Clay County, Arkansas Eviction Risk: Very Low

Clay County scores 1.9/10 on the eviction-risk scale, placing it in the Low risk tier across all 10 cities tracked here. For landlords weighing where to invest in Arkansas eviction laws, that average signals a market where tenant-side pressure is comparatively mild, though the county's 18.4% poverty rate and 32% renter share are worth keeping in mind when underwriting vacancies. At rank 45 of 75 Arkansas eviction laws counties, Clay County sits in the middle third of the state, meaning 44 counties carry higher eviction risk and 30 are actually calmer, so this is a genuinely moderate landlord environment rather than an outlier in either direction.

Average rent across the county runs $706 per month, with renters spending an average of 26.5% of income on housing. That rent burden is below the conventional stress threshold, which reduces the frequency of income-shock-driven nonpayment and contributes to the subdued eviction-risk profile. The county total population of roughly 9,408 means this is a small, tightly knit rural market: tenant pools are shallow, so vacancy recovery can take longer than in larger metros, but so can the disruptive eviction cycles that plague denser markets.

The cities inside Clay County

Piggott is the county seat and its largest city at 3,555 residents, and it carries the highest risk score in the county at 2/10. Corning (population 3,134) and Rector (population 1,750) each score 1.9/10, making all three of the county's largest cities cluster near the upper end of a fairly narrow band. Pollard comes in at 1.8/10 and Greenway at 1.7/10, while the lowest-risk cities, St. Francis, Knobel, and McDougal, all score 1.3/10. That spread of 1.3 to 2 across the county confirms that eviction risk is hyper-local even in a small county: a landlord holding units in Piggott faces measurably different conditions than one operating in St. Francis, despite both being inside Clay County.

State-level laws that apply here

Every Clay County landlord operates under Ark. Code § 18-17 (Residential Landlord-Tenant Act). Arkansas law gives landlords a 3-day notice window for nonpayment of rent, 14 days to cure a lease violation, and 30 days for an end-of-term no-cause termination. Arkansas eviction laws does not require just cause for nonrenewal, and the state preempts local rent-control ordinances, so no city in Clay County can impose rent caps. Court filing fees run $165 to $250, sheriff lockout fees add $40 to $120, and attorney fees for contested matters range from $500 to $2,500. An uncontested case typically resolves in 30 to 60 days, while a contested matter can stretch to 90 to 150 days. Understanding the full Arkansas eviction laws eviction process before a conflict arises is essential; separately, reviewing Arkansas eviction costs in advance lets landlords budget accurately rather than treating fees as a surprise line item.

With an average poverty rate of 18.4% and a renter share of 32%, Clay County's tenant pool is price-sensitive but the low eviction-risk scores across the city grid above suggest that disruptions have been limited relative to most of Arkansas eviction laws.