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Neighborhood · Ranked #15,451 of 84,120 nationally

Cary Square Eviction Risk: Elevated , Chelsea

Tract 25025160601 · Suffolk County, MA · pop 4,709 · neighborhood within 0.3 mi

Tract 25025160601 sits in the Cary Square area of Chelsea eviction risk, MA, carrying an eviction-risk score of 6.5/10. Population here is 4,709. The dominant input is tenant-organizing strength at 9.8/10.

Risk score
6.5
Elevated
Confidence 100% · 1–10 scale
Household mix · 100 hh
Burdened renters 36% Stable renters 35% Owners 29%
Tract context
Occupied units1,602
Renter share70.7%
SVI overall0.87
Poverty rate9.2%
Median income$108,605

Percentile rank

Higher percentile = riskier than more peers.
Within neighborhood
0 th percentile
Rank, 0th percentileLowHigh
#2 of 2 tracts In Cary Square
Very Low
Within parent city
0 th percentile
Rank, 0th percentileLowHigh
#9 of 9 tracts In Chelsea
Very Low
Within county
4 th percentile
Rank, 4th percentileLowHigh
#225 of 234 tracts In Suffolk County
Very Low
Within state
56 th percentile
Rank, 56th percentileLowHigh
#709 of 1,613 tracts In Massachusetts
Elevated
Geographic context

Risk heat across Chelsea and the region

Centroid at 42.4024, -71.0274 · click any tract to drill in

Why Cary Square scores 6.5

9 axes · 1 = landlord-friendly
Local political climate
Inherited from Chelsea
8.3
Regional political climate
2024 county presidential margin
8.2
State political climate
Massachusetts legislature & governorship
6.2
Economic stress
9.2% poverty · this tract
2.3
Supply constraint
$2,163 rent vs county FMR
2.6
Rent control risk
Inherited from Chelsea
7.7
Eviction process difficulty
State law sets the calendar
5.9
Tenant organizing strength
Inherited from Chelsea
9.8
Housing court bias
Inherited from Chelsea
7.9

How Cary Square compares

Risk score vs. parent city, county, state.
Cary Square risk score vs. parent city / county / state6.5This tracttract 1606017.8Chelseaparent city7.9Countyavg tract in county6.2Stateavg tract in state
CDC Social Vulnerability Index

SVI percentile: 87

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)

  • 230Total filings over 5 yrs
  • 4.29%Avg annual filing rate
  • 5.4%Peak (2012)
  • 41Filings in 2016 (latest validated)
Filings by year 2012 to 2016
Year-by-year eviction filings in tract 25025160601
Filings dropped 27% over the past 5 months.

Pandemic-era tracking (2020–2021)

  • 74Total filings 2020-21
  • 1.6Avg monthly (observed)
  • 3.8Pre-pandemic baseline
  • 0.41×Ratio to baseline
Monthly filings 2020–2021 2020-01-01 to 2023-11-01
Monthly eviction filings vs pre-pandemic 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 Cary 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.

Analysis

What drives eviction risk in Cary Square

The severe-burden share is 23%, and it is the single best predictor in this model of a filing that actually reaches judgment. 71% of occupied units are rented, so comparables are plentiful and vacancy risk is low, but a mispriced renewal loses the tenant to a building nearby.

On the high side, local political climate reads 8.3/10. Sitting well above the midpoint, regional political climate reads 8.2/10.

Against the Suffolk County average of 7.9, this tract reads safer for landlords by 1.4 points. Princeton's Eviction Lab logged 230 filings here across 5 tracked years. Average gross rent is $2,163, 11% above the Chelsea average.

Filings peaked in 2012 at 5.4% of renter households. This ground was mapped C ("Definitely Declining") on the 1930s HOLC security maps for Chelsea. That grading determined who could get a mortgage, and its imprint on tenure and rent burden is still visible in the ACS data above. In a typical year about 4.3% of renter households face a filing.

Nationally it ranks #15,451 of 84,120 for landlord eviction difficulty. On the CDC Social Vulnerability Index the tract reads 8.8/10, which tracks how hard a shock lands on the households already here.

Of its three components the housing type and transport measure is the most pressured. 51% of renter households spend at least 30% of income on rent.

These are ACS 5-year estimates; the score moves when the ACS, court-record, or statute inputs behind it move.

Frequently asked

About tract 25025160601

Q1

What is the eviction-risk score for census tract 25025160601?

Census tract 25025160601 in the Cary Square neighborhood scores 6.5/10 (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 25025160601?

Median gross rent is $2,163/month (ACS 5-year 2023, table B25064). 51% of renter households are cost-burdened.
Q3

What is the poverty rate in tract 25025160601?

9.2% of residents in tract 25025160601 live below the federal poverty line (ACS B17001, 2023). Population: 4,709.
Q4

How socially vulnerable is tract 25025160601?

CDC Social Vulnerability Index ranks this tract in the 87th percentile nationally. Sub-themes: socioeconomic 73th, household 53th, minority 83th, housing 97th.
Q5

Is tract 25025160601 considered part of Cary Square?

Yes. Per Census Bureau 2020 Block Assignment Files, the plurality of blocks in tract 25025160601 fall within Cary Square (neighborhood centroid within 0.3 miles, OSM data).
Q6

How many evictions are filed each year in tract 25025160601?

Princeton Eviction Lab recorded 230 eviction filings across 5 validated years in tract 25025160601 (2000-2018). The average annual filing rate is 4.29% of renter households, peaking at 5.4% in 2012. Source: Eviction Lab tract-validated 2024 release.
Q7

Did eviction filings in tract 25025160601 drop during COVID?

Pandemic-era filings ran 0.41× 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 25025160601 struggle to pay rent?

About 19.8% 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. 10.9% also reported utility shutoff threats, a frequent precursor to eviction filings.
Q9

How does tract 25025160601 compare to Chelsea overall?

Tract 25025160601 scores 6.5/10, lower than the parent city of Chelsea at 7.8/10. City-scale signals (state law, local rent controls, court bias) are inherited from Chelsea eviction risk; what makes this tract different are its tract-specific economic stress and supply-constraint sub-scores.
Q10

Was tract 25025160601 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 Chelsea

Top eight tracts in Chelsea ranked by composite eviction-risk score.

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