Sherman County, Kansas Eviction Risk: Very Low

Sherman County sits in the far northwest corner of Kansas, a sparsely populated plains county of 4,279 residents where roughly 44.3% of households rent rather than own. The county carries an eviction risk score of 2/10 - a Low rating that places it 83rd out of 105 Kansas counties ranked from highest to lowest risk. That means 82 Kansas counties present a harder operating environment for landlords, and only 22 are considered less risky. For landlords evaluating the northwest Kansas market, Sherman County sits comfortably in the lower-risk third of the state.

The rental market here is quiet by most measures. Average rent runs $912 per month, and the average rent burden - the share of income renters put toward housing - is 30.1%. That burden figure is worth watching: at 30%, renters are right at the conventional threshold where housing stress begins to affect payment reliability. The county's average poverty rate of 11.3% adds some economic fragility context, though in a small market of under 4,300 people, individual circumstances vary widely. Goodland, the county seat, accounts for nearly all of the county's population at 4,121 residents and scores 2/10. Kanorado, a small border community of 153 residents near the Colorado line, scores slightly higher at 2.1/10 - the riskiest point in the county, though still firmly in Low territory. Edson, with only 5 residents, rounds out the incorporated places.

Kansas landlord-tenant law under K.S.A. § 58-2540 et seq. (the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act) governs all Sherman County tenancies. Nonpayment of rent triggers a 3-day notice requirement before a landlord may file; lease violations give tenants 14 days to cure; and no-cause terminations at end of term require 30 days' notice. Court filing fees run $120 to $200, and a sheriff lockout typically costs an additional $40 to $150. Uncontested cases generally resolve in 21 to 45 days; contested matters stretch to 45 to 100 days. Kansas does not impose rent control and the state preempts any local government from enacting it, so Sherman County landlords face no rent cap risk now or in the foreseeable future. The state also does not require just cause for nonrenewal, giving landlords meaningful flexibility at lease end. Retaliation protections for tenants are codified under K.S.A. § 58-2572, and the habitability standard is set by K.S.A. § 58-2553 - both standard provisions that do not create unusual exposure in a compliant operation.

Sherman County's Low risk score reflects a landlord-favorable legal framework, modest rent levels, and a small rental market concentrated almost entirely in Goodland - a stable plains community where eviction filings are relatively uncommon and the cost to pursue one, when necessary, is predictable.