Lawrence County, Indiana Eviction Risk: Very Low
11 incorporated cities and unincorporated areas. The county Eviction Risk Score is held aloft by the city of Bedford (2.6) and a small number of dense urban cores. Rent-control coverage varies by city.
Ranked #73 of 92 IN counties
21k residents · 11 cities · 13 tracts
Lawrence County eviction risk score history
Key metrics
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Tenant beats landlord17.9%/ 100 outcomesIn court-decided eviction outcomes for Lawrence County, IN, tenants prevail in roughly 17.9% of contested cases. A higher number means landlords face stronger tenant defenses and longer calendars.
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Timeline37dfiling → judgmentFrom the moment an unlawful-detainer notice is filed in Lawrence County, IN until a money judgment is entered, a contested eviction takes about 37 days on average. Longer timelines mean more lost rent for landlords.
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Cost range$1.3–3.5klegal + lost rentA typical eviction in Lawrence County, IN costs landlords $1,317 to $3,485 all-in, covering court filing fees, process-server costs, attorney time, and lost rent.
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Average rent$83130% stretched on rentAverage gross rent in Lawrence County, IN is $831 per month per the U.S. Census American Community Survey. 30% of renter households here spend more than 30% of pre-tax income on rent.
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Renters33.0%of households33.0% of occupied housing units in Lawrence County, IN are renter-occupied. A higher renter share usually correlates with more eviction filings and a more active rental market.
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Poverty15.8%3.3% unemp.15.8% of Lawrence County, IN residents live below the federal poverty line, and unemployment runs at 3.3%. Both feed the economic-stress sub-score in our Eviction Risk Score model.
Scrub 50 years
Lawrence County's average eviction-risk score of 2.2/10 spans a range from 1.7 to 2.6, with Mitchell anchoring the high end as the county's riskiest city. Ranked 46 of 92 Indiana counties by eviction risk, placing Lawrence County in the state's middle third.
How Lawrence County ranks in Indiana
Landlord guides for Indiana
| City↕ | Population↕ | Risk↕ | % income on rent↕ | Average rent↕ | Lean↕ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 001 | Bedford | 13,837 | 2.1 | 31.8% | $828 | Rep |
| 002 | Mitchell | 3,937 | 2.6 | 29.2% | $849 | Rep |
| 003 | Oolitic | 1,522 | 1.9 | 21.2% | $814 | Rep |
| 004 | Avoca | 439 | 1.9 | 30.4% | $569 | Rep |
| 005 | Needmore | 309 | 1.8 | 30.4% | $831 | Rep |
| 006 | Williams | 200 | 2.0 | 24.0% | $1,357 | Rep |
| 007 | Judah | 157 | 2.0 | 30.4% | $831 | Rep |
| 008 | Tunnelton | 64 | 1.8 | 30.4% | $831 | Rep |
| 009 | Lawrenceport | 38 | 2.6 | 30.4% | $831 | Rep |
| 010 | East Oolitic | 22 | 1.7 | 30.4% | $831 | Rep |
| 011 | Heltonville | 11 | 1.8 | 30.4% | $831 | Rep |
County heatmap
One county, multiple regulatory regimes.
Lawrence County, Indiana eviction laws carries an average eviction risk score of 2.2/10 (Very Low) across its 11 cities, placing it at rank 47 of 92 Indiana eviction laws counties, meaning 46 counties statewide are riskier and 45 are more landlord-friendly. That middle-of-the-pack position reflects a county where operating conditions are generally workable: an average rent of $831, a rent burden of 30.4%, and a renter share of 33% combine to produce a market with manageable demand without the acute stress indicators that drive high eviction rates.
The intra-county spread, from 1.7 to 2.6, tells a more nuanced story. Lawrence County is not uniformly low-risk; rather, pockets of the county carry meaningfully different profiles depending on the specific community. Landlords accustomed to treating Indiana counties as monoliths should look closely at city-level scores before acquiring or expanding here.
The cities inside Lawrence County
Mitchell, the county's highest-risk city at 2.6/10, is also its second-largest with a population of 3,937. Landlords active in Mitchell face the highest relative exposure in the county, and tenant turnover and income instability are more pronounced there than elsewhere in Lawrence County. Bedford, the county seat and by far the largest city at 13,837 residents, sits at a county-average 2.2/10, making it the dominant rental market and a reasonable baseline for underwriting assumptions. Oolitic (population 1,522) comes in at 1.9/10, a moderate profile for a smaller community.
At the lower-risk end of the spectrum, Tunnelton posts the county's best score at 1.8/10, and Williams comes in at 2/10. Both are small communities where the rental universe is limited, but investors already active there face notably lower eviction-risk pressure than in the county's larger markets. The 1.3-point spread between Tunnelton and Mitchell is wide enough to matter at underwriting, reinforcing that risk in Lawrence County is hyper-local.
State-level laws that apply here
Regardless of which city a landlord operates in, all Lawrence County properties are governed by Indiana eviction laws state law under Ind. Code § 32-31 (Landlord-Tenant Relations). For nonpayment of rent, Indiana eviction laws requires a 10-day notice under IC 32-31-1-6 before filing. Material lease violations carry a 30-day cure notice under IC 32-31-1-8, and ending a month-to-month tenancy also requires 30 days under IC 32-31-1-1. The Indiana eviction laws eviction process, once notices are properly served, runs roughly 21 to 45 days for an uncontested case and 45 to 100 days for a contested one.
Indiana eviction costs add up quickly even in favorable cases. Court filing fees run $150 to $200, sheriff lockout fees add another $50 to $200, and attorney fees typically fall between $500 and $2,500, depending on complexity. On the landlord-favorable side, Indiana eviction laws does not require just cause for nonrenewal, and state law preempts local rent-control ordinances, so no local rent caps apply in Lawrence County. Landlords should review Indiana security deposit limits and Indiana tenant protections to stay current on any statutory changes affecting their obligations before signing new leases.
With a poverty rate of 15.8% and a renter share of 33%, Lawrence County's rental base skews toward cost-sensitive households; individual city scores in the grid above will sharpen that picture for any specific market within the county.
Eviction filings in Indiana
The Princeton Eviction Lab Tracking System covers Indiana statewide (no county-level tracker available for Lawrence County). In the past month, 5,536 statewide filings were recorded, 0.95× the historical baseline (below baseline).
- 5,536Past month (state)
- 71,124Past 12 months
- 0.97×vs baseline (12 mo)
Eviction filings in Lawrence County
In September 2025, 14 eviction filings were recorded in Lawrence County, 83.6% of the historical average (near average).2
- 14Sep 2025
- 83.6%of historical avg
- 3,835Renter households
- 11.3%Poverty rate
How Lawrence County compares
Lawrence County's county-wide average of 2.2/10 (Very Low) sits at rank 46 of 92 Indiana eviction laws counties, with 45 counties carrying higher eviction risk and 46 carrying lower risk, placing the county squarely in the state's middle tier. Its closest peer counties, including Dubois County at 3.18/10, Cass County at 3.14/10, Steuben County at 3.13/10, Putnam County at 3.05/10, and Marshall County at 3.02/10, all cluster within 0.2 points, indicating Lawrence County is neither an outlier nor a standout within this peer group.
Within Lawrence County itself, the intra-county spread from 2.1 (Tunnelton) to 3.4 (Mitchell) is 1.3 points, meaning city selection within the county can meaningfully shift an investor's risk exposure even while staying within the same legal and economic jurisdiction.