Stark County, Illinois Eviction Risk: Low

Stark County scores 3.3/10 on the eviction-risk scale, placing it in the Low risk tier and ranking 61st of 102 Illinois eviction laws counties, meaning 60 counties carry higher risk and 41 are more landlord-friendly. For investors weighing rural Illinois eviction laws markets, that positioning in the middle third of the state reflects a relatively stable operating environment: average rent of $731, a rent burden of 25.7%, and a renter share of just 21.7% across a total county population of 4,653. The low renter share means the tenant pool is smaller, but it also means demand pressures are modest and landlord-tenant disputes tend to be less frequent than in urbanized Illinois eviction laws counties.

The intra-county score range is tight, running from 3.1 to 3.4 across all 6 cities, which tells operators that risk conditions are relatively uniform throughout the county. There is no dramatic high-risk pocket to avoid or a standout low-risk enclave to seek out, a useful signal when comparing Stark County against peer rural counties in the region.

The cities inside Stark County

The highest-risk city in the county is Bradford, scoring 3.4/10 with a population of 772. Bradford sits at the top of the local range, though even at 3.4 it remains a low-risk market by statewide standards. Wyoming (population 1,578, score 3.3/10) and Toulon (population 1,485, score 3.3/10) are the two largest cities in the county and share the same score, making them effectively equivalent in risk profile. Both serve as the county's primary residential rental markets given their relative size.

At the lower end of the risk spectrum, Neponset and Mineral each score 3.2/10, and La Fayette comes in at the county's lowest reading of 3.1/10. La Fayette's 178 residents make it a thin rental market, but operators already active there benefit from the most favorable conditions in the county. The half-point spread from Bradford to La Fayette is narrow enough that underwriting decisions will likely turn on local vacancy and rental demand rather than risk-score differences alone.

State-level laws that apply here

Every landlord operating in Stark County works under Illinois eviction laws state law, specifically the Forcible Entry and Detainer statute at 735 ILCS 5/9. Notice requirements are straightforward: nonpayment of rent triggers a 5-day 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 requires 30 days. Fixed-term leases that have simply expired require no advance notice before filing. Reviewing the full Illinois eviction laws eviction process is essential before serving any notice, as procedural errors restart the clock.

Illinois eviction laws does not require just cause for eviction and, through state preemption, prohibits local rent-control ordinances, which simplifies long-term rent-setting decisions for investors. The Illinois eviction costs to budget realistically are court filing fees of $200 to $400, sheriff lockout fees of $60 to $200, and attorney fees of $750 to $3,500 depending on complexity. An uncontested case typically resolves in 30 to 60 days; a contested matter can run 60 to 150 days. Source-of-income is a protected class under Illinois law, administered by the Illinois Department of Human Rights, so screening policies must account for that.

With an average poverty rate of 15.4% and renters comprising just 21.7% of households, Stark County is a small, low-turnover market, see the city grid above for score and population breakdowns across all 6 cities.