Jefferson County, Florida Eviction Risk: Very Low

Jefferson County sits in Florida's rural Big Bend region with a total population of 3,597 spread across six communities. The county carries an average eviction risk score of 2.4/10 (Low), placing it 33rd of 67 Florida counties - right in the middle of the state's risk distribution, with 32 counties reading riskier and 34 reading calmer. That positioning reflects a combination of a small rental base, moderate financial pressure on tenants, and Florida's landlord-favorable statutory framework under Fla. Stat. § 83 Part II (Residential Tenancies).

The financial picture for renters here is worth understanding carefully. Average rent lands at $841 per month, which is well below Florida's urban market rates, yet the average rent burden runs at 46.4% of income - a figure that signals renters are stretching hard to cover housing costs even at those lower dollar amounts. The county's average poverty rate of 20.7% compounds that pressure: when incomes are low enough, even modest rents consume a disproportionate share of household earnings and narrow the margin before a missed payment triggers a notice. Roughly 32.9% of Jefferson County residents rent their homes, a relatively thin renter share that keeps overall eviction volume low in absolute terms but does not dilute the per-household financial stress renters face.

Within the county, Monticello - the county seat and largest community at a population of 2,659 - scores 2.3/10, reflecting stable conditions relative to the county average. The smaller communities of Aucilla and Lloyd, each scoring 2.8/10, represent the highest local risk in the county, driven by their limited economic diversity and smaller tenant pools where individual hardship events have an outsized statistical effect. At the other end of the scale, Waukeenah comes in at 1.9/10, the lowest score in the county. Wacissa (2.4/10) and Lamont (2.3/10) track close to the county average. Florida landlords operating here benefit from a state eviction process that, under normal circumstances and without tenant contestation, can move from filing to resolution in 20 to 30 days; contested cases extend to 45 to 110 days. Court filing fees range from $185 to $400, and sheriff lockout fees add $90 to $175 on top of that. Fla. Stat. § 83.56(3) requires only a 3-day notice for non-payment before the landlord may proceed to file - one of the shorter notice windows in the country. The state's preemption statute (FL Stat §125.0103) blocks Jefferson County from enacting local rent control, which keeps the regulatory environment straightforward. Source of income is not a protected class under Florida fair housing law, so voucher screening policies are governed by individual landlord choice rather than statute.

Jefferson County's Low risk score reflects a rural rental market where absolute eviction volumes stay small, but renters operate with little financial cushion - a 46.4% average rent burden and 20.7% poverty rate mean payment disruptions can arrive quickly when household income shifts.