Census Tract · Ranked #8,912 of 84,120 nationally

Plainfield Eviction Risk: Elevated

Tract 34039039501 · Union County, NJ · pop 3,296

Census tract 34039039501 covers Plainfield, home to 3,296 residents. For landlords it grades 7.3/10, an elevated reading. That is riskier than roughly 97% of the 84,120 US census tracts we score.

About 48% of renters carry a rent burden of 30% of income or higher, a severe level, and 23% are severely burdened at 50% or more. The typical renter pays about $1,712 a month while the average household earns $88,224 a year, roughly 23% of income at the averages. About 49% of occupied units are renter-occupied.

Risk score

6.3

Elevated

Confidence 100% · 1–10 scale

Household mix · 100 hh

Burdened renters 24% Stable renters 26% Owners 50%

Tract context

Occupied units874

Renter share49.4%

SVI overall0.95

Poverty rate13.1%

Median income$88,224

Percentile rank

Higher percentile = riskier than more peers.

Geographic context

Risk heat across Plainfield and the region

Centroid at 40.6021, -74.4364 · click any tract to drill in

Why Plainfield scores 6.3

9 axes · 1 = landlord-friendly

Local political climate

Inherited from Plainfield

7.1

Regional political climate

2024 county presidential margin

6.8

State political climate

New Jersey legislature & governorship

6.8

Economic stress

13.1% poverty · this tract

3.3

Supply constraint

$1,712 rent vs county FMR

3.0

Rent control risk

Inherited from Plainfield

7.8

Eviction process difficulty

State law sets the calendar

6.7

Tenant organizing strength

Inherited from Plainfield

9.5

Housing court bias

Inherited from Plainfield

7.6

How Plainfield compares

Risk score vs. parent city, county, state.

CDC Social Vulnerability Index

SVI percentile: 95

CDC/ATSDR 2022. Higher = more vulnerable. National percentile across 84k tracts.

99%Socioeconomic
66%Household composition
99%Racial/ethnic minority
79%Housing & transportation

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.

0%Grade A
12%Grade B
46%Grade C
41%Grade D · redlined

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.

Comparable tracts

Census tracts with similar eviction risk

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.

27.3%Housing insecurity
13.9%Utility-shutoff threat
31.3%Food insecurity
18.4%SNAP enrollment
14.6%Transit barriers
28.1%No health insurance
17.9%Frequent mental distress
30.6%Any disability

Analysis

What drives eviction risk in Plainfield

The heaviest input here is tenant organizing strength at 9.5/10. 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 Plainfield eviction risk, while the economic and supply signals are measured at the tract level.

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

In CDC survey modeling, about 27.3% of adults here said they could not pay rent or mortgage at some point in the past year, and 13.9% faced a utility shutoff threat, a common early warning before a filing.

The tract is predominantly Hispanic or Latino and ranks around the 95th 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.

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 34039039501

What is the eviction-risk score for census tract 34039039501?

Census tract 34039039501 in Plainfield scores 6.3/10 (Elevated tier). The Eviction Risk Score blends state law, county filing rates, parent-city politics, and tract-specific rent-to-income ratios + poverty signals.

What is the average rent in tract 34039039501?

Median gross rent is $1,712/month (ACS 5-year 2023, table B25064). 48% of renter households are cost-burdened.

What is the poverty rate in tract 34039039501?

13.1% of residents in tract 34039039501 live below the federal poverty line (ACS B17001, 2023). Population: 3,296.

How socially vulnerable is tract 34039039501?

CDC Social Vulnerability Index ranks this tract in the 95th percentile nationally. Sub-themes: socioeconomic 99th, household 66th, minority 99th, housing 79th.

What share of households in tract 34039039501 struggle to pay rent?

About 27.3% 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. 13.9% also reported utility shutoff threats, a frequent precursor to eviction filings.

How does tract 34039039501 compare to Plainfield overall?

Tract 34039039501 scores 6.3/10, lower than the parent city of Plainfield at 8.2/10. City-scale signals (state law, local rent controls, court bias) are inherited from Plainfield eviction risk; what makes this tract different are its tract-specific economic stress and supply-constraint sub-scores.

Was tract 34039039501 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. 41% 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 Plainfield

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