Desha County, Arkansas Eviction Risk: Very Low

Desha County, Arkansas scores 2.4/10 on the EvictionRiskMap scale, a Low-risk rating that nonetheless places the county in the higher-risk third of the state, ranked 10th of 75 Arkansas counties, meaning 9 counties carry more risk and 65 are more landlord-friendly. For a county of roughly 8,382 residents, that positioning matters: operating here is workable, but conditions are meaningfully tighter than in most of Arkansas, and landlords should price that into their underwriting.

The countywide average rent of $743 reflects a modest rent base, and the average rent burden sits at 30.4% of renter income, a figure close enough to the conventional 30% stress threshold to warrant careful tenant screening. Nearly half the occupied units in the county are renter-occupied (48.9% renter share), giving landlords a broad pool of prospective tenants but also meaningful exposure to the county's 31% poverty rate, which elevates default risk relative to wealthier Arkansas markets.

The cities inside Desha County

Risk across the county's 6 cities spans from 1.8/10 to 2.5/10, a narrower band than many Arkansas counties but still enough to shift operating expectations. Reed carries the highest local score at 2.5/10, making it the city where landlords should apply the most conservative screening standards. The two population centers, Dumas (population 3,768) and McGehee (population 3,666), both score 2.4/10, matching the countywide average and accounting for the bulk of the county's renter demand.

At the other end of the range, Arkansas City scores 1.8/10, the lowest in the county, followed by Winchester at 2/10 and Watson at 2.1/10. These smaller communities carry meaningfully lower risk on paper, but their small populations and limited rental markets mean vacancy risk can offset what looks like a favorable risk score. Risk here is genuinely hyper-local: two towns sharing the same county can carry scores that, in a larger state context, would land in different tiers.

State-level laws that apply here

Every landlord operating in Desha County works under the Arkansas Residential Landlord-Tenant Act (Ark. Code § 18-17). For non-payment of rent, Arkansas requires a 3-day written notice before filing; lease violations carry a 14-day cure notice; and end-of-term no-cause terminations require 30 days. The Arkansas eviction process, from initial filing through writ of possession, runs 30 to 60 days on uncontested cases and 90 to 150 days when a tenant contests. Understanding the Arkansas eviction costs is equally important: court filing fees run $165 to $250, sheriff lockout fees add $40 to $120, and attorney fees, if you hire counsel, typically range from $500 to $2,500.

Arkansas state law requires no just cause to terminate a tenancy, and the state preempts local rent control, so no city within Desha County can impose rent caps or stronger tenant protections beyond what state law provides. Source-of-income is not a protected class under Arkansas law, giving landlords flexibility in screening criteria that is not available in many other states.

With a poverty rate of 31% and nearly half of households renting, the financial fragility of the local tenant pool is the dominant underwriting variable in Desha County; the city-by-city score grid above shows where that pressure concentrates most.