Butler County, Kansas Eviction Risk: Very Low

Butler County, Kansas eviction laws earns an average eviction-risk score of 2.2/10 (Very Low) across its 15 mapped cities, a figure that puts landlords and investors in a generally stable operating environment. That said, the county's rank of 12 out of 105 Kansas counties tells a more nuanced story: only 11 counties in the state carry higher risk, placing Butler County in the higher-risk third statewide. Renter households face an average rent burden of 27.2%, and renters make up 26.4% of all occupied units, so the tenant pool is real and active, but not under the kind of economic stress that drives eviction rates sharply upward in harder markets.

Conditions within the county are consistent but not uniform. Individual city scores range from 1.9 to 2.9, a spread that matters to anyone choosing between submarkets. Average asking rents run around $1,073 per month, reasonable for a suburban Kansas market anchored by Wichita's eastern metro edge. On balance, the county rewards landlords who vet tenants carefully and understand that even a low-risk county can concentrate its trouble in specific cities.

The cities inside Butler County

The highest-risk locations in the county are El Dorado (2.4/10, population 12,769), Rose Hill (2.2/10, population 4,246), and Latham (2.9/10). El Dorado is the county seat and its largest city by combined renter share and economic activity, making it the single most important market to underwrite carefully. Rose Hill sits at the same score but serves a much smaller tenant base. Augusta (2.2/10, population 9,216) and Douglass (2.4/10) cluster just below, while Andover (1.9/10, population 15,965) is the county's most populous city and offers a modestly lower-risk profile.

At the lower end of the county's range, Towanda and Whitewater both score 1.9/10, and the county floor sits at 1.9. Risk is genuinely hyper-local here: two cities at the top of the table carry scores 0.9 points above the county floor, which is enough of a difference to affect underwriting decisions. Investors assembling a Butler County portfolio should treat each city as its own credit environment rather than relying solely on the county average.

State-level laws that apply here

Every landlord operating in Butler County works under the Kansas Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, codified at K.S.A. § 58-2540 et seq. For non-payment of rent, the required notice period is 3 days. Lease-violation notices carry a 14-day cure period, and no-cause terminations at end of term require 30 days notice. Kansas does not require just cause for non-renewal, and the state preempts any local rent-control ordinance, so Butler County's cities cannot impose rent caps independently. Full detail on notice mechanics appears in the Kansas eviction process guide.

When an eviction does become necessary, court filing fees run $120 to $200, sheriff lockout fees add $40 to $150, and attorney fees range from $500 to $2,500 depending on complexity and whether the case is contested. An uncontested matter typically resolves in 21 to 45 days; a contested case can stretch to 45 to 100 days. Understanding Kansas eviction costs before a dispute arises lets landlords price that contingency into their acquisition math rather than absorbing it as a surprise. Retaliation protections for tenants are addressed under K.S.A. § 58-2572, and habitability obligations fall under K.S.A. § 58-2553.

With a county poverty rate of 10.5% and renters comprising roughly one in four households, Butler County presents a manageable risk profile, though city-level scores diverge enough that the grid above is the right starting point for any acquisition or lease-up decision.