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Neighborhood · Ranked #1,608 of 84,120 nationally

University Heights Eviction Risk: High , Newark

Tract 34013000700 · Essex County, NJ · pop 5,974 · neighborhood within 1.3 mi

University Heights in Newark anchors census tract 34013000700, which lands at 7.9/10 on landlord eviction risk. 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 47% of renters carry a rent burden of 30% of income or higher, a severe level, and 37% are severely burdened at 50% or more. Average rent runs $1,284 a month against an average household income of $52,794 a year, roughly 29% of income at the averages. Renters make up 57% of occupied homes, a renter-majority tract.

Risk score
8.2
High
Confidence 100% · 1–10 scale
Household mix · 100 hh
Burdened renters 27% Stable renters 30% Owners 43%
Tract context
Occupied units2,435
Renter share57.1%
SVI overall0.99
Poverty rate19.5%
Median income$52,794

Percentile rank

Higher percentile = riskier than more peers.
Within neighborhood
40 th percentile
Rank, 40th percentileLowHigh
#19 of 31 tracts In University Heights
Moderate
Within parent city
44 th percentile
Rank, 44th percentileLowHigh
#50 of 88 tracts In Newark
Moderate
Within county
74 th percentile
Rank, 74th percentileLowHigh
#56 of 211 tracts In Essex County
Elevated
Within state
92 th percentile
Rank, 92nd percentileLowHigh
#171 of 2,175 tracts In New Jersey
Very High
Geographic context

Risk heat across Newark and the region

Centroid at 40.7593, -74.1919 · click any tract to drill in

Why University Heights scores 8.2

9 axes · 1 = landlord-friendly
Local political climate
Inherited from Newark
8.5
Regional political climate
2024 county presidential margin
7.8
State political climate
New Jersey legislature & governorship
6.8
Economic stress
19.5% poverty · this tract
4.9
Supply constraint
$1,284 rent vs county FMR
1.0
Rent control risk
Inherited from Newark
9.0
Eviction process difficulty
State law sets the calendar
8.5
Tenant organizing strength
Inherited from Newark
8.0
Housing court bias
Inherited from Newark
8.0

How University Heights compares

Risk score vs. parent city, county, state.
University Heights risk score vs. parent city / county / stateThis tract: 8.28.2This tracttract 000700Newark: 9.09.0Newarkparent cityCounty: 5.85.8Countyavg tract in countyState: 4.34.3Stateavg tract in state
CDC Social Vulnerability Index

SVI percentile: 99

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)

  • 5,459Total filings over 6 yrs
  • 52.62%Avg annual filing rate
  • 60.0%Peak (2013)
  • 830Filings in 2018 (latest validated)
Filings by year 2013 to 2018
Year-by-year eviction filings in tract 340130007002013: 1,010 filings (60.01/100 renter HHs)2014: 890 filings (52.88/100 renter HHs)2015: 913 filings (54.25/100 renter HHs)2016: 882 filings (49.52/100 renter HHs)2017: 934 filings (52.44/100 renter HHs)2018: 830 filings (46.60/100 renter HHs)
Filings dropped 18% over the past 6 months.
Comparable tracts

Census tracts with similar eviction risk

Within University Heights. 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 University Heights

What moves this score most is rent-control risk at $1/10. 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 Newark eviction risk, while the economic and supply signals are measured at the tract level.

Set against its neighbors, this tract scores above the Essex County average of 7.3 and above the New Jersey statewide average of 6.6. Within its own county it reads on the riskier side for landlords.

The tract is Hispanic or Latino and Black and ranks around the 99th percentile nationally on the CDC Social Vulnerability Index, a measure of how exposed residents are to housing and economic shocks. High vulnerability tends to track with higher eviction-filing rates when rents climb.

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.

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 34013000700

Q1

What is the eviction-risk score for census tract 34013000700?

Census tract 34013000700 in the University Heights 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 34013000700?

Median gross rent is $1,284/month (ACS 5-year 2023, table B25064). 47% of renter households are cost-burdened.
Q3

What is the poverty rate in tract 34013000700?

19.5% of residents in tract 34013000700 live below the federal poverty line (ACS B17001, 2023). Population: 5,974.
Q4

How socially vulnerable is tract 34013000700?

CDC Social Vulnerability Index ranks this tract in the 99th percentile nationally. Sub-themes: socioeconomic 96th, household 99th, minority 95th, housing 85th.
Q5

Is tract 34013000700 considered part of University Heights?

Yes. Per Census Bureau 2020 Block Assignment Files, the plurality of blocks in tract 34013000700 fall within University Heights (neighborhood centroid within 1.3 miles, OSM data).
Q6

How many evictions are filed each year in tract 34013000700?

Princeton eviction risk Eviction Lab recorded 5,459 eviction filings across 6 validated years in tract 34013000700 (2000-2018). The average annual filing rate is 52.62% of renter households, peaking at 60.0% in 2013. Source: Eviction Lab tract-validated 2024 release.
Q7

What share of households in tract 34013000700 struggle to pay rent?

About 31.6% 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. 18.5% also reported utility shutoff threats, a frequent precursor to eviction filings.
Q8

How does tract 34013000700 compare to Newark overall?

Tract 34013000700 scores 8.2/10, lower than the parent city of Newark at 9/10. City-scale signals (state law, local rent controls, court bias) are inherited from Newark eviction risk; what makes this tract different are its tract-specific economic stress and supply-constraint sub-scores.
Q9

Was tract 34013000700 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 Newark

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

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