Cleveland County, Arkansas Eviction Risk: Very Low

Cleveland County, Arkansas eviction laws carries an average eviction-risk score of 1.7/10 (Low) across its 6 cities, placing it at rank 63 of 75 Arkansas counties, where rank 1 is the highest-risk. That position means 62 counties in the state are riskier and only 12 are more landlord-friendly, putting Cleveland County solidly in the lower-risk third of Arkansas eviction laws. For landlords evaluating where to place capital, that overall reading translates to a rental environment with relatively limited tenant-side disruption compared to most of the state. The county's average rent runs $612, with an average rent-burden rate of 31.1% and a renter share of 34.3% of households.

Intra-county, scores span 1.2 to 2/10, a tighter band than many rural counties but still meaningful. A landlord owning units in Kingsland faces conditions measurably different from one operating in New Edinburg, even though both sit within the same county lines. That hyper-local gap is worth understanding before acquiring or managing rentals in any specific community.

The cities inside Cleveland County

At the top of the risk range, Kingsland scores 2/10 with a population of 406, and Rison, the county's most populous city at 1,019 residents, scores 1.9/10. Neither figure is alarming in absolute terms, but Kingsland and Rison carry the county's highest concentrations of the underlying indicators (rent burden, poverty, vacancy dynamics) that landlords track.

Moving down the scale, Rye (pop. 223), Woodlawn, and Staves all score 1.3/10, while New Edinburg sits at the county floor with 1.2/10. Investors focused on the lowest possible risk profile will find the smaller western communities more attractive on the metrics captured here, though thinner rental demand is the trade-off at those population sizes. The point stands regardless: city-level scores diverge enough that county averages should be treated as a starting screen, not a final answer.

State-level laws that apply here

Every landlord operating in Cleveland County works under Ark. Code § 18-17 (Residential Landlord-Tenant Act). For nonpayment of rent, Arkansas eviction laws requires only a 3-day notice before filing, one of the shorter cure windows available nationally. A lease-violation notice requires 14 days, and a no-cause end-of-term termination requires 30 days. Once filed, an uncontested case typically resolves in 30 to 60 days; a contested case runs 90 to 150 days. Court filing fees range from $165 to $250, sheriff lockout fees from $40 to $120, and attorney fees from $500 to $2,500, so total out-of-pocket exposure on a contested eviction with counsel can reach the upper end of that combined range. Arkansas eviction laws does not require just cause for termination, and state law preempts any local rent-control ordinance, meaning no city or county in the state can impose a rent cap. Landlords researching the full Arkansas eviction laws eviction process or wanting to benchmark Arkansas eviction costs against other states will find those details matter when stress-testing cash flow on small-county rentals like those in Cleveland County. Arkansas security deposit limits and Arkansas tenant protections are similarly defined at the state level, leaving local ordinance variation minimal.

With an average poverty rate of 33.1% and roughly 34.3% of households renting, Cleveland County's tenant pool leans income-constrained, so selecting by individual city score above is a more reliable filter than the county average alone.