Hernando County, Florida Eviction Risk: Very Low
20 incorporated cities and unincorporated areas. The county Eviction Risk Score is held aloft by the city of Spring Hill (2.8) and a small number of dense urban cores. Rent-control coverage varies by city.
Ranked #24 of 67 FL counties
176k residents · 20 cities · 46 tracts
Hernando County eviction risk score history
Key metrics
-
Tenant beats landlord14.1%/ 100 outcomesIn court-decided eviction outcomes for Hernando County, FL, tenants prevail in roughly 14.1% of contested cases. A higher number means landlords face stronger tenant defenses and longer calendars.
-
Timeline29dfiling → judgmentFrom the moment an unlawful-detainer notice is filed in Hernando County, FL until a money judgment is entered, a contested eviction takes about 29 days on average. Longer timelines mean more lost rent for landlords.
-
Cost range$1.2–3.4klegal + lost rentA typical eviction in Hernando County, FL costs landlords $1,227 to $3,416 all-in, covering court filing fees, process-server costs, attorney time, and lost rent.
-
Average rent$1,39833% stretched on rentAverage gross rent in Hernando County, FL is $1,398 per month per the U.S. Census American Community Survey. 33% of renter households here spend more than 30% of pre-tax income on rent.
-
Renters19.4%of households19.4% of occupied housing units in Hernando County, FL are renter-occupied. A higher renter share usually correlates with more eviction filings and a more active rental market.
-
Poverty12.5%6.3% unemp.12.5% of Hernando County, FL residents live below the federal poverty line, and unemployment runs at 6.3%. Both feed the economic-stress sub-score in our Eviction Risk Score model.
Scrub 50 years
Hernando County averages 2.4/10 across 20 cities, ranging from a low of 1.8/10 to a high of 3.2/10 in Brooksville, the county's riskiest city. Ranked 26 of 67 Florida counties by eviction risk (rank 1 = highest risk), placing Hernando County in the middle third of the state.
How Hernando County ranks in Florida
Landlord guides for Florida
| City↕ | Population↕ | Risk↕ | % income on rent↕ | Average rent↕ | Lean↕ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 001 | Spring Hill | 119,983 | 2.4 | 32.6% | $1,440 | Rep |
| 002 | Brooksville | 9,457 | 2.6 | 35.6% | $1,137 | Rep |
| 003 | North Weeki Wachee | 8,979 | 2.5 | 44.5% | $1,746 | Rep |
| 004 | South Brooksville | 5,099 | 2.2 | 29.3% | $1,260 | Rep |
| 005 | Timber Pines | 5,007 | 2.5 | 36.5% | $1,460 | Rep |
| 006 | Brookridge | 4,923 | 2.2 | 45.0% | $1,133 | Rep |
| 007 | North Brooksville | 4,227 | 2.3 | 18.2% | $1,150 | Rep |
| 008 | Ridge Manor | 3,935 | 2.0 | 23.8% | $1,055 | Rep |
| 009 | High Point | 3,548 | 2.7 | 38.8% | $1,091 | Rep |
| 010 | Hill 'n Dale | 3,083 | 2.1 | 28.8% | $1,373 | Rep |
| 011 | Hernando Beach | 2,675 | 2.2 | 30.8% | $1,449 | Rep |
| 012 | Masaryktown | 1,262 | 2.2 | 33.5% | $1,408 | Rep |
| 013 | Weeki Wachee Gardens | 1,068 | 2.8 | 16.3% | $1,275 | Rep |
| 014 | Garden Grove | 637 | 2.2 | 51.0% | $1,116 | Rep |
| 015 | Spring Lake | 563 | 1.8 | 33.5% | $1,408 | Rep |
| 016 | Wiscon | 499 | 2.4 | 23.0% | $1,408 | Rep |
| 017 | Nobleton | 386 | 2.7 | 5.0% | $864 | Rep |
| 018 | Lake Lindsey | 202 | 2.6 | 33.5% | $1,408 | Rep |
| 019 | Bayport | 189 | 2.1 | 33.5% | $1,408 | Rep |
| 020 | Pine Island | 123 | 1.7 | 33.5% | $1,408 | Rep |
County heatmap
One county, multiple regulatory regimes.
