1 census tracts · pop 2,762 · pop-weighted Eviction Risk Score 9.3/10
· range 9.3–9.3
Chinatown maps to a single census tract in Seattle, WA and houses 2,762 people. The Eviction Risk Score is 9.3/10, in the High tier. Against a Seattle baseline of 27.4%, 53% of renters here cross the 30%-of-income line.
At $1,197 a month, rents sit 41% under what the rest of Seattle commands. This is a renter market: 97% of occupied units are tenant-occupied.
The strongest single driver of the headline number is rent-regulation exposure at 9/10. Severe burden reaches 28%. A tenant at that level absorbs no shock: one cut shift or one repair bill converts directly into arrears. Annualized rent equals 38% of average household income here, past the 30% affordability line, which compresses the margin any screening standard has to work with.
Sitting well above the midpoint is tenant-organizing strength at 9/10. On the softer side is supply constraint, at 1/10.
The poverty rate is 30%. Judgments in high-poverty tracts are collectible far less often than the filing statistics suggest. The filing record is not thin: 85 evictions logged in this tract. The worst year on record was 2013, when filings touched 0.8% of renter households.
That places it #1 of 65 neighborhoods in Seattle. Judgments average 0.2% of renter households a year, the share of filings that actually convert to an order.
For a like-for-like read, Japantown and NewHolly score within a fraction of it.
One tract means one number: 9.3/10 applies directly to any address inside the boundary. Scores move when the ACS release, the court-record feed, or the statute ledger behind them moves.
Risk score
9.3
High
1 tracts · population-weighted
Chinatown vs SeattleHow this neighborhood stacks against the citywide average
Single-parent HH, disability, language barriers, age 17- / 65+
Racial/ethnic minority83%ile
Hispanic + non-white share of population
Housing & transport95%ile
Multi-unit structures, mobile homes, crowding, no vehicle
Eviction filings · Princeton Eviction Lab
Court-record eviction history in Chinatown
Aggregated across 1 validated constituent tract. Filing rate is filings per 100 renter households, pop-weighted.
Historic baseline (2000–2018)
85Total filings (sum)
0.68%Avg annual filing rate
0.8%Peak year (2013)
0.83%Latest filed (2013)
Frequently asked
About Chinatown
Q1
What is the eviction-risk score for Chinatown?
Chinatown scores 9.3/10 (High tier) across 1 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 Chinatown compare to Seattle overall?
Chinatown scores 1.4 points higher than Seattle overall (7.9/10). Renters spend 53% of income on rent vs 27% citywide. Average rent: $1,197 vs $2,030.
Q3
What is the average rent in Chinatown?
Average gross rent in Chinatown is $1,197/month (pop-weighted across 1 census tracts, ACS 5-year 2023). 53% of renter households are cost-burdened.
Q4
What percentage of Chinatown residents are renters?
97% of Chinatown households are renter-occupied (vs 56% in Seattle). The neighborhood has 2,762 residents.
Q5
Is Chinatown a high social-vulnerability area?
Chinatown sits in the 96th percentile nationally on the CDC Social Vulnerability Index (highly vulnerable). The index combines poverty, unemployment, household composition, racial/ethnic minority share, and housing/transportation factors across all US census tracts.
Q6
How safe is Chinatown for landlords?
Chinatown carries a high-tier eviction-risk profile for landlords (9.3/10). Pop-weighted across 1 constituent tracts, the score blends parent-city rent-control posture, county eviction-process timelines, and tract-specific rent-to-income / poverty signals. Compared to Seattle as a whole (7.9/10), this neighborhood is higher-risk.
Q7
What is the demographic breakdown of Chinatown?
Chinatown has 3,173 residents. Top groups: Asian (non-Hispanic) (57.2%), White (non-Hispanic) (26%), Other / Multiracial (6.9%). Source: ACS 5-year 2023, table B03002.
