Neighborhood · Ranked #44,543 of 84,120 nationally
Highland Eviction Risk: Lower , Boston
Tract 25025130101 ·
Suffolk County, MA · pop 6,060 · neighborhood within 0.7 mi
The Elevated-tier score of 6.3/10 for census tract 25025130101 reflects conditions in the Highland neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. That is riskier than about 83% of US census tracts.
Rent eats 30% or more of income for 37% of renter households, a high level, and 18% are severely burdened at 50% or more. The typical renter pays about $2,615 a month while the average household earns $154,528 a year, roughly 20% of income at the averages. About 34% of occupied units are renter-occupied.
Risk score
3.8
Lower
Confidence 100% · 1–10 scale
Household mix · 100 hh
Burdened renters 12%Stable renters 21%Owners 67%
Tract context
Occupied units2,745
Renter share33.6%
SVI overall0.20
Poverty rate4.2%
Median income$154,528
Percentile rank
Higher percentile = riskier than more peers.
Within neighborhood
50th percentile
#3 of 5 tracts In Highland
Moderate
Within parent city
2th percentile
#202 of 206 tracts In Boston
Very Low
Within county
5th percentile
#223 of 234 tracts In Suffolk County
Very Low
Within state
59th percentile
#657 of 1,613 tracts In Massachusetts
Elevated
Geographic context
Risk heat across Boston and the region
Centroid at 42.2923, -71.1662 · click any tract to drill in
Why Highland scores 3.8
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
4.2% poverty · this tract
1.0
Supply constraint
$2,615 rent vs county FMR
4.2
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 Highland compares
Risk score vs. parent city, county, state.
CDC Social Vulnerability Index
SVI percentile: 20
CDC/ATSDR 2022. Higher = more vulnerable. National percentile across 84k tracts.
9%Socioeconomic
51%Household composition
39%Racial/ethnic minority
30%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
21%Grade B
33%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
Pandemic-era tracking (2020–2021)
16Total filings 2020-21
0.3Avg monthly (observed)
0.4Pre-pandemic baseline
0.85×Ratio to baseline
Monthly filings 2020–20212020-01-01 to 2023-11-01
Pandemic filings ran below baseline. Eviction Lab tracked Boston, MA as part of its 34-metro Eviction Tracking System.
Crude prevalence of conditions linked to housing loss. Source: CDC PLACES (cwsq-ngmh), 2023 model-based small-area estimates.
7.3%Housing insecurity
4.7%Utility-shutoff threat
6.9%Food insecurity
7.3%SNAP enrollment
5.0%Transit barriers
2.8%No health insurance
13.5%Frequent mental distress
19.9%Any disability
Analysis
What drives eviction risk in Highland
What moves this score most is 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 below 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.
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 predominantly White and ranks around the 20th 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.
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 25025130101
Q1
What is the eviction-risk score for census tract 25025130101?
Census tract 25025130101 in the Highland neighborhood scores 3.8/10 (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 25025130101?
Median gross rent is $2,615/month (ACS 5-year 2023, table B25064). 37% of renter households are cost-burdened.
Q3
What is the poverty rate in tract 25025130101?
4.2% of residents in tract 25025130101 live below the federal poverty line (ACS B17001, 2023). Population: 6,060.
Q4
How socially vulnerable is tract 25025130101?
CDC Social Vulnerability Index ranks this tract in the 20th percentile nationally. Sub-themes: socioeconomic 9th, household 51th, minority 39th, housing 30th.
Q5
Is tract 25025130101 considered part of Highland?
Yes. Per Census Bureau 2020 Block Assignment Files, the plurality of blocks in tract 25025130101 fall within Highland (neighborhood centroid within 0.7 miles, OSM data).
Q6
Did eviction filings in tract 25025130101 drop during COVID?
Pandemic-era filings ran 0.85× the pre-COVID monthly baseline. Filings ran modestly below normal. Tracked by the Eviction Lab Eviction Tracking System (Boston eviction risk, MA), 2020-2021.
Q7
What share of households in tract 25025130101 struggle to pay rent?
About 7.3% 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. 4.7% also reported utility shutoff threats, a frequent precursor to eviction filings.
Q8
How does tract 25025130101 compare to Boston overall?
Tract 25025130101 scores 3.8/10, 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.
Q9
Was tract 25025130101 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.