Pierce County, Georgia Eviction Risk: Very Low

Pierce County sits in southeast Georgia with a total population of 8,828 spread across 7 incorporated places. The county carries a Low eviction risk score of 2.4/10 on the Eviction Risk Map scale, placing it at rank 101 of 159 Georgia eviction laws counties - meaning 100 counties in the state score higher (riskier) and 58 score lower. That puts Pierce squarely in the middle third of the state, leaning toward the landlord-friendly end without being a standout outlier.

The largest city is Blackshear (population 3,578), which also carries the county's highest individual score at 2.6/10. Offerman is the next most notable at 2.5/10 with 873 residents. Deenwood (2,360 residents, score 2.3/10) and Patterson (906 residents, score 2.1/10) round out the mid-range. Bristol and Mershon both sit at the low end of 1.8/10, though with very small populations of 54 and 26 respectively. The county score range from 1.8 to 2.6 is narrow, signaling fairly consistent conditions across all seven places rather than a situation where one outlier city drives the county average.

On the economic side, average rent in Pierce County runs $898 per month, and the average rent burden is 26.9% of income - which falls below the standard 30% threshold that housing researchers use to flag cost stress, though it is not far off. The average poverty rate across the county is 20.8%, which is a figure worth watching: it tells you that a meaningful share of renters are operating with limited financial cushion even if the aggregate burden percentage looks manageable. Renters make up 31.6% of households, a typical share for a rural Georgia county. Georgia law under O.C.G.A. § 44-7 governs the landlord-tenant relationship statewide and does not require just cause for non-renewal, does not cap rents (and O.C.G.A. § 44-7-19 expressly preempts any local rent control ordinance), and sets a 3-day notice period for nonpayment of rent under O.C.G.A. § 44-7-50. Filing fees for a dispossessory action run $60 to $250, sheriff lockout fees range from $25 to $100, and uncontested cases typically resolve in 14 to 30 days. If the case is contested, landlords should budget 45 to 90 days and attorney fees of $500 to $3,000. The retaliation protection statute at O.C.G.A. § 44-7-24 and the habitability standard at O.C.G.A. § 44-7-13 are the primary tenant-side provisions landlords need to be aware of before filing.

Pierce County's Low score reflects a combination of below-average rent burden, a landlord-favorable state legal framework with no rent control or just-cause requirement, and modest rental market size - factors the Eviction Risk Map methodology weights alongside local economic conditions and eviction history.