Organization
Eviction Lab
TL;DR
The research lab Matthew Desmond founded at Princeton in 2017. It built the first national database of American evictions and makes the numbers public so anyone can see what eviction looks like where they live.
The Eviction Lab is a research team at Princeton University founded by sociologist Matthew Desmond in 2017. It published the first national dataset of evictions in America, with records going back to 2000, and keeps a running tracker of new eviction filings in cities across the country.
The lab grew out of the research behind Desmond’s book Evicted. Its maps and rankings are free to use, built for policymakers, journalists, organizers, and anyone trying to understand eviction in their own community.
Why OGSP Recommends It
Desmond’s team turned the book’s research into a public map of eviction in America, allowing people see a visual representation of eviction in America. You can even look up evictions in your own city.
Related Resources
Ways To Get Involved
Look up the eviction map and rankings for your own city at evictionlab.org. Journalists and researchers can request data access through the site.
Key Takeaways
- Founded by Matthew Desmond at Princeton University in 2017, after the research that became his book Evicted.
- Published the first national database of American evictions, with records back to 2000.
- Its Eviction Tracking System posts current eviction filings so cities can see spikes as they happen.
- All of it is free and public at evictionlab.org.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Eviction Lab?
The Eviction Lab is a research team at Princeton University led by sociologist Matthew Desmond. It built the first national database of eviction records in America so the scale of the problem could finally be measured.
Is the Eviction Lab’s data free to use?
Yes. The lab publishes its eviction map, rankings, and current filing tracker openly at evictionlab.org. Journalists and researchers can also request the underlying data through the site.
Who runs the Eviction Lab?
Sociologist Matthew Desmond, who founded it at Princeton University in 2017 after the research that became his book Evicted.
What can I find on the Eviction Lab website?
A national eviction map with records back to 2000, plus a running tracker of current filings. All of it is public at evictionlab.org.