Humboldt County, Iowa Eviction Risk: Low

Humboldt County, Iowa eviction laws carries an average eviction-risk score of 2.2/10, placing it in the Low risk tier and ranking 85th out of 99 Iowa eviction laws counties, meaning 84 counties statewide score higher and carry greater landlord exposure. For investors sizing up north-central Iowa eviction laws, that picture translates to a rental market where most tenants pay and court filings remain rare, a genuine operating advantage in a state where some markets run considerably hotter.

The county's 14 cities cover a total population of roughly 8,641 residents, with an average rent of $782 per month and an average rent-to-income burden of 22.2%, well below the threshold where financial stress routinely tips into nonpayment. Roughly 26% of households rent rather than own, keeping vacancy competition measured and demand steady without the speculative pressure that inflates risk elsewhere in Iowa eviction laws.

The cities inside Humboldt County

Risk is genuinely hyper-local here, even within a low-scoring county. Livermore sits at the high end with a score of 2.6/10, the only city in the county that approaches a moderate profile. The city of Humboldt, the county seat with a population of 4,771, and Bode both score 2.3/10, representing elevated conditions relative to county peers but still well within manageable territory. Renwick comes in at 2.2/10, right at the county average, while Badger and Lu Verne each score 2.1/10.

The lowest-risk operating environments sit in Dakota City (1.7/10, population 752) and Gilmore City (1.8/10, population 748), along with Thor at 1.8/10. The full county spread runs from 1.5 to 2.6, a meaningful gap that rewards landlords who look at individual city scores rather than stopping at the county headline. A portfolio concentrated in Dakota City and Gilmore City carries materially different risk than one weighted toward Livermore or the city of Humboldt.

State-level laws that apply here

Iowa eviction laws state law governs every tenancy in Humboldt County under Iowa eviction laws Code Section 562A, the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Law. For nonpayment of rent, landlords may issue a 3-day notice; lease violations that can be cured require a 7-day notice; and end-of-term or no-cause terminations require 30 days. An uncontested eviction typically resolves in 21 to 40 days from filing, while contested matters can stretch to 45 to 100 days. The Iowa eviction laws eviction process is notably accessible for landlords: court filing fees run $95 to $200, sheriff lockout fees add $50 to $150, and attorney fees where engaged typically range $500 to $2,500. Iowa eviction laws imposes no just-cause eviction requirement and no rent control, and state law preempts any local jurisdiction from enacting rent caps, so investors face a consistent, predictable statutory framework across every Humboldt County city. Review Iowa eviction costs and Iowa security deposit limits before finalizing your operating budget, as both bear directly on your net return.

With an average poverty rate of 16.2% and roughly one in four households renting, Humboldt County's risk profile stays anchored at the low end, though the city-level scores in the grid above show where within the county that calculus shifts most.