Eviction Lab

What Eviction Lab does

Eviction Lab is a Princeton University-affiliated research organization founded in 2017 by sociologist Matthew Desmond that builds and maintains the first nationwide dataset of U.S. evictions. Its core technology stack consists of a web-based data platform that aggregates over 99.9 million eviction court records from all 50 states and DC dating back to 2000, a real-time Eviction Tracking System covering 42+ cities across 10 states with monthly updates, the National Eviction Map and Rankings tools, and the National Zoning and Land Use Database covering over 2,600 municipalities. The platform is built on a combination of court-collected data, purchased datasets from vendors such as LexisNexis Risk Solutions and American Information Research Services, ESRI-powered geocoding and spatial analysis, statistical modeling (including 95% credible interval estimation for counties with missing data), and Mapbox-based interactive visualization.

Eviction Lab's product surface is oriented around public-interest research and policy evaluation rather than commercial use. Free interactive tools and downloadable datasets serve policymakers, academic researchers, journalists, non-profit advocates, and community members. Adjacent products include research publications, tenant-facing FAQ and resource content, and the Just Shelter directory of over 700 housing assistance and legal aid organizations.

The organization is funded by philanthropic grants from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, C3.ai Digital Transformation Institute, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Ford Foundation, and The JPB Foundation, alongside institutional support from Princeton University. There is no commercial pricing model, no subscription or licensing fees, and no public revenue figures; all data, tools, and research outputs are provided at no cost. The go-to-market motion is community- and research-led, relying on academic publication, earned media, social media engagement, and direct distribution through evictionlab.org.

Name

Eviction Lab

Legal name

Eviction Lab

Website

https://evictionlab.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Eviction Lab is a Princeton University research organization that builds and maintains the first nationwide U.S. eviction dataset and a real-time tracking system covering 42+ cities, serving policymakers, academic researchers, journalists, and advocates with free data and tools.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Housing Research and Eviction Data Analytics

NAICS

Administration of Housing Programs (925110), Services to Buildings and Dwellings (5617)

SIC

Services-To Dwellings & Other Buildings (7340)

akta.pro primary industry

Housing Benefits & Rent Subsidy Administration (BPAIAKAG)

Keywords

• Eviction research data
• Housing policy analytics
• Public eviction datasets
• Urban sociology research
• Zoning land use database

Headquarters

HQ city

Princeton

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Research Grants and Foundation Funding: The Eviction Lab is funded by major foundations and research institutions. Primary funders include Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, C3.ai Digital Transformation Institute, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Ford Foundation, The JPB Foundation, and Princeton University. This is a non-profit research organization that provides all data and tools free of charge to the public.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

The Eviction Lab at Princeton University compiles the first nationwide dataset of U.S. eviction court records (over 99.9 million records from all 50 states and DC dating to 2000), operates a real-time Eviction Tracking System covering 42+ cities and 10 states, publishes interactive maps and rankings, and produces academic research on the prevalence, causes, and consequences of eviction. All data, tools, and research are provided free of charge to the public.

Product overview

Eviction Lab is a research organization at Princeton University offering a suite of data and research tools focused on eviction in America. The core platform consists of the Eviction Tracking System for real-time monitoring, the National Eviction Map for historical data visualization (2000-2018), and the Eviction Rankings tool for city comparisons. Supporting products include the National Zoning and Land Use Database covering 2,600+ municipalities, research publications on eviction causes and consequences, tenant FAQ resources, and the Just Shelter resource directory. Data access is provided through downloadable files rather than API. All products work together to help policymakers, researchers, and advocates understand and address the eviction crisis.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Eviction Tracking System (ETS) A real-time eviction monitoring platform that tracks monthly eviction filings across 10 states and over 40 cities in the United States, providing demographic analysis, hotspot identification, and filing trends for policymakers, researchers, journalists, and advocates.
• National Eviction Map Interactive mapping tool displaying yearly nationwide eviction data from 2000 to 2018, offering modeled estimates and original court-collected data at state, county, city, census tract, and block group levels.
• Eviction Rankings Ranking tool showing which cities rank highest in evictions across the U.S., with filtering by area type (Large Cities, Mid-sized Cities, Small Cities & Rural Areas) and ranking by eviction rate across nearly 30,000 places.
• National Zoning and Land Use Database (NZLUD) Database describing key elements of zoning codes and land use limitations for over 2,600 municipalities across the U.S., including minimum lot size, maximum permitted density, minimum parking requirements, and maximum building height restrictions. Code and data are publicly available on GitHub.
• Data Download Portal Platform for accessing downloadable datasets including court data, modeled estimates, and proprietary data in formats such as CSV, Excel, PowerPoint, and PDF, for statistical analysis and research purposes.

Quantifiable outcome

• 3.6 million eviction cases filed in 2018 against 2.7 million unique households
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• PolicyMap: Subscription data platform overlaying housing, demographic, and neighborhood indicators with maps. Closely comparable to the Eviction Lab's National Map, Eviction Tracking System, and NZLUD offerings in terms of interactive, mapped housing intelligence.
• Urban Institute: Major U.S. social and economic policy research organization producing housing-finance and eviction-adjacent research. Closely comparable to Eviction Lab in mission, grant-funded research model, and policy-outreach posture, though broader in scope.
• Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard: Academic housing-research center publishing national rental market and policy analyses (e.g., 'State of the Nation's Housing'). Comparable to Eviction Lab as an authoritative, free, data-driven housing research outfit closely aligned with policy audiences.
• NYU Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy: Academic research center producing data and policy work on housing, neighborhoods, and eviction. Directly comparable in academic anchoring, eviction-policy focus, and data-publication mission.

Broad incumbents

• CoreLogic: Large-scale commercial real estate and property data provider with eviction- and foreclosure-related records. Comparable on data-infrastructure scope, with substantially greater resources but a profit-driven rather than research-driven mandate.
• ATTOM Data Solutions: Commercial property-data aggregator that distributes foreclosure, eviction, and parcel-level data at national scale. Comparable to Eviction Lab on dataset breadth and property-record breadth, though commercial rather than research-funded.

Emerging players

• Reinvestment Fund: Community development financial institution that publishes policy research and market analytics on housing and neighborhood change. Comparable on housing-focused research and data dissemination, though more asset-deployment oriented than academic.
• National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC): Advocacy-oriented research and policy organization producing federal housing data (e.g., 'Out of Reach' report). Comparable as a non-academic, mission-driven housing data and advocacy entity serving overlapping policy audiences.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/evictionlab
• TikToktiktok.com/@theevictionlab
• Xx.com/evictionlab
• Facebookfacebook.com/evictionlab

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Eviction Lab