Hamilton County, Illinois Eviction Risk: Low

Hamilton County, Illinois eviction laws carries a county-wide eviction-risk score of 2.7/10, placing it in the Low risk tier and ranking it 98th of 102 Illinois counties, meaning 97 counties are riskier and only 4 are less risky than Hamilton. For landlords and investors, that standing translates to a market where tenant-payment stress is comparatively modest, average rent runs $586 per month, and the average rent burden sits at 22.7% of income, well below thresholds that typically pressure eviction rates. With a total population of roughly 3,579 across 5 incorporated places, this is a small, rural corner of Illinois with limited inventory but also limited competition from institutional landlords.

Intra-county scores range only from 2.7 to 2.9, a tight band that signals consistent operating conditions throughout Hamilton County. Peer counties with nearly identical scores include Jasper County at 2.7 and Edwards County at 2.74, confirming that this pocket of southern Illinois broadly favors the landlord side of the ledger. Investors weighing entry should still run city-level due diligence, since even a narrow score spread can reflect meaningful differences in local rental demand and tenant quality.

The cities inside Hamilton County

The highest-risk city in the county is Dahlgren, scoring 2.9/10 with a population of 595. While 2.9 is far from alarming on an absolute scale, it is the only city in Hamilton County that diverges from the county floor, and landlords there should build that marginal extra risk into their underwriting. McLeansboro, the county seat and by far the largest city at a population of 2,675, scores 2.7/10, matching the county average and offering the deepest local rental pool for investors who need tenant density to support multi-unit holdings.

The remaining three cities, Broughton (population 206), Belle Prairie City (population 72), and Macedonia (population 31), each score 2.7/10. Their small populations limit both rental inventory and prospective tenant pipelines, so while risk scores are low, vacancy risk is a real operational concern. The takeaway: risk is hyper-local even inside a low-risk county, and city-level scores in the grid below are the right unit of analysis before acquiring any specific asset.

State-level laws that apply here

Illinois landlord-tenant law, primarily governed by 735 ILCS 5/9 (Forcible Entry and Detainer), sets the procedural floor for every Hamilton County eviction. A nonpayment case starts with a 5-day written notice under 735 ILCS 5/9-209; a material lease violation requires a 10-day notice under 735 ILCS 5/9-210; and a month-to-month holdover demands a 30-day notice under 735 ILCS 5/9-207. End of a fixed-term lease requires no additional notice period under 735 ILCS 5/9-205. Once filed, an uncontested case typically resolves in 30 to 60 days; a contested case can stretch to 60 to 150 days. Court filing fees run $200 to $400, sheriff lockout fees $60 to $200, and attorney fees commonly range $750 to $3,500, making an eviction a potentially significant fixed cost on a $586-average-rent property. A full breakdown is in the Illinois eviction costs guide. Illinois does not require just cause for non-renewal and state law preempts local rent control, so no Hamilton County municipality can impose a rent cap, a meaningful protection for buy-and-hold investors. Review the Illinois eviction process guide for procedural checklists and local court contacts. Illinois also protects source of income as a fair-housing class, administered by the Illinois Department of Human Rights, which landlords should factor into screening policies.

Hamilton County carries an average poverty rate of 19.9% and a renter share of 33.4%, a combination that underscores why low eviction-risk scores here reflect limited tenant purchasing power rather than robust local incomes. Use the city grid above to compare individual market scores before committing capital to any specific address.