracts In Frederick Douglass Square Historic District
Elevated
Within parent city
93th percentile
#16 of 206 tracts In Boston
Very High
Within county
93th percentile
#17 of 234 tracts In Suffolk County
Very High
Within state
99th percentile
#19 of 1,613 tracts In Massachusetts
Very High
Geographic context
Risk heat across Boston and the region
Centroid at 42.3451, -71.0881 · click any tract to drill in
Why Frederick Douglass Square Historic District scores 7.9
9 axes · 1 = landlord-friendly
Local political climate
Inherited from Boston
8.5
Regional political climate
2024 county presidential margin
8.2
State political climate
Massachusetts legislature & governorship
6.2
Economic stress
51.1% poverty · this tract
10.0
Supply constraint
$2,209 rent vs county FMR
2.8
Rent control risk
Inherited from Boston
8.0
Eviction process difficulty
State law sets the calendar
8.0
Tenant organizing strength
Inherited from Boston
8.5
Housing court bias
Inherited from Boston
8.0
How Frederick Douglass Square Historic District 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.
59%Socioeconomic
9%Household composition
64%Racial/ethnic minority
57%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
0%Grade B
100%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)
252Total filings over 5 yrs
2.83%Avg annual filing rate
3.6%Peak (2013)
32Filings in 2016 (latest validated)
Filings by year2012 to 2016
Filings dropped 47% over the past 5 months.
Pandemic-era tracking (2020–2021)
71Total filings 2020-21
1.5Avg monthly (observed)
4.5Pre-pandemic baseline
0.34×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 Frederick Douglass Square Historic District. Closest by Eviction Risk Score.
Crude prevalence of conditions linked to housing loss. Source: CDC PLACES (cwsq-ngmh), 2023 model-based small-area estimates.
14.3%Housing insecurity
10.6%Utility-shutoff threat
19.6%Food insecurity
23.7%SNAP enrollment
12.8%Transit barriers
5.1%No health insurance
18.7%Frequent mental distress
28.4%Any disability
Analysis
What drives eviction risk in Frederick Douglass Square Historic District
The heaviest input here is economic stress at $1/10. That part is specific to this tract, computed from its own rent, income, and poverty figures. Statewide and court-level factors such as eviction-process speed and rent-control exposure are inherited from Boston eviction risk, while the economic and supply signals are measured at the tract level.
Set against its neighbors, this tract scores above the Suffolk County average of 6.7 and above the Massachusetts statewide average of 5.9. Within its own county it reads on the riskier side for landlords.
HOLC surveyors mapped this tract in the 1930s with a dominant grade of C ("Declining"), above the redlined D tier. The grading still shaped decades of lending and development in the surrounding area.
The tract is White and Asian 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, this is a tract where process discipline pays off. Clean paperwork and steady screening keep the elevated risk manageable.
Frequently asked
About tract 25025010403
Q1
What is the eviction-risk score for census tract 25025010403?
Census tract 25025010403 in the Frederick Douglass Square Historic District neighborhood scores 7.9/10 (Elevated 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 25025010403?
Median gross rent is $2,209/month (ACS 5-year 2023, table B25064). 71% of renter households are cost-burdened.
Q3
What is the poverty rate in tract 25025010403?
51.1% of residents in tract 25025010403 live below the federal poverty line (ACS B17001, 2023). Population: 2,665.
Q4
How socially vulnerable is tract 25025010403?
CDC Social Vulnerability Index ranks this tract in the 47th percentile nationally. Sub-themes: socioeconomic 59th, household 9th, minority 64th, housing 57th.
Q5
Is tract 25025010403 considered part of Frederick Douglass Square Historic District?
Yes. Per Census Bureau 2020 Block Assignment Files, the plurality of blocks in tract 25025010403 fall within Frederick Douglass Square Historic District (neighborhood centroid within 0.7 miles, OSM data).
Q6
How many evictions are filed each year in tract 25025010403?
Princeton Eviction Lab recorded 252 eviction filings across 5 validated years in tract 25025010403 (2000-2018). The average annual filing rate is 2.83% of renter households, peaking at 3.6% in 2013. Source: Eviction Lab tract-validated 2024 release.
Q7
Did eviction filings in tract 25025010403 drop during COVID?
Pandemic-era filings ran 0.34× 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 25025010403 struggle to pay rent?
About 14.3% 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. 10.6% also reported utility shutoff threats, a frequent precursor to eviction filings.
Q9
How does tract 25025010403 compare to Boston overall?
Tract 25025010403 scores 7.9/10, higher than the parent city of Boston at 7.1/10. City-scale signals (state law, local rent controls, court bias) are inherited from Boston eviction risk; what makes this tract different are its tract-specific economic stress and supply-constraint sub-scores.
Q10
Was tract 25025010403 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 Boston
Top eight tracts in Boston ranked by composite eviction-risk score.