Mapping Eviction Risk

Adele Peters shares news of a mapping project by Urban Footprint, a tech company that makes urban planning software tools, to map out "which communities are likely to be most affected, based on unemployment claims, the cost of housing, and existing social vulnerability."

Given the rent burdens facing Americans before the outbreak of the pandemic and the resulting economic downturn, the eviction risk map spreads widely. "States with expensive housing and high income inequality are especially at risk. California, New York, Florida, Georgia, and Texas top the list," explains Peters.

But that does not mean renters in other parts of the country aren't facing high levels of uncertainty. In Louisiana, for example, "35,000 households in the state were most vulnerable because of the cost of rent, job loss, and underlying factors like the number of households led by a single parent." 

In all, "the organization estimates that between 3.4 million and 6.7 million renter households are both rent-burdened and jobless."

While the threat of mass evictions and homelessness has been looming since the beginning of the pandemic, recent reports indicate that for many, the threat is already reality.