Madison County, Arkansas Eviction Risk: Very Low

Madison County, Arkansas eviction laws carries a county-average eviction-risk score of 1.6/10 (Low), placing it among the more landlord-friendly markets in the state. Ranked 65 of 75 Arkansas counties, only 10 counties statewide are less risky, meaning 64 are riskier territory for landlords. With an average rent of $633 and an average rent burden of 25.8%, tenant finances are stretched but not critically so, and the overall operating environment across the county's 5 incorporated places rewards patient, long-term investors over speculative players.

Scores across those 5 cities range from a low of 1.2/10 to a high of 1.7/10, a tight band that reflects broad consistency rather than isolated hotspots. That said, even a half-point spread matters when you are evaluating individual acquisitions, and the differences between communities are meaningful enough to shape portfolio decisions at the local level.

The cities inside Madison County

Huntsville is the county seat and by far the largest community, with a population of 3,202 and the county's highest risk score at 1.7/10. Its size drives most of the county's rental activity, and while 1.7 remains Low by any statewide measure, landlords in Huntsville will encounter a more active tenant pool and slightly more transactional friction than anywhere else in Madison County.

Hindsville scores 1.4/10 with a population of 146, placing it in the middle tier. Wesley and St. Paul both score 1.3/10 (populations of 233 and 136, respectively), making them among the quieter, lower-friction markets in the county. Kingston, with only 19 residents, posts the county's lowest score at 1.2/10, though the rental market there is correspondingly thin. Risk is genuinely hyper-local here: an investor targeting Huntsville is operating in a meaningfully different environment than one targeting Kingston or Wesley, even though all five cities sit inside the same county.

State-level laws that apply here

Every landlord in Madison County operates under Ark. Code § 18-17 (Residential Landlord-Tenant Act). For non-payment of rent, Arkansas eviction laws law requires a 3-day notice; lease violations with the right to cure carry a 14-day notice; and end-of-term or no-cause terminations require 30 days. Arkansas eviction laws does not require just cause for termination, and state law preempts any local rent-control ordinance, so there is no rent cap formula in effect anywhere in Madison County. An uncontested eviction typically resolves in 30 to 60 days, while a contested case can run 90 to 150 days. Direct out-of-pocket costs include a court filing fee of $165 to $250, a sheriff lockout fee of $40 to $120, and attorney fees that typically range from $500 to $2,500 depending on complexity. Investors reviewing the full Arkansas eviction laws eviction process will find the statutory framework comparatively efficient. For a detailed breakdown of what landlords actually spend to remove a non-paying tenant, the Arkansas eviction costs guide covers those fee ranges by proceeding type.

With an average poverty rate of 19.2% and a renter share of 34.2% across the county, tenant financial stress is a real consideration, though it is broadly consistent with rural Arkansas eviction laws norms; the city grid above breaks these dynamics down at the individual-market level so you can compare specific acquisition targets directly.