Hernando County, Florida eviction laws earns an average eviction-risk score of 2.4/10 (Very Low), placing it in the middle third of the state at rank 26 of 67 Florida counties. That means 25 counties carry more risk for landlords and 41 are more landlord-friendly, a positioning that reflects genuinely manageable conditions rather than either a standout opportunity or a caution zone. Across the county's 20 tracked cities, average rent runs $1,398 per month, renter-occupied units account for just 19.4% of households, and rent burden sits at 33.1% of renter income on average -- indicators that point to a relatively stable tenant base without the concentrated financial stress that drives eviction spikes.
For investors sizing up where to put capital, the overall 2.7 average is useful but the intra-county spread matters just as much. Scores across Hernando County range from 1.7 to 2.8, a full 1.4-point band, meaning operating conditions vary meaningfully from one community to the next. Portfolio-level underwriting that treats every submarket as a single number will miss that variation.
The cities inside Hernando County
Weeki Wachee Gardens carries the county's highest eviction-risk score at 2.8/10. With a population of roughly 9,457, the city is the county seat, and its score reflects a combination of local economic stress and older rental stock. Wiscon follows at 2.4/10, and South Brooksville rounds out the top three at 2.2/10. Landlords holding units in or near Brooksville should budget for a somewhat more active collections environment compared to county averages.
At the other end of the range, Timber Pines scores 2.5/10 and North Weeki Wachee comes in at 2.5/10. Spring Hill, far and away the county's most populous city at 119,983 residents, sits at 2.4/10, essentially matching the county average, which means a large share of the county's rental inventory operates close to that baseline. Risk is genuinely hyper-local here: two neighborhoods separated by a few miles can land nearly a full point apart.
State-level laws that apply here
Florida state law governs every residential tenancy in Hernando County under Fla. Stat. § 83 Part II (Residential Tenancies). Notice requirements depend on the ground for eviction: 3 days for non-payment of rent, 7 days for material non-compliance (curable or non-curable), and 15 days to end a month-to-month tenancy. For squatters or unauthorized occupants with no rental agreement, the 2024 statute at Fla. Stat. § 82.036 (HB-621) requires no advance notice. An uncontested case typically resolves in 20 to 30 days; a contested case can stretch to 45 to 110 days. Filing fees run $185 to $400, sheriff lockout fees add another $90 to $175, and attorney fees typically range from $750 to $3,500. Understanding the full Florida eviction process before acquiring units is one of the most practical steps a landlord can take to avoid surprises. Florida does not require just cause for eviction and the state preempts local rent-control ordinances outside of a declared housing emergency, so Hernando County landlords operate under straightforward, predictable rules. Reviewing Florida eviction costs before closing on a rental acquisition helps investors model worst-case scenarios accurately.
With a poverty rate of 12.5% and renters making up only 19.4% of occupied housing units, Hernando County's risk profile is shaped by a relatively small but economically mixed tenant pool -- the city-level scores in the grid above show exactly where that stress concentrates.
Eviction filings in Hernando County
In December 2022, 14 eviction filings were recorded in Hernando County, 30.4% of the historical average (below average).1
- 14Dec 2022
- 30.4%of historical avg
- 14,639Renter households
- 12.0%Poverty rate
Historical eviction filings in Hernando County
From 2000 to 2018, eviction filings in Hernando County increased 77%. The peak was 723 filings in 2007.2
- 3422000
- 723Peak (2007)
- 6042018
Data covers 2000–2018, the full span of the Princeton Eviction Lab's national county court-records dataset.
How Hernando County compares
Among its peer counties, Hernando County's 2.4/10 score sits above Charlotte County (2.69/10) and between Clay County (2.5/10) and Sarasota County (2.76/10), while Marion County is slightly riskier at 2.87/10 and Indian River County is less risky at 2.52/10.
Within Florida, Hernando County ranks 26 of 67 counties (rank 1 = highest risk), placing it in the middle third of the state: 25 counties are riskier and 41 are less risky, making it a moderate-to-favorable choice relative to the broader Florida market.