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Neighborhood · Ranked #434 of 84,120 nationally

University Heights Eviction Risk: High , Newark

Tract 34013001700 · Essex County, NJ · pop 2,516 · neighborhood within 0.9 mi

For landlords sizing up the University Heights neighborhood of Newark, census tract 34013001700 carries a high eviction-risk score of 8.3/10. 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.

77% of renter households here spend at least 30% of income on rent, a severe level, and 47% are severely burdened at 50% or more. Average gross rent is $1,526 monthly, set against $42,299 in average yearly household income, roughly 43% of income at the averages. About 68% of occupied units are renter-occupied, a renter-majority tract.

Risk score
9
High
Confidence 100% · 1–10 scale
Household mix · 100 hh
Burdened renters 53% Stable renters 16% Owners 31%
Tract context
Occupied units911
Renter share68.3%
SVI overall0.94
Poverty rate30.0%
Median income$42,299

Percentile rank

Higher percentile = riskier than more peers.
Within neighborhood
77 th percentile
Rank, 77th percentileLowHigh
#8 of 31 tracts In University Heights
High
Within parent city
72 th percentile
Rank, 72nd percentileLowHigh
#25 of 88 tracts In Newark
Elevated
Within county
88 th percentile
Rank, 88th percentileLowHigh
#26 of 211 tracts In Essex County
High
Within state
98 th percentile
Rank, 98th percentileLowHigh
#52 of 2,175 tracts In New Jersey
Very High
Geographic context

Risk heat across Newark and the region

Centroid at 40.7506, -74.1977 · click any tract to drill in

Why University Heights scores 9

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
30.0% poverty · this tract
7.5
Supply constraint
$1,526 rent vs county FMR
2.1
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: 9.09.0This tracttract 001700Newark: 9.09.0Newarkparent cityCounty: 5.85.8Countyavg tract in countyState: 4.34.3Stateavg tract in state
CDC Social Vulnerability Index

SVI percentile: 94

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)

  • 993Total filings over 6 yrs
  • 28.16%Avg annual filing rate
  • 33.5%Peak (2015)
  • 153Filings in 2018 (latest validated)
Filings by year 2013 to 2018
Year-by-year eviction filings in tract 340130017002013: 112 filings (19.96/100 renter HHs)2014: 186 filings (33.16/100 renter HHs)2015: 188 filings (33.51/100 renter HHs)2016: 175 filings (28.41/100 renter HHs)2017: 179 filings (29.06/100 renter HHs)2018: 153 filings (24.84/100 renter HHs)
Filings climbed 37% 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

The score leans hardest on 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 predominantly Black and ranks around the 94th 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.

In CDC survey modeling, about 32.3% of adults here said they could not pay rent or mortgage at some point in the past year, and 20.1% faced a utility shutoff threat, a common early warning before a filing.

For a landlord underwriting a deal here, treat timelines and legal costs as the real risk: Newark eviction risk sits in territory where contested cases drag and tenant defenses are well organized, so airtight notices and screening matter more than usual.

Frequently asked

About tract 34013001700

Q1

What is the eviction-risk score for census tract 34013001700?

Census tract 34013001700 in the University Heights neighborhood scores 9/10 (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 34013001700?

Median gross rent is $1,526/month (ACS 5-year 2023, table B25064). 77% of renter households are cost-burdened.
Q3

What is the poverty rate in tract 34013001700?

30.0% of residents in tract 34013001700 live below the federal poverty line (ACS B17001, 2023). Population: 2,516.
Q4

How socially vulnerable is tract 34013001700?

CDC Social Vulnerability Index ranks this tract in the 94th percentile nationally. Sub-themes: socioeconomic 94th, household 97th, minority 100th, housing 55th.
Q5

Is tract 34013001700 considered part of University Heights?

Yes. Per Census Bureau 2020 Block Assignment Files, the plurality of blocks in tract 34013001700 fall within University Heights (neighborhood centroid within 0.9 miles, OSM data).
Q6

How many evictions are filed each year in tract 34013001700?

Princeton eviction risk Eviction Lab recorded 993 eviction filings across 6 validated years in tract 34013001700 (2000-2018). The average annual filing rate is 28.16% of renter households, peaking at 33.5% in 2015. Source: Eviction Lab tract-validated 2024 release.
Q7

What share of households in tract 34013001700 struggle to pay rent?

About 32.3% 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. 20.1% also reported utility shutoff threats, a frequent precursor to eviction filings.
Q8

How does tract 34013001700 compare to Newark overall?

Tract 34013001700 scores 9/10, right in line with 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 34013001700 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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