Lowndes County, Mississippi Eviction Risk: Low

Lowndes County, Mississippi eviction laws carries a county-average eviction risk score of 2.6/10 (Low), placing it 7th of 82 Mississippi counties, meaning only 6 counties in the state carry higher risk. With roughly half of the county's residents renting and a poverty rate of 17.8%, landlords here face a tenant base under real financial strain, and the operating environment rewards careful screening and proactive lease management over a set-it-and-forget-it approach.

The intra-county spread runs from 1.8 to 2.8 across the 6 incorporated places, so the "Moderate" label at the county level masks meaningful variation. Investors looking to minimize exposure should not treat Lowndes County as a monolithic market.

The cities inside Lowndes County

Columbus anchors the county both by population, at 23,348 residents, and by risk, scoring 4.8/10, the highest in the county. Columbus AFB follows at 2.8/10 and Artesia at 2/10. These three communities account for the majority of the county's rental housing stock, and their above-average scores reflect higher rent burden and poverty concentrations relative to the county norm. Landlords operating in Columbus in particular should expect a slower collections cycle and should price vacancy assumptions conservatively.

The lower end of the range offers a meaningful contrast. New Hope scores 1.8/10, the most landlord-favorable reading in the county, with a population of 3,952. Caledonia comes in at 1.9/10 and Crawford at 2.4/10. Even the most favorable municipalities in Lowndes County sit in the moderate-risk band, underscoring that risk is genuinely hyper-local but nowhere in the county qualifies as a low-risk, hands-off market.

State-level laws that apply here

Mississippi state law (Miss. Code SS 89-8) sets the procedural framework for every landlord in Lowndes County. For non-payment of rent, landlords may serve a 3-day notice; a lease violation triggers a 14-day notice; and a no-cause end-of-term removal requires 30 days. Uncontested cases typically resolve in 30 to 60 days, but contested proceedings can run 60 to 120 days, during which the unit generates no revenue. The full Mississippi eviction process is worth understanding in detail before signing a lease in any Lowndes County city, because timeline slippage is the single largest cost driver.

On the cost side, court filing fees range from $75 to $150, sheriff lockout fees from $30 to $120, and attorney fees from $500 to $2,500 depending on case complexity. Mississippi imposes no rent control and no just-cause eviction requirement statewide, and state law preempts any local rent-regulation ordinance, so landlords here retain broad pricing flexibility. Mississippi eviction costs can nonetheless add up quickly when a case goes contested, making tenant selection the most cost-effective risk-control tool available.

With an average renter share of 49% and a poverty rate of 17.8%, the financial vulnerability of Lowndes County's tenant population is above the national norm; review the city-level scores in the grid above to pinpoint which communities carry the most concentrated exposure before committing capital.