University Heights Eviction Risk: High , Newark

This is renter territory: 97% of occupied units are tenant-occupied. 28% are severely burdened past the 50% mark. That cohort absorbs no shock: one repair bill or one cut shift converts straight into arrears.

It sits 2.2 points above the Essex County average of 7.3. Running hot, rent-regulation exposure reads 9/10. Annualized rent equals 38% of average household income of $45,833, past the 30% affordability line, which thins the margin any screening standard has to work with.

Sitting well above the midpoint, local political climate reads 8.5/10. SNAP participation runs 26.2% against 15.2% nationally.

Inability to pay a utility bill runs 18.3% against 9.2% nationally. Utility arrears usually lead rent arrears by a month or two. The filing record is not thin: 1,818 evictions over 6 years of observation.

Filings peaked in 2013 at 41.4% of renter households. This ground was mapped D ("Hazardous") on the 1930s HOLC security maps for Essex Co. That grading determined who could get a mortgage, and its imprint on tenure and rent burden is still visible in the ACS data above.

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.