Inside the Eviction Tracking System’s 11-State Footprint
Eviction Lab, the Princeton University research initiative that has tracked US eviction filings since 2018, runs the Eviction Tracking System across 11 states and 43 cities, with the most recent update reflecting data through July 1, 2026. That footprint covers a meaningful but partial slice of the country, not every county files eviction data in a format Eviction Lab can standardize, so a metro’s absence from the tracked list is not evidence eviction activity is low there, only that it is not tracked in this dataset.
Within the metros it does cover, Eviction Lab reports filings against a rolling historical baseline for that specific city, rather than a single national average. That baseline approach is what makes "35 percent above baseline" a meaningful figure, it measures a metro against its own recent history, not against a number that might not apply to that local market at all.
Austin and Portland: The Two Metros Running Hottest
Austin, Texas leads the tracked metros for filing activity relative to its own baseline, running 35 percent above normal over the 12 months through July 1, 2026, a total of 15,683 filings. Portland, Oregon is not far behind at 20 percent above its own baseline over the same window, totaling 17,677 filings, a higher raw count than Austin despite the smaller percentage move.
An eviction filing does not mean an owner is ready to sell, most landlords work through the process and keep the property. But both metros are running well above their own baselines while the national rental vacancy rate sits at a moderate 7.3% in Q2 2026, so the elevated filing activity in Austin and Portland is not simply a symptom of a tight rental market nationally, it is a local signal worth cross-referencing against other distress data for the same area.
The Numbers
Eviction Lab’s Eviction Tracking System covers 11 states and 43 cities nationwide, with data updated through July 1, 2026.
Eviction Lab (Princeton University), "Eviction Tracking System"
Austin, Texas eviction filings ran 35 percent above the metro’s historical baseline over the 12 months through July 1, 2026, totaling 15,683 filings.
Eviction Lab (Princeton University), "Eviction Tracking System"
Portland, Oregon eviction filings ran 20 percent above baseline over the same window, totaling 17,677 filings.
Eviction Lab (Princeton University), "Eviction Tracking System"
The national rental vacancy rate stood at 7.3% in Q2 2026, not statistically different from 7.0% a year earlier.
US Census Bureau, Quarterly Residential Vacancies and Homeownership, Q2 2026
Sources
The external data in this article draws on the sources below. Figures described in the text as estimates or industry triangulations are directional and are not attributed to a single dataset.
- Eviction Lab (Princeton University), "Eviction Tracking System"
- US Census Bureau, Quarterly Residential Vacancies and Homeownership, Q2 2026