Taylor County, Iowa Eviction Risk: Low

Taylor County scores 2.1/10 (Low risk) across its 9 cities, placing it at rank 90 of 99 Iowa counties, meaning 89 counties carry higher eviction risk and only 9 are more landlord-friendly. For landlords and investors evaluating the Iowa eviction laws market, that positions Taylor County solidly in the lower-risk third of the state, with average rent at $864 and an average rent burden of 22.5%, suggesting tenants here are not dramatically cost-squeezed relative to their incomes.

Risk within the county spans a narrow band of 1.7 to 2.4, so no corner of Taylor County tips into moderate territory. Still, even inside a low-risk county the spread of 0.7 points across cities is enough to affect underwriting decisions, particularly for investors comparing individual submarkets head-to-head.

The cities inside Taylor County

The highest-risk address in the county is New Market, which scores 2.4/10 with a population of 397. That score sits at the top of the county range but remains comfortably in Low territory. The two largest cities, Lenox (population 1,569, score 2.1/10) and Bedford (population 1,336, score 2.1/10), anchor the middle of the county distribution and together account for the bulk of the county's 4,072 total residents. Clearfield and Blockton also both sit at 2.1/10, reinforcing how tightly clustered conditions are across the county's mid-tier cities.

The lowest-risk cities tell a similarly settled story. Conway scores 1.7/10, Sharpsburg 1.8/10, and Gravity 1.9/10, all small communities where the renter pool is thin and eviction activity is minimal. The takeaway for investors is that risk here is genuinely hyper-local: a single street separating two ZIP codes can move a score by half a point, so city-level due diligence matters even in a broadly calm county like this one.

State-level laws that apply here

Every landlord in Taylor County operates under Iowa eviction laws Code § 562A (Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Law), which sets the procedural rules statewide. For non-payment, Iowa law requires a 3-day notice before filing; a lease-violation cure notice runs 7 days; and a no-cause end-of-term notice requires 30 days. Once filed, an uncontested case resolves in roughly 21 to 40 days, while a contested matter can stretch to 45 to 100 days. Out-of-pocket costs under the Iowa eviction process include a court filing fee of $95 to $200, a sheriff lockout fee of $50 to $150, and attorney fees ranging $500 to $2,500 depending on case complexity. Iowa has no rent control and does not require just cause for non-renewal, and state law preempts any local rent-control ordinance, so Taylor County landlords face a uniform, landlord-accessible statutory framework. For a full breakdown of what those costs add up to, see the Iowa eviction costs guide. Landlords wanting to understand tenant rights before a dispute should also review Iowa tenant protections before signing any new lease.

With a poverty rate of 10.9% and only 24.4% of households renting, Taylor County's renter pool is relatively small and stable; the city-level scores in the grid above show where within the county that stability holds strongest and where the modest high-end of the 1.7-to-2.4 range concentrates.