Ohio County, Kentucky Eviction Risk: Very Low
7 incorporated cities and unincorporated areas. The county Eviction Risk Score is held aloft by the city of Beaver Dam (2.5) and a small number of dense urban cores. Rent-control coverage varies by city.
Ranked #93 of 120 KY counties
8k residents · 7 cities · 8 tracts
Ohio County eviction risk score history
Key metrics
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Tenant beats landlord20.2%/ 100 outcomesIn court-decided eviction outcomes for Ohio County, KY, tenants prevail in roughly 20.2% of contested cases. A higher number means landlords face stronger tenant defenses and longer calendars.
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Timeline34dfiling → judgmentFrom the moment an unlawful-detainer notice is filed in Ohio County, KY until a money judgment is entered, a contested eviction takes about 34 days on average. Longer timelines mean more lost rent for landlords.
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Cost range$1.2–3.5klegal + lost rentA typical eviction in Ohio County, KY costs landlords $1,233 to $3,452 all-in, covering court filing fees, process-server costs, attorney time, and lost rent.
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Average rent$66720% stretched on rentAverage gross rent in Ohio County, KY is $667 per month per the U.S. Census American Community Survey. 20% of renter households here spend more than 30% of pre-tax income on rent.
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Renters37.5%of households37.5% of occupied housing units in Ohio County, KY are renter-occupied. A higher renter share usually correlates with more eviction filings and a more active rental market.
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Poverty13.5%7.2% unemp.13.5% of Ohio County, KY residents live below the federal poverty line, and unemployment runs at 7.2%. Both feed the economic-stress sub-score in our Eviction Risk Score model.
Scrub 50 years
Ohio County's average eviction risk score is 2.3/10 (Low), with individual cities ranging from 1.8/10 to 2.5/10 across 7 tracked cities. Ranked 93rd of 120 Kentucky counties - 92 counties carry higher risk, 27 carry lower risk.
How Ohio County ranks in Kentucky
Landlord guides for Kentucky
| City↕ | Population↕ | Risk↕ | % income on rent↕ | Average rent↕ | Lean↕ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 001 | Beaver Dam | 3,524 | 2.4 | 16.3% | $696 | Rep |
| 002 | Hartford | 2,649 | 2.0 | 18.4% | $543 | Rep |
| 003 | Pleasant Ridge | 487 | 2.5 | 21.2% | $977 | Rep |
| 004 | Fordsville | 453 | 2.1 | 24.0% | $533 | Rep |
| 005 | McHenry | 385 | 2.5 | 50.0% | $665 | Rep |
| 006 | Centertown | 371 | 2.5 | 25.0% | $967 | Rep |
| 007 | Rosine | 76 | 1.8 | 25.5% | $1,029 | Rep |
County heatmap
One county, multiple regulatory regimes.
Ohio County, Kentucky eviction laws is one of the quieter rental markets in the state, carrying a Low eviction risk score of 2.3/10 on the Eviction Risk Map. Out of 120 Kentucky eviction laws counties, Ohio County ranks 93rd - meaning 92 counties carry higher eviction risk and only 27 are lower. That position in the bottom third of statewide risk reflects a combination of modest rent levels, low financial strain on renters, and a legal framework that gives landlords relatively straightforward tools to enforce leases.
The county's roughly 7,945 residents span seven tracked cities, with Beaver Dam (population 3,524) and Hartford (population 2,649) accounting for the bulk of the rental market. Average rent across the county sits at $667 per month, well below most Kentucky eviction laws metro benchmarks, and the average rent burden - the share of household income going to rent - comes in at 19.9%, which is comfortably below the 30% threshold that housing researchers use to flag cost pressure. The renter share of households is 37.5%, and the average poverty rate is 13.5%. At those income and rent levels, the conditions that tend to drive eviction filings - sustained rent delinquency driven by income shortfalls - are less acute here than in Kentucky eviction laws's urban corridors.
Within the county, city-level scores range from 1.8/10 in Rosine to 2.5/10 in Pleasant Ridge, McHenry, and Centertown. Beaver Dam, the largest city, sits at 2.4/10. Even at the high end of that range, these scores represent Low risk by the Eviction Risk Map's classification. Landlords operating here do so under KRS § 383.500 et seq., Kentucky eviction laws's Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, which sets a 7-day notice for non-payment of rent, a 14-day notice for lease violations, and a 30-day no-cause notice for end-of-term situations. Kentucky eviction laws does not require just cause for eviction, and the state preempts any local rent control - no city or county in Kentucky eviction laws may impose a rent cap. Court filing fees for an eviction run $150 to $250, sheriff lockout fees range from $40 to $150, and attorney fees in contested cases typically fall between $500 and $2,500. An uncontested eviction can resolve in 21 to 45 days; a contested case stretches to 45 to 120 days. Source of income is not a protected class under Kentucky law, giving landlords flexibility in applicant screening. Fair housing complaints are handled by the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights under the retaliation protections of KRS § 383.705 and habitability standards of KRS § 383.595.
Ohio County sits in west-central Kentucky eviction laws and is predominantly rural, with no large city anchoring the rental market. Its low eviction risk score reflects limited rent pressure and a landlord-friendly state statute with no local regulatory overlay.
Eviction filings in Ohio County
In September 2025, 4 eviction filings were recorded in Ohio County, 84.2% of the historical average (near average).1
- 4Sep 2025
- 84.2%of historical avg
- 1,962Renter households
- 13.1%Poverty rate
Historical eviction filings in Ohio County
From 2000 to 2016, eviction filings in Ohio County declined 16%. The peak was 49 filings in 2015.2
- 432000
- 49Peak (2015)
- 362016
Data covers 2000–2018, the full span of the Princeton Eviction Lab's national county court-records dataset.
How Ohio County compares
Ohio County's 2.3/10 average score is in line with close peers including Johnson County (2.3/10), Grayson County (2.33/10), Webster County (2.23/10), Union County (2.22/10), and Meade County (2.22/10) - all clustered in the Low range and all sitting near the lower-risk end of the Kentucky distribution.