Crawford County, Kansas Eviction Risk: Low

Crawford County, Kansas eviction laws carries an average eviction-risk score of 2.6/10 (Low) across its 18 cities, yet that headline number understates the variation landlords actually face on the ground. Scores inside the county run from 1.9 to 2.9, a spread wide enough to separate genuinely quiet markets from ones that warrant tighter tenant screening. At rank 17 of 105 Kansas counties, Crawford sits in the higher-risk third of the state: only 16 counties statewide carry more risk, while 88 are comparatively easier to operate in. For investors weighing southeast Kansas, that position argues for due diligence at the city level rather than county-wide assumptions.

The broader operating picture reflects a county where average rent runs $834 per month and 46.3% of households rent rather than own. A rent-burden rate of 30.6% and a poverty rate of 25.2% both point to a tenant base that has limited financial cushion, which is the structural driver behind the county's elevated placement in the Kansas rankings. Landlords should price that reality into their underwriting and collections workflows from day one.

The cities inside Crawford County

Risk is genuinely hyper-local here. Girard, at 2.9/10, is the county's highest-scoring city and sits at the very top of the intra-county range; with a population of 2,777, it is small enough that a few difficult tenancies can meaningfully affect a portfolio concentrated there. Frontenac, at 2.8/10, is similarly elevated, serving a population of 3,392. Arcadia also scores 2.8/10, and Mulberry and McCune each come in at 2.7/10, rounding out the cluster of cities where landlords should apply the most careful pre-lease screening.

At the other end of the spectrum, Pittsburg, the county's largest city at 20,637 residents, scores 2.5/10, which is meaningfully lower than the county's riskiest cities. Chicopee is the calmest market in the data at 2.0/10, and Cherokee comes in at 2.3/10. For investors who want Crawford County exposure while minimizing collections and eviction volatility, the larger and lower-scoring markets offer a more defensible entry point.

State-level laws that apply here

Every landlord in Crawford County operates under the Kansas Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, K.S.A. § 58-2540 et seq. For non-payment of rent, Kansas state law requires a 3-day notice before filing. A lease-violation cure notice requires 14 days, and a no-cause end-of-term termination requires 30 days. Once filed, an uncontested eviction typically resolves in 21 to 45 days; a contested case can stretch to 45 to 100 days. Understanding the full Kansas eviction process, including these timelines, is essential before acquiring rental property here.

On cost, 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. Landlords should budget those components individually rather than assuming a round total. Kansas imposes no just-cause requirement for non-renewal and no rent control, and state law preempts any local jurisdiction from enacting its own rent-control ordinance. For a full breakdown of Kansas eviction costs and what drives them, reviewing the statewide guides on Kansas security deposit limits and Kansas tenant protections will fill in the remaining statutory detail.

With a poverty rate of 25.2% and nearly half of all households renting, Crawford County's risk profile is front-loaded at the tenant-qualification stage; the city scores in the grid above pinpoint exactly where that risk is highest and lowest within the county.