Hinds County, Mississippi Eviction Risk: Low

Hinds County carries a county-wide average eviction-risk score of 3.2/10 (Low), placing it among the higher-risk third of Mississippi counties: 19 of the state's 82 counties score worse, while 62 are less risky for landlords. That middle-tier label can mask real variation on the ground. Across the county's 9 scored cities, individual scores swing from 2.2 to 3.4, a spread wide enough to make the difference between a routine filing and a contested, months-long process depending on exactly where a property sits. With an average rent of $1,079 and a 34.1% average rent-burden rate, tenants here are stretched, which tends to drive both delinquency frequency and the likelihood of a tenant disputing an eviction notice.

Investors evaluating Mississippi as a whole will find Hinds County sits at a complicated midpoint. A 45.5% renter share means there is no shortage of the tenant pool landlords need, but the same conditions that create that demand, including a 23% poverty rate, are precisely what push risk scores into moderate-to-elevated territory. Underwriting a purchase here requires looking past the county average and drilling down to the city level.

The cities inside Hinds County

The highest-risk city in the county is Jackson, which scores 3.4/10, followed closely by Clinton (2.4/10, population 27,195) and Bolton (2.3/10). Edwards and Utica each come in at 2.9/10, and Byram (2.3/10, population 12,799) rounds out the elevated tier. These smaller and mid-size markets carry heightened risk despite their size, largely because constrained local economies leave fewer buffers when tenants fall behind.

Jackson, the county seat with a population of 146,631, scores 4.2/10, making it one of the lower-risk cities inside Hinds County even though it is far from a landlord's paradise by national standards. The county's risk floor sits at 3.6. The practical takeaway: risk in Hinds County is hyper-local. Two properties a few miles apart can sit in meaningfully different operating environments, and a city-level score review before any acquisition is not optional here.

State-level laws that apply here

Mississippi state law governs all evictions in Hinds County. Under Miss. Code § 89-8 (Landlord and Tenant), a landlord may serve a 3-day notice to quit for non-payment of rent, a 14-day notice for a lease violation with an opportunity to cure, and a 30-day notice for a no-cause end-of-term termination. Mississippi does not require just cause for eviction, and state law preempts any local rent-control ordinance, so no county or city in Mississippi can impose a rent cap on top of state rules. An uncontested eviction typically resolves in 30 to 60 days; a contested matter can take 60 to 120 days. Direct costs run from a court filing fee of $75 to $150, a sheriff lockout fee of $30 to $120, and attorney fees typically ranging from $500 to $2,500 for an eviction proceeding. Understanding the full Mississippi eviction process before signing leases here is essential, because even a relatively cooperative tenant can push total out-of-pocket costs past $2,700 once attorney time is included. Landlords should also review Mississippi eviction costs in detail, since fee exposure varies by court docket and whether the tenant contests the action.

With a 23% poverty rate and 45.5% of residents renting, the financial pressure on tenants across Hinds County is real, and it shows up in the spread of city scores above. Reviewing each city in the grid is the most direct way to calibrate risk at the asset level before committing to a purchase or lease-up strategy here.