Ellis County, Kansas Eviction Risk: Very Low

Ellis County carries an average eviction-risk score of 2.1/10 (Very Low) across its 5 mapped cities, which on the surface reads as a manageable market for landlords. The picture is a bit more nuanced than that single number suggests, however. The intra-county range runs from 1.8 to 2.4, a spread that matters operationally: a portfolio concentrated in the county seat looks meaningfully different from one spread across smaller rural communities. Kansas eviction laws overall sits in a landlord-friendly posture at the state level, but Ellis County's ranking of 18th out of 105 Kansas counties places it in the higher-risk third of the state, meaning 17 counties score worse and 87 score better. Investors need to account for that positioning when underwriting vacancy reserves and tenant-screening budgets.

With an average rent of $928 and an average rent-burden rate of 30.7%, a meaningful slice of the county's renter base is financially stretched. That stress feeds eviction risk, particularly in tighter economic cycles. The county's total population of roughly 24,860 is heavily concentrated in Hays eviction risk, which means liquidity for acquisitions and exits is tied almost entirely to one city's housing demand.

The cities inside Ellis County

Hays dominates the county, with a population of 21,143 and a risk score of 2.3/10, the highest in Ellis County. As the county seat and home to Fort Hays State University, Hays carries a student-renter dynamic that affects turnover and collection patterns in ways that pure market-rate portfolios in smaller towns do not face. Catharine scores 2/10, the second-highest reading, despite a much smaller base. Ellis (city) and Victoria each score 1.8/10, sitting in the lower-middle tier and representing smaller, more stable rental pools.

At the far end of the range, Munjor registers a 2.1/10, the lowest score in the county and one that reflects its rural character and population of just 247. Risk is genuinely hyper-local here: the gap between Hays and Munjor is nearly a full point, which is substantial on a 10-point scale. Landlords evaluating Ellis County should underwrite each city individually rather than relying on the county average alone.

State-level laws that apply here

Under the Kansas eviction laws Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (K.S.A. § 58-2540 et seq.), landlords serving an eviction notice for non-payment of rent must give tenants 3 days. A lease-violation or cure notice requires 14 days, and a no-cause end-of-term notice requires 30 days. Court filing fees run $120 to $200, sheriff lockout fees add $40 to $150, and attorney fees typically range from $500 to $2,500 depending on whether the case is contested. An uncontested eviction resolves in roughly 21 to 45 days; a contested matter can stretch to 45 to 100 days. Reviewing the full Kansas eviction laws eviction process before your first filing will prevent procedural missteps that restart those clocks. Kansas eviction laws imposes no rent control and does not require just cause for non-renewal, and state law preempts local jurisdictions from enacting rent caps, so Ellis County landlords are not exposed to local rent-control ordinances. For a complete breakdown of what filing and enforcement actually costs, see the Kansas eviction costs guide.

With an average poverty rate of 19.3% and a renter share of 39.5% across the county, Ellis County's tenant base carries real financial pressure, underscoring why tracking individual city scores in the grid above matters more than the county headline number alone.