Within neighborhood
94
th percentile
Very High
Neighborhood · Ranked #1,541 of 84,120 nationally
Frederick Douglass Square Historic District Eviction Risk: High , Boston
Tract 25025010404 · Suffolk County, MA · pop 4,585 · neighborhood within 0.5 mi
How risky is the Frederick Douglass Square Historic District neighborhood of Boston for landlords? Census tract 25025010404 scores 7.7/10, the Elevated tier. That ranks it in the top 1% of US census tracts for landlord eviction risk, among the very hardest places in the country to operate.
About 75% of renters carry a rent burden of 30% of income or higher, a severe level, and 61% are severely burdened at 50% or more. The typical renter pays about $2,139 a month while the average household earns $29,779 a year, roughly 86% of income at the averages. Renters make up 90% of occupied homes, a renter-majority tract.
Risk score
8.2
High
Confidence 100% · 1–10 scale
Household mix · 100 hh
Burdened renters 67%
Stable renters 22%
Owners 11%
Tract context
Occupied units1,189
Renter share89.7%
SVI overall0.58
Poverty rate42.3%
Median income$29,779
Percentile rank
Higher percentile = riskier than more peers.Within parent city
100
th percentile
Very High
Within county
100
th percentile
Very High
Within state
100
th percentile
Very High
Geographic context
Risk heat across Boston and the region
Centroid at 42.3420, -71.0886 · click any tract to drill in
Why Frederick Douglass Square Historic District scores 8.2
9 axes · 1 = landlord-friendlyLocal 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
42.3% poverty · this tract
10.0
Supply constraint
$2,139 rent vs county FMR
2.5
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: 58
CDC/ATSDR 2022. Higher = more vulnerable. National percentile across 84k tracts.
- 78%Socioeconomic
- 1%Household composition
- 62%Racial/ethnic minority
- 92%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)
- 83Total filings over 5 yrs
- 1.36%Avg annual filing rate
- 2.1%Peak (2015)
- 8Filings in 2016 (latest validated)
Filings dropped 53% over the past 5 months.
Pandemic-era tracking (2020–2021)
- 17Total filings 2020-21
- 0.4Avg monthly (observed)
- 1.4Pre-pandemic baseline
- 0.27×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 Frederick Douglass Square Historic District. 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.
- 17.6%Housing insecurity
- 12.1%Utility-shutoff threat
- 26.2%Food insecurity
- 29.4%SNAP enrollment
- 18.7%Transit barriers
- 6.0%No health insurance
- 26.7%Frequent mental distress
- 31.1%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.
The tract is White and Asian and ranks around the 58th 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.
During 2020 and 2021, eviction filings here ran at about 0.27x the pre-COVID monthly baseline, well below the pre-pandemic norm, the signature of an eviction moratorium at work.
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 25025010404
Q1
What is the eviction-risk score for census tract 25025010404?
Census tract 25025010404 in the Frederick Douglass Square Historic District neighborhood scores 8.2/10 (High 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 25025010404?
Median gross rent is $2,139/month (ACS 5-year 2023, table B25064). 75% of renter households are cost-burdened.
Q3
What is the poverty rate in tract 25025010404?
42.3% of residents in tract 25025010404 live below the federal poverty line (ACS B17001, 2023). Population: 4,585.
Q4
How socially vulnerable is tract 25025010404?
CDC Social Vulnerability Index ranks this tract in the 58th percentile nationally. Sub-themes: socioeconomic 78th, household 1th, minority 62th, housing 92th.
Q5
Is tract 25025010404 considered part of Frederick Douglass Square Historic District?
Yes. Per Census Bureau 2020 Block Assignment Files, the plurality of blocks in tract 25025010404 fall within Frederick Douglass Square Historic District (neighborhood centroid within 0.5 miles, OSM data).
Q6
How many evictions are filed each year in tract 25025010404?
Princeton Eviction Lab recorded 83 eviction filings across 5 validated years in tract 25025010404 (2000-2018). The average annual filing rate is 1.36% of renter households, peaking at 2.1% in 2015. Source: Eviction Lab tract-validated 2024 release.
Q7
Did eviction filings in tract 25025010404 drop during COVID?
Pandemic-era filings ran 0.27× 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 25025010404 struggle to pay rent?
About 17.6% 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. 12.1% also reported utility shutoff threats, a frequent precursor to eviction filings.
Q9
How does tract 25025010404 compare to Boston overall?
Tract 25025010404 scores 8.2/10, 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 25025010404 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.
Tract · MA
Frederick Douglass Square Historic District
8.4
/ 10 · High
Tract · MA
Packard's Corner
8.2
/ 10 · High
Tract · MA
Frederick Douglass Square Historic District
8.2
/ 10 · High
Tract · MA
Dorchester Heights
8.1
/ 10 · High
Tract · MA
Pill Hill
8.1
/ 10 · High
Tract · MA
Nubian Square
8.1
/ 10 · High
Tract · MA
Mount Bowdoin
8.1
/ 10 · High
Tract · MA
Nubian Square
8
/ 10 · High
Related
Explore the geography around tract 25025010404
Parent city ↑
Boston
7.1 / 10
Parent county ↑
Suffolk County
Parent state ↑
Massachusetts
Sibling tract →
Frederick Douglass Square Historic District
8.2 / 10
Sibling tract →
Frederick Douglass Square Historic District
8 / 10
Sibling tract →
Frederick Douglass Square Historic District
8.4 / 10
Methodology
How the score is built
Interactive map
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