DeKalb County, Illinois Eviction Risk: Moderate

DeKalb County carries an average eviction-risk score of 5.1/10 (Moderate) across its 17 incorporated places, which puts it among the more challenging operating environments in Illinois. The county's rank of 9 of 102 Illinois counties means only 8 counties statewide carry higher risk, placing DeKalb County firmly in the higher-risk third of the state. For landlords evaluating this market, that ranking is a meaningful signal: the combination of a 40.4% renter share and an average rent-burden rate of 33.3% creates conditions where tenant financial stress, and therefore eviction pressure, runs above the state norm.

The intra-county score range of 4.7 to 5.3 tells a more nuanced story. The spread is relatively tight, meaning there is no single low-risk pocket that dramatically changes the calculus, but city-level differences still matter for underwriting individual properties. Average rent across the county is $1,088 per month, modest enough that even brief vacancy periods or contested evictions can materially affect annual returns on smaller portfolios.

The cities inside DeKalb County

The city of DeKalb is the county's largest community at a population of 40,443 and its highest-risk market, scoring 5.3/10, the only city in the county to hit the top of the local range. Home to Northern Illinois University, DeKalb eviction risk carries a transient renter population and the elevated turnover and dispute rates that typically accompany a college-town rental market. Sycamore (population 18,559) scores 5.1/10, as do Genoa and Malta, placing three smaller cities at that same moderate-risk tier alongside the county seat.

Sandwich, Cortland, Hinckley, Maple Park, and Somonauk each score 5.0/10, the lowest readings in the county. That score still reflects a moderate-risk environment, not a benign one, and the half-point difference between Sandwich at 5.0 and DeKalb at 5.3 is enough to influence reserve planning. Investors operating across multiple units in different cities should price that gap into their underwriting rather than applying a single county average to every asset.

State-level laws that apply here

Illinois state law under 735 ILCS 5/9 (Forcible Entry and Detainer) governs every eviction filed in DeKalb County. For nonpayment of rent, the required notice period is 5 days; a material lease violation triggers a 10-day notice; and month-to-month holdover tenants require 30 days. Once notice is served and suit is filed, an uncontested case typically resolves in 30 to 60 days, while a contested matter can run 60 to 150 days. Understanding the full Illinois eviction process is essential before your first filing, because those timelines compound quickly against a mortgage. On the cost side, the Illinois eviction costs associated with a single case include court filing fees of $200 to $400, sheriff lockout fees of $60 to $200, and attorney fees ranging from $750 to $3,500, depending on complexity.

Illinois does not require just cause for non-renewal, and state law preempts local rent-control ordinances statewide, so no municipality in DeKalb County can impose a rent cap. Source-of-income is a protected class under Illinois law, administered by the Illinois Department of Human Rights, which affects tenant-screening practices. There are no local rent-control or just-cause complications to navigate here, but the absence of those rules does not reduce the timeline or cost exposure once a dispute reaches court.

With a poverty rate of 17.9% across the county and renters making up 40.4% of households, the financial vulnerability of the tenant base is real, and the city-level scores in the grid above show precisely where that pressure concentrates most.