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Neighborhood · Kirkland, WA

Houghton Eviction Risk: Moderate

4 census tracts · pop 15,789 · pop-weighted Eviction Risk Score 5.1/10 · range 3.5–6

Houghton spans 4 census tracts of Kirkland, WA and houses 15,789 people. It carries an Eviction Risk Score of 5.1/10, in the Moderate tier. Pulling the other way is economic stress, at 1.3/10.

The 4 tracts inside this boundary do not behave alike. Individual scores run 3.5 to 6, a 2.5-point gap wide enough that the area average misleads on any specific address. Cost burden runs 35% against 26.9% citywide, putting Houghton 8.3% over its own city. Severe burden reaches 13%. A tenant at that level absorbs no shock: one cut shift or one repair bill converts directly into arrears.

Court records carry 72 eviction filings across its 3 observed tracts. Average gross rent is $2,732, 14% above the Kirkland average of $2,401.

The worst year on record was 2007, when filings touched 1.5% of renter households. The most recent observed rate, 0.6% in 2013, is well off that peak.

Among the 7 mapped neighborhoods of Kirkland, it ranks #7 by risk, the lower third. The closest comparables inside the same city are Matthews Beach and Snyders Corner.

Against average income of $203,701, annual rent is only 16%, a wide affordability cushion. Poverty sits at 5%, low enough that arrears here usually reflect a specific shock rather than a structural income gap.

32% of occupied units are renter-occupied.

For a specific building, read the per-tract breakdown below rather than the 5.1 headline, because the internal range is too wide to average safely. Scores move when the ACS release, the court-record feed, or the statute ledger behind them moves.

Risk score
5.1
Moderate
4 tracts · population-weighted
Houghton vs Kirkland How this neighborhood stacks against the citywide average
% of income on rent
35.2% +31%
Kirkland: 26.9%
Average gross rent
$2,732 +14%
Kirkland: $2,401
Average HH income
$203,701 +42%
Kirkland: $143,533
Poverty rate
4.6% -23%
Kirkland: 6.0%
Renter share
31.8% -19%
Kirkland: 39.2%
Peer neighborhoods

Neighborhoods with similar eviction risk

Same county, closest by Eviction Risk Score.

Geographic context

Risk heat across Houghton and the region

Click any tract to drill in · 4 tracts span score 3.5–6

Why Houghton scores 5.1

9 axes · pop-weighted · 1 = landlord-friendly
State political climate
legislature & governorship · Range 6.0–6.0 across tracts
6.0
Regional political climate
County-level mix · 2024 presidential margin · Range 7.6–7.6 across tracts
7.6
Local political climate
Parent city governance · Range 6.5–7.9 across tracts
6.9
Rent control risk
35% of income on rent · Range 2.5–6.5 across tracts
5.3
Eviction process difficulty
State notice requirements & court backlog · Range 5.8–7.0 across tracts
6.6
Tenant organizing strength
32% renter households · Range 2.1–5.5 across tracts
4.5
Housing court bias
County bench composition · Range 2.2–7.5 across tracts
5.9
Economic stress
4.6% below poverty line · Range 1.0–1.9 across tracts
1.3
Supply constraint
Rent-to-FMR gap & zoning friction · Range 3.5–8.1 across tracts
5.2
Risk score comparison

Houghton vs. parent city, state, U.S.

Eviction Risk Score (0–10 scale).

Houghton score vs. parent city, state, U.S.Houghton: 5.15.1HoughtonNeighborhoodParent city: 6.66.6Parent cityhost cityState: 6.16.1Stateavg in stateU.S.: 5.15.1U.S.national avgU.S. avg = 5.0
Variance across tracts

How uniformly does eviction risk play out in Houghton?

Left: distribution of constituent tract scores. Right: every tract as a heat square. Click any square to drill in.

Score distribution
0246810
Spread of 2.5 points from 3.5 to 6. This neighborhood crosses multiple risk tiers, so block-by-block conditions vary substantially.
Tracts as heat grid
Each square = one census tract. Color tracks the same green→red ramp as the chloropleth map above.
Census tracts

4 tracts in Houghton

Ranked highest-risk first. Click for per-tract detail.

Tract Score Pop % over 30% on rent Average rent
53033022702 6 4,035 39% $2,471
53033022701 5.7 3,020 35% $2,503
53033022502 5.6 4,023 40% $2,265
53033024100 3.5 4,711 28% $3,501
Social Vulnerability Index

CDC SVI percentile: 8

Pop-weighted across 4 tracts. Higher = more vulnerable to disaster, displacement, and rent shocks. Source: CDC/ATSDR SVI 2022.

Socioeconomic status 7%ile
Poverty, unemployment, no-HS-diploma, housing cost burden
Household characteristics 18%ile
Single-parent HH, disability, language barriers, age 17- / 65+
Racial/ethnic minority 48%ile
Hispanic + non-white share of population
Housing & transport 26%ile
Multi-unit structures, mobile homes, crowding, no vehicle
Eviction filings · Princeton Eviction Lab

Court-record eviction history in Houghton

Aggregated across 3 validated constituent tracts. Filing rate is filings per 100 renter households, pop-weighted.

Historic baseline (2000–2018)

  • 72Total filings (sum)
  • 0.74%Avg annual filing rate
  • 1.5%Peak year (2007)
  • 0.56%Latest filed (2013)
Frequently asked

About Houghton

Q1

What is the eviction-risk score for Houghton?

Houghton scores 5.1/10 (Moderate tier) across 4 census tracts. The pop-weighted Eviction Risk Score blends state law, county filing rates, parent-city politics, and tract-specific rent-to-income and poverty signals.
Q2

How does Houghton compare to Kirkland overall?

Houghton scores 1.5 points lower than Kirkland overall (6.6/10). Renters spend 35% of income on rent vs 27% citywide. Average rent: $2,732 vs $2,401.
Q3

What is the average rent in Houghton?

Average gross rent in Houghton is $2,732/month (pop-weighted across 4 census tracts, ACS 5-year 2023). 35% of renter households are cost-burdened.
Q4

What percentage of Houghton residents are renters?

32% of Houghton households are renter-occupied (vs 39% in Kirkland). The neighborhood has 15,789 residents.
Q5

Is Houghton a high social-vulnerability area?

Houghton sits in the 8th percentile nationally on the CDC Social Vulnerability Index (low vulnerability). The index combines poverty, unemployment, household composition, racial/ethnic minority share, and housing/transportation factors across all US census tracts.
Q6

Which tracts in Houghton have the highest eviction risk?

The highest-risk constituent tract in Houghton is census tract 53033022702 (score 6/10). Across the 4 tracts in this neighborhood the score ranges from 3.5 to 6, a spread of 2.5 points.
Q7

How safe is Houghton for landlords?

Houghton carries a moderate-tier eviction-risk profile for landlords (5.1/10). Pop-weighted across 4 constituent tracts, the score blends parent-city rent-control posture, county eviction-process timelines, and tract-specific rent-to-income / poverty signals. Compared to Kirkland as a whole (6.6/10), this neighborhood is lower-risk.
Q8

What is the demographic breakdown of Houghton?

Houghton has 15,933 residents. Top groups: White (non-Hispanic) (67.1%), Asian (non-Hispanic) (21.1%), Other / Multiracial (6.6%). Source: ACS 5-year 2023, table B03002.
Nearby

Other neighborhoods near Houghton

Sibling neighborhoods

Other neighborhoods inside Kirkland

Same parent city, ranked by score similarity to Houghton.

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