Boone County, Illinois Eviction Risk: Low

Boone County, Illinois eviction laws earns an average eviction-risk score of 3.8/10 (Low) across its 10 scored cities, placing it 41st of 102 Illinois eviction laws counties, meaning 40 counties carry more risk and 61 are more landlord-friendly. That middle-third position reflects a county where tenant-financial stress exists but has not reached the levels seen in Illinois's urban cores. With an average rent of $1,117 and a rent-burden rate of 30.7%, a meaningful share of renters are stretched, but the overall operating environment leans toward stability for attentive landlords.

The intra-county spread, 3.4 to 4/10, tells a more textured story. The gap of 0.6 points between the calmest corners and the most pressured city may look narrow on paper, but it translates into real differences in tenant financial exposure, local economic conditions, and the likelihood a landlord will need to navigate the Illinois eviction process in any given year. Knowing exactly where a rental property sits within that range matters far more than the county average alone.

The cities inside Boone County

Belvidere, the county seat and by far the largest city with a population of 24,752, carries the highest score in the county at 4/10. That is still a Low rating, but it sits at the top of the local range, reflecting the greater tenant-population density and affordability pressures typical of the county's primary urban center. Landlords investing in Belvidere should model their underwriting around a market where a notable share of renters operate near the edge of their budget.

Caledonia follows at 3.8/10 and Capron at 3.7/10, representing the mid-tier of county risk. At the lower end, Lawrence and Argyle both score 3.4/10, the lowest readings in the county. Smaller communities like Candlewick Lake, Poplar Grove, and Timberlane cluster tightly at 3.5/10, signaling broadly similar operating conditions across most of the county's outlying areas. Risk is genuinely hyper-local here: a landlord holding units in Belvidere faces a meaningfully different risk profile than one operating five miles away in a smaller community.

State-level laws that apply here

Every landlord in Boone County operates under Illinois state law as codified in 735 ILCS 5/9 (Forcible Entry and Detainer). For nonpayment of rent, the required notice is 5 days. A material lease violation triggers a 10-day cure notice, and terminating a month-to-month tenancy requires 30 days. Fixed-term leases that have simply expired require no additional notice before filing. Uncontested cases typically resolve in 30 to 60 days; contested cases can run 60 to 150 days. The full Illinois eviction costs, including a court filing fee of $200 to $400, a sheriff lockout fee of $60 to $200, and attorney fees of $750 to $3,500, add up quickly and underscore why prevention matters.

Illinois does not require just cause to terminate a tenancy, and state law preempts local rent control, so no municipality in Boone County can impose its own cap. The Illinois eviction process and Illinois tenant protections both flow from statewide statute, with no local carve-outs in this county. Source-of-income is a protected class under state law, administered by the Illinois Department of Human Rights, which is a factor landlords should account for in their screening policies.

With a renter share of just 22.3% and a poverty rate of 12.4%, Boone County's rental market is relatively small and moderately stressed; the city-level grid above breaks that picture down by individual community so you can target the specific risk tier that fits your investment criteria.