Marshall County, Alabama Eviction Risk: Very Low

Marshall County, Alabama eviction laws carries an average eviction-risk score of 2.2/10 (Very Low) across its 11 incorporated places, placing it squarely in the middle third of Alabama's 67 counties, ranked 23rd out of 67. That means 22 counties in the state carry higher risk and 44 are more landlord-friendly, so investors here are operating in moderate rather than benign territory. Average rent runs $790 per month, rent burden sits at 29.2% of income on average, and about 30.7% of households are renters, which is a meaningful renter pool for landlords to serve but not an oversaturated rental market.

The intra-county spread tells the more important story for portfolio decisions. Risk scores across Marshall County range from a low of 1.8 to a high of 3.1, a gap of 1.3 full points. That spread means the specific city you invest in matters considerably more than the county average, and site selection within Marshall County deserves the same rigor you would apply to comparing different counties anywhere in Alabama.

The cities inside Marshall County

At the top of the risk range, Albertville scores 2.4/10 with a population of 8,916 and Albertville scores 2.4/10 with 22,813 residents, making it the county's largest city by far. Arab (population 8,679) comes in at 2.1/10, matching the county average exactly. These three cities account for the bulk of the county's renter demand and carry modestly elevated risk profiles relative to their smaller neighbors.

On the lower end, New Union scores just 1.8/10, and Grant scores 1.8/10 with a population of 1,336. Walnut Grove lands at 2.1/10 and Boaz at 2/10 with 10,814 residents. The pattern is clear: risk is hyper-local inside this county, and even adjacent towns can diverge by half a point or more. Landlords targeting lower eviction exposure should look past Guntersville and Albertville toward the smaller communities on the lower end of this range.

State-level laws that apply here

All landlord-tenant activity in Marshall County falls under the Alabama Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (Ala. Code § 35-9A). For non-payment of rent, Alabama requires a 7-day notice before filing. A lease-violation cure notice requires 14 days, and a no-cause end-of-term notice requires 30 days. Landlords who need to enter a unit must give 48 hours notice under state law. Understanding the Alabama eviction process in full before your first filing prevents procedural dismissals that restart the clock entirely.

On the cost side, court filing fees run $200 to $300, sheriff lockout fees add $30 to $150, and attorney fees typically range from $500 to $2,500 depending on case complexity. An uncontested eviction resolves in roughly 30 to 45 days; a contested case can stretch to 60 to 120 days. Alabama eviction costs can therefore total anywhere from under a thousand to well over two thousand dollars when legal representation is involved, making quality tenant screening the most cost-effective investment a landlord can make. Alabama imposes no rent control and requires no just cause for non-renewal, and state law preempts any local attempt to impose rent caps, which keeps the regulatory environment predictable for investors operating across multiple cities in the county.

With a poverty rate averaging 17.2% across the county, landlords should factor collection risk into underwriting for each city, and the city grid above gives the sharpest local read available on where that risk concentrates.