Adams County, Mississippi Eviction Risk: Low
3 incorporated cities and unincorporated areas. The county Eviction Risk Score is held aloft by the city of Natchez (2.8) and a small number of dense urban cores. Rent-control coverage varies by city.
Ranked #10 of 82 MS counties
16k residents · 3 cities · 10 tracts
Adams County eviction risk score history
Key metrics
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Tenant beats landlord16.1%/ 100 outcomesIn court-decided eviction outcomes for Adams County, MS, tenants prevail in roughly 16.1% of contested cases. A higher number means landlords face stronger tenant defenses and longer calendars.
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Timeline28dfiling → judgmentFrom the moment an unlawful-detainer notice is filed in Adams County, MS until a money judgment is entered, a contested eviction takes about 28 days on average. Longer timelines mean more lost rent for landlords.
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Cost range$1.0–2.6klegal + lost rentA typical eviction in Adams County, MS costs landlords $984 to $2,649 all-in, covering court filing fees, process-server costs, attorney time, and lost rent.
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Average rent$81431% stretched on rentAverage gross rent in Adams County, MS is $814 per month per the U.S. Census American Community Survey. 31% of renter households here spend more than 30% of pre-tax income on rent.
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Renters41.1%of households41.1% of occupied housing units in Adams County, MS are renter-occupied. A higher renter share usually correlates with more eviction filings and a more active rental market.
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Poverty33.0%9.1% unemp.33.0% of Adams County, MS residents live below the federal poverty line, and unemployment runs at 9.1%. Both feed the economic-stress sub-score in our Eviction Risk Score model.
Scrub 50 years
Adams County's average eviction-risk score of 2.8/10 spans a range from 3.5 (Cloverdale) to 4.7 (Natchez), with the county's largest city, Natchez, anchoring the high end. Ranked 10th of 82 Mississippi counties by eviction risk, higher-risk third of the state.
How Adams County ranks in Mississippi
Landlord guides for Mississippi
| City↕ | Population↕ | Risk↕ | % income on rent↕ | Average rent↕ | Lean↕ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 001 | Natchez | 14,192 | 2.8 | 32.4% | $806 | Dem |
| 002 | Morgantown | 1,038 | 2.6 | 17.0% | $928 | Dem |
| 003 | Cloverdale | 676 | 2.0 | 31.4% | $814 | Dem |
County heatmap
Neighborhoods in Adams County
Top 1 neighborhoods by population. Click for a pop-weighted risk score and the constituent census tracts.
One county, multiple regulatory regimes.
Adams County, Mississippi eviction laws carries an average eviction-risk score of 2.8/10 (Low) across its 3 tracked cities, placing it at rank 10 of 82 counties statewide, meaning only 9 Mississippi counties are riskier and 72 are less risky. That puts Adams County firmly in the higher-risk third of the state, a reality landlords and investors should weigh before committing capital here. Average rent sits at $814 per month, and with a rent burden averaging 31.4% of renter income, financial stress among tenants is a consistent operating factor.
Within the county, individual city scores span from 2 to 2.8, a range wide enough to matter. The county average tells you the general climate, but the city you buy into determines the actual conditions you face day to day. Investors who treat this county as a single undifferentiated market are likely to either overpay for risk or walk away from deals that pencil out fine at the city level.
The cities inside Adams County
Natchez dominates the county both by size and by risk profile. With a population of 14,192, it accounts for the vast majority of the county's residents and carries the highest risk score at 4.7/10. For landlords, Natchez eviction risk represents the core market here, but it is also where income stress, renter concentration, and eviction pressure are most pronounced. Any portfolio strategy in Adams County is, in practice, mostly a Natchez strategy.
Morgantown and Cloverdale offer a different picture. Morgantown (population 1,038) scores 2.6/10, a moderate step down from Natchez. Cloverdale (population 676) posts the county's lowest risk reading at 2/10, a meaningful gap below the county average. These smaller communities represent lower eviction pressure, though their thin rental markets limit scale for most investors. Risk in Adams County is genuinely hyper-local: two adjacent communities can carry very different operating realities.
State-level laws that apply here
Every landlord in Adams County operates under Mississippi eviction laws state law, specifically Miss. Code § 89-8 (Landlord and Tenant). For non-payment of rent, the required notice period is just 3 days, one of the shorter windows in the region. Lease violations require a 14-day cure notice, and no-cause or end-of-term terminations require 30 days. Mississippi eviction laws imposes no just-cause requirement for evictions and, critically, the state preempts any local rent-control ordinance, meaning no city or county in Mississippi eviction laws can cap rents. Understanding the full Mississippi eviction laws eviction process matters here because even with a 3-day notice, an uncontested case typically runs 30 to 60 days from filing to lockout, and a contested case can stretch to 60 to 120 days.
On the cost side, court filing fees run $75 to $150, sheriff lockout fees add $30 to $120, and if you retain an attorney, expect $500 to $2,500 in legal fees. Mississippi eviction costs can therefore range from a few hundred dollars in a clean uncontested case to well over $2,500 when a tenant contests. Mississippi security deposit limits and tenant protections beyond basic habitability under Miss. Code § 89-8-23 are limited, giving landlords relatively straightforward statutory footing compared with many other states.
Adams County's poverty rate of 33% and renter share of 41.1% underscore the income-side pressure that drives the moderate risk reading here; review the city grid above to identify which specific markets within the county best match your risk tolerance.
How Adams County compares
Adams County scores 2.8/10 (Low), matching Panola County (2.8/10) and sitting just below Bolivar County (4.64/10) and Coahoma County (4.84/10) among Mississippi peers. Copiah County (4.58/10) and Grenada County (4.5/10) trail slightly, placing Adams County in the middle of this peer cluster but above most of the state.
Within Mississippi's 82 counties, Adams County ranks 10th by eviction risk, meaning only 9 counties carry higher risk and 72 are less risky. That positions it firmly in the higher-risk third of the state, a relevant input for landlords underwriting new acquisitions in the Natchez area.