St. Francis County, Arkansas Eviction Risk: Low

St. Francis County, Arkansas eviction laws carries a county-average eviction-risk score of 2.5/10 (Low), placing it among the more landlord-friendly markets in the state. Ranked 53rd of 75 Arkansas eviction laws counties, the county sits in the lower-risk third of the state, meaning 52 counties are riskier to operate in and only 22 are more landlord-friendly. For investors screening Delta-region markets, that positioning signals a relatively stable operating environment, though local conditions vary enough to warrant city-level diligence before placing capital.

Across the county's 9 cities, risk scores span from 1.6/10 to 2.5/10, a full point of spread inside a single county. Average rent runs $770 per month, and renters account for 55.1% of occupied housing, giving landlords a deep tenant pool. The flip side is a rent-burden rate of 36% and a poverty rate of 36.3%, both of which suggest tenants are financially stretched and collection risk is real in pockets of the county.

The cities inside St. Francis County

Forrest City is by far the largest city in the county at a population of 12,646 and also carries the lowest risk score, 1.6/10. That combination makes it the most liquid submarket for buy-and-hold landlords: the tenant base is large enough to sustain steady demand and the risk profile is among the county's best.

The highest-risk markets are Hughes and Hughes, each scoring 2.9/10. Hughes has a population of 886 and Colt 510, meaning vacancy exposure is acute, a single difficult tenancy can move the needle on a small portfolio. Palestine, Madison, Caldwell, and Wheatley each score 2.6/10 and fall in a similar mid-tier risk band. Widener (2.8/10) sits between the county average and the riskier cluster. The takeaway is that risk is genuinely hyper-local here: a landlord operating in Forrest City eviction risk and one operating in Hughes are facing materially different tenant and collection environments despite being in the same county.

State-level laws that apply here

All landlords in St. Francis County operate under the Arkansas eviction laws Residential Landlord-Tenant Act (Ark. Code § 18-17). For non-payment of rent, Arkansas eviction laws law requires a 3-day notice. Lease violations with the opportunity to cure require a 14-day notice, and no-cause or end-of-term terminations require 30 days. Understanding the full Arkansas eviction laws eviction process before filing is essential: an uncontested case typically resolves in 30 to 60 days, while a contested proceeding can run 90 to 150 days.

On the cost side, court filing fees range from $165 to $250, sheriff lockout fees from $40 to $120, and attorney fees from $500 to $2,500, depending on case complexity. Arkansas eviction laws has no just-cause eviction requirement and state law preempts any local rent-control ordinance, so landlords here face no city-level rent caps. For a full breakdown of what a removal actually costs, see the guide to Arkansas eviction costs. Arkansas security deposit limits are also set at the state level, so there are no county-specific caps to navigate separately.

With a poverty rate of 36.3% and 55.1% of households renting, collection discipline and thorough screening matter more here than the low county-average score alone might suggest, which is why city-level scores in the grid above are worth reviewing before committing to a specific market within St. Francis County.