Gardner Eviction Risk: Elevated

SNAP participation runs 33.4% against 15.2% nationally. Sitting well above the midpoint, tenant-organizing strength reads 8.5/10.

This is renter territory: 68% of occupied units are tenant-occupied. Against the Worcester County average of 5.8, this tract reads riskier for landlords by 1.7 points. 15% are severely burdened past the 50% mark. That cohort absorbs no shock: one repair bill or one cut shift converts straight into arrears.

The poverty rate is 20%. Judgments in high-poverty tracts are collectible far less often than filing counts suggest. The filing record is not thin: 70 evictions over 1 years of observation. Cost burden runs 40% here against 44.4% across Worcester County.

The worst year on record was 2015, when 5.3% of renter households were served. At $1,018 a month, rents run 8% under what the rest of Gardner commands.

In a typical year about 5.3% of renter households face a filing. Nationally it ranks #10,320 of 84,120 for landlord eviction difficulty.

Tract-level figures come from the ACS 5-year release and are rebuilt whenever that, the court-record feed, or the statutory ledger behind the score changes.