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Neighborhood · Ranked #26,446 of 84,120 nationally

Dorchester Center Eviction Risk: Moderate , Boston

Tract 25025092200 · Suffolk County, MA · pop 3,500 · neighborhood within 0.4 mi

The Elevated-tier score of 6.5/10 for census tract 25025092200 reflects conditions in Dorchester Center in Boston, Massachusetts. That is riskier than roughly 87% of the 84,120 US census tracts we score.

43% of renter households here spend at least 30% of income on rent, a severe level, and 24% are severely burdened at 50% or more. Average rent runs $1,743 a month against an average household income of $107,273 a year, roughly 19% of income at the averages. About 36% of occupied units are renter-occupied.

Risk score
4.9
Moderate
Confidence 100% · 1–10 scale
Household mix · 100 hh
Burdened renters 15% Stable renters 20% Owners 65%
Tract context
Occupied units1,240
Renter share35.6%
SVI overall0.61
Poverty rate11.1%
Median income$107,273

Percentile rank

Higher percentile = riskier than more peers.
Within neighborhood
0 th percentile
Rank, 0th percentileLowHigh
#6 of 6 tracts In Dorchester Center
Very Low
Within parent city
36 th percentile
Rank, 36th percentileLowHigh
#133 of 206 tracts In Boston
Low
Within county
37 th percentile
Rank, 37th percentileLowHigh
#149 of 234 tracts In Suffolk County
Low
Within state
77 th percentile
Rank, 77th percentileLowHigh
#369 of 1,613 tracts In Massachusetts
High
Geographic context

Risk heat across Boston and the region

Centroid at 42.2950, -71.0662 · click any tract to drill in

Why Dorchester Center scores 4.9

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
11.1% poverty · this tract
2.8
Supply constraint
$1,743 rent vs county FMR
1.1
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 Dorchester Center compares

Risk score vs. parent city, county, state.
Dorchester Center risk score vs. parent city / county / stateThis tract: 4.94.9This tracttract 092200Boston: 7.17.1Bostonparent cityCounty: 5.55.5Countyavg tract in countyState: 3.53.5Stateavg tract in state
CDC Social Vulnerability Index

SVI percentile: 61

CDC/ATSDR 2022. Higher = more vulnerable. National percentile across 84k tracts.

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.

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)

  • 141Total filings over 5 yrs
  • 5.50%Avg annual filing rate
  • 6.7%Peak (2013)
  • 25Filings in 2016 (latest validated)
Filings by year 2012 to 2016
Year-by-year eviction filings in tract 250250922002012: 29 filings (5.85/100 renter HHs)2013: 33 filings (6.65/100 renter HHs)2014: 27 filings (5.44/100 renter HHs)2015: 27 filings (5.44/100 renter HHs)2016: 25 filings (4.13/100 renter HHs)
Filings stayed roughly flat over the past 5 months.

Pandemic-era tracking (2020–2021)

  • 57Total filings 2020-21
  • 1.2Avg monthly (observed)
  • 2.4Pre-pandemic baseline
  • 0.52×Ratio to baseline
Monthly filings 2020–2021 2020-01-01 to 2023-11-01
Monthly eviction filings vs pre-pandemic baseline2020-01-01: 1 filings (0.44× baseline)2020-02-01: 2 filings (0.89× baseline)2020-03-01: 4 filings (2.00× baseline)2020-04-01: 1 filings (0.67× baseline)2020-05-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2020-06-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2020-07-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2020-08-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2020-09-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2020-10-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2020-11-01: 4 filings (2.00× baseline)2020-12-01: 1 filings (0.27× baseline)2021-01-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2021-02-01: 1 filings (0.44× baseline)2021-03-01: 2 filings (1.00× baseline)2021-04-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2021-05-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2021-06-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2021-07-01: 1 filings (0.31× baseline)2021-08-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2021-09-01: 1 filings (0.57× baseline)2021-10-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2021-11-01: 1 filings (0.50× baseline)2021-12-01: 1 filings (0.27× baseline)2022-01-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2022-02-01: 2 filings (0.89× baseline)2022-03-01: 3 filings (1.50× baseline)2022-04-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2022-05-01: 1 filings (0.57× baseline)2022-06-01: 3 filings (0.75× baseline)2022-07-01: 1 filings (0.31× baseline)2022-08-01: 3 filings (1.20× baseline)2022-09-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2022-10-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2022-11-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2022-12-01: 2 filings (0.53× baseline)2023-01-01: 1 filings (0.44× baseline)2023-02-01: 1 filings (0.44× baseline)2023-03-01: 5 filings (2.50× baseline)2023-04-01: 0 filings (0.00× baseline)2023-05-01: 5 filings (2.86× baseline)2023-06-01: 3 filings (0.75× baseline)2023-07-01: 1 filings (0.31× baseline)2023-08-01: 4 filings (1.60× baseline)2023-09-01: 1 filings (0.57× baseline)2023-10-01: 1 filings (0.50× baseline)2023-11-01: 0 filings (0.00× 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 Dorchester Center. 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.

Analysis

What drives eviction risk in Dorchester Center

The score leans hardest on tenant organizing strength at 8.5/10. 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 Boston 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 Suffolk County average of 6.7 and above the Massachusetts statewide average of 5.9. Within its own county it reads on the safer side for landlords.

During 2020 and 2021, eviction filings here ran at about 0.52x the pre-COVID monthly baseline, well below the pre-pandemic norm, the signature of an eviction moratorium at work.

Part of this tract, about 4% of its area, sat in the redlined grade-D zone on 1930s HOLC maps, though its dominant grade was C ("Declining"). That lending history still correlates with present-day rent burden.

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 25025092200

Q1

What is the eviction-risk score for census tract 25025092200?

Census tract 25025092200 in the Dorchester Center neighborhood scores 4.9/10 (Moderate 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 25025092200?

Median gross rent is $1,743/month (ACS 5-year 2023, table B25064). 43% of renter households are cost-burdened.
Q3

What is the poverty rate in tract 25025092200?

11.1% of residents in tract 25025092200 live below the federal poverty line (ACS B17001, 2023). Population: 3,500.
Q4

How socially vulnerable is tract 25025092200?

CDC Social Vulnerability Index ranks this tract in the 61th percentile nationally. Sub-themes: socioeconomic 38th, household 72th, minority 79th, housing 65th.
Q5

Is tract 25025092200 considered part of Dorchester Center?

Yes. Per Census Bureau 2020 Block Assignment Files, the plurality of blocks in tract 25025092200 fall within Dorchester Center (neighborhood centroid within 0.4 miles, OSM data).
Q6

How many evictions are filed each year in tract 25025092200?

Princeton Eviction Lab recorded 141 eviction filings across 5 validated years in tract 25025092200 (2000-2018). The average annual filing rate is 5.50% of renter households, peaking at 6.7% in 2013. Source: Eviction Lab tract-validated 2024 release.
Q7

Did eviction filings in tract 25025092200 drop during COVID?

Pandemic-era filings ran 0.52× 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 25025092200 struggle to pay rent?

About 15.9% 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. 10.1% also reported utility shutoff threats, a frequent precursor to eviction filings.
Q9

How does tract 25025092200 compare to Boston overall?

Tract 25025092200 scores 4.9/10, lower 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 25025092200 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. 4% 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.

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