Henry County, Iowa Eviction Risk: Low

Henry County, Iowa scores 2.5/10 on the eviction-risk scale, placing it in the Low risk tier and ranking 41st of 99 Iowa eviction laws counties, meaning 40 counties carry more risk and 58 are more landlord-friendly. That mid-table position reflects a market where tenant-turnover stress is modest but not absent, with an average rent of $832 and a rent-burden rate of 25.2% across the county's renters. For a landlord or investor weighing a portfolio here, the fundamentals point to manageable operating conditions rather than a stress-free environment.

Across the county's 13 cities, individual scores range from 2 to 2.7, a spread of a full point that matters when you are choosing which submarket to enter. The 31.5% renter share means roughly one in three households is a tenant, a meaningful base of rental demand. With a 14.4% poverty rate county-wide, landlords should screen carefully for income stability, since a non-trivial share of the rental pool may face periodic cash-flow pressure.

The cities inside Henry County

The highest-risk address in the county is Mount Pleasant, scoring 2.5/10, and it also dominates the county's population at 8,951 residents, meaning the bulk of the county's rental activity concentrates in its least landlord-friendly city. Salem and Olds each score 2.5/10, while New London (2,338 residents) and Hillsboro each post a 2.7/10. Even the highest number in this cluster is still a low absolute score, but within Henry County these cities represent the top of the local risk range.

On the other end, Westwood scores 2.2/10, the single lowest reading in the county, while Swedesburg comes in at 2.1/10. Winfield and Lockridge both score 2.1/10. The takeaway is that risk is hyper-local: a landlord operating in Westwood faces a materially different operating environment than one holding units in Mount Pleasant eviction risk, even though both properties sit inside the same county line.

State-level laws that apply here

Every Henry County tenancy is governed by Iowa eviction laws Code § 562A (Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Law). For non-payment of rent, Iowa eviction laws law requires only a 3-day notice before filing, one of the shorter cure windows in the Midwest. A lease-violation notice requires 7 days, and a no-cause termination at end of term requires 30 days. Understanding the full Iowa eviction laws eviction process matters here because uncontested cases still take 21 to 40 days from filing to judgment, and contested cases can stretch to 45 to 100 days. Iowa eviction costs add up: court filing fees run $95 to $200, sheriff lockout fees $50 to $150, and attorney fees typically range from $500 to $2,500 depending on complexity.

Iowa eviction laws does not require just cause to terminate a tenancy, and the state preempts any local rent-control ordinance, so Henry County cities cannot impose caps above the state framework. Iowa security deposit limits and other tenant-protection rules are set at the state level, keeping the regulatory environment uniform across all 13 cities in the county. Landlords must give 24 hours notice before entry under Iowa eviction laws Code § 562A.

With a poverty rate of 14.4% and a renter share of 31.5%, Henry County offers a manageable but not risk-free rental market; the city grid above breaks down individual scores for all 13 cities so you can pinpoint the best submarket for your strategy.