Mason County, Illinois Eviction Risk: Moderate

Mason County, Illinois scores 3.3/10 on the eviction-risk index, placing it in the Low risk tier. Spread across 13 cities and a total population of roughly 8,987, the county sits at rank 66 of 102 Illinois counties, meaning 65 counties carry more risk for landlords and only 36 are safer to operate in. That middle-third standing reflects a small, largely rural rental market where average rent runs $721 per month and the renter share of households is a modest 22.9%. For investors weighing central Illinois, the headline number signals a workable environment, though conditions vary sharply from one community to the next.

The intra-county score range, 2.9 to 3.5, is narrow in absolute terms but meaningful at this risk level. A gap of 0.6 points separates the calmest pocket from the most pressured one, and with a rent burden averaging 40.2% of renter income, a portion of tenants are financially stretched even in the quieter corners of the county. Landlords should price and screen with that stress in mind rather than treating the county average as a uniform operating baseline.

The cities inside Mason County

At the top of the local risk list sit Kilbourne, Goofy Ridge, and Topeka, each scoring 3.5/10, the highest in the county. Liverpool follows at 3.4/10. These are small communities where a single troubled tenancy can represent an outsized share of a landlord's local portfolio, so tenant screening and lease discipline matter more, not less, than they would in a larger market. Havana, the county seat and its largest community at 2,989 residents, and Mason City, the second-largest city at 2,159 residents, both score 3.3/10, right at the county average, making them reasonable anchors for investors seeking scale without outsized risk.

At the lower end, San Jose records the county's most landlord-friendly score at 2.9/10, while Manito and Easton each come in at 3.2/10. The spread reinforces that risk in Mason County is genuinely hyper-local: a few miles and a different ZIP code can shift the operating picture by half a point or more. Underwriting each city on its own profile, rather than relying on the county average, is the practical takeaway.

State-level laws that apply here

Every landlord in Mason County operates under Illinois state law, specifically the Forcible Entry and Detainer statutes at 735 ILCS 5/9. For nonpayment of rent, the required notice period is 5 days. A material lease violation triggers a 10-day cure notice, and ending a month-to-month tenancy requires 30 days notice. Fixed-term leases that simply expire require no additional notice to terminate. Uncontested cases typically resolve in 30 to 60 days; contested proceedings can stretch from 60 to 150 days. Understanding the Illinois eviction process from the first notice through lockout is essential because delays compound quickly when rent is already in arrears.

On the cost side, court filing fees run $200 to $400 and sheriff lockout fees add another $60 to $200, with attorney fees typically ranging from $750 to $3,500 depending on case complexity. Illinois eviction costs therefore have a wide spread, and a contested case in the upper range can run well past $4,000 before accounting for lost rent during the timeline. On the regulatory side, Illinois does not require just cause for most terminations and the state preempts local rent control, so Mason County landlords face no local caps or cause requirements on top of the state baseline. Source-of-income is a protected class under Illinois law, administered by the Illinois Department of Human Rights, which is a practical consideration when reviewing applicants who hold housing vouchers.

With a poverty rate of 17% among county residents and renters making up only 22.9% of households, Mason County's rental pool is both small and financially vulnerable in places; review the city-by-city grid above to match your investment target to its actual local score rather than the county average.