Howard County, Indiana Eviction Risk: Low

Howard County carries an average eviction-risk score of 2.6/10 (Low), placing it 9th out of 92 Indiana counties, meaning only 8 counties statewide are riskier and 83 are less risky. For landlords evaluating the county's 12 incorporated places and an overall population of roughly 64,799, that ranking signals a market sitting in the higher-risk third of the state, one where tenant-payment stress is real but not extreme. Average rent runs $935 per month, and renters devote an average of 31% of income to housing, a burden level that elevates late-payment probability and demands disciplined tenant screening from the outset.

Within Indiana, Howard County compares unfavorably to peer counties such as Clark County (4.01/10) and Grant County (3.95/10), though it sits slightly below Floyd County (4.46/10). The intra-county spread, from a low of 2.8/10 to the county average of 2.6/10, underscores that where you buy inside the county matters as much as the county-level number itself.

The cities inside Howard County

Kokomo eviction risk dominates the county's rental landscape, accounting for roughly 59,122 of the county's residents and anchoring the top of the risk range at 2.6/10. As the economic hub, Kokomo eviction risk concentrates the highest volume of rental units and the highest aggregate eviction exposure. Greentown follows at 2.1/10, and Russiaville scores 2.3/10, making those three the places where landlords face the most consistent operating pressure.

Investors looking for lower-risk positions inside the same county have options. Cassville registers at 2.5/10, the lowest score in the county, while West Middleton sits at 2.2/10 and New London at 2.6/10. These smaller communities carry meaningfully less tenant-financial stress than Kokomo, though their smaller renter pools also mean vacancy risk is a bigger concern than eviction risk. Risk in Howard County is genuinely hyper-local: a single city boundary can shift the operating environment by more than a full point on a 10-point scale.

State-level laws that apply here

Every landlord operating in Howard County is governed by Indiana state law under Ind. Code § 32-31 (Landlord-Tenant Relations). For nonpayment of rent, Indiana requires a 10-day notice to quit (IC 32-31-1-6). A material lease violation triggers a 30-day notice (IC 32-31-1-8), and terminating a month-to-month tenancy also requires 30 days (IC 32-31-1-1). Once a notice period lapses without cure, the Indiana eviction process moves through the courts: an uncontested case typically resolves in 21 to 45 days, while a contested matter can run 45 to 100 days. For a full breakdown of what that timeline costs at each stage, the Indiana eviction costs guide details the filing fee range of $150 to $200, sheriff lockout fees of $50 to $200, and attorney fees of $500 to $2,500, producing a total outlay that can reach several thousand dollars on a contested case.

Indiana does not require just cause to terminate a tenancy, and state law preempts any local rent-control ordinance, so landlords in Howard County face no municipal rent caps. Indiana security deposit limits and Indiana tenant protections are set at the state level by the same statute, with retaliation protections codified at Ind. Code § 32-31-8-6 and habitability standards at Ind. Code § 32-31-8. Source of income is not a protected class under Indiana state law, giving landlords standard screening flexibility.

With 35.7% of residents renting and a county poverty rate of 14.8%, the financial fragility driving Howard County's Moderate risk score is concentrated but not uniform, use the city-by-city grid above to pinpoint which communities fall closest to your risk tolerance before committing capital.