Sharkey County, Mississippi Eviction Risk: Moderate

Sharkey County, Mississippi scores 4.1/10 (Moderate) on the EvictionRiskMap scale, placing it in the higher-risk third of the state. With a rank of 13 out of 82 Mississippi counties, only 12 counties carry more risk for landlords, and 69 are less risky. Across the county's 6 cities, total population is a compact 2,989, average rent runs $560 per month, and the average rent burden sits at 22.1% of income. Those numbers suggest a cost-accessible market, but a 34.6% poverty rate and 38.4% renter share point to tenant financial fragility that can make collections and lease compliance genuine operating challenges.

The county's intra-county spread, scores ranging from 3.2 to 4.7, is a meaningful signal. A landlord with holdings spread across multiple Sharkey County addresses is effectively operating in two different risk environments. Understanding which city a property sits in matters more than the county average alone.

The cities inside Sharkey County

The highest-risk concentration is at the county seat. Anguilla leads at 4.7/10 with a population of 654, followed closely by Rolling Fork at 4/10, which is also the county's largest community at 2,038 residents. Both of these cities carry risk that outpaces the county average, meaning landlords there face a combination of tenant-side financial pressure and market conditions that raise exposure to non-payment events and prolonged vacancies.

Moving down the risk ladder, Panther Burn scores 4.3/10 and Grace comes in at 4.1/10. The lowest readings belong to Delta City and Nitta Yuma, each at 3.2/10. That low end is notably more landlord-friendly than the county average, though both communities are very small. Risk is hyper-local in Sharkey County, and a single-city strategy here requires a city-level risk read, not just a county headline.

State-level laws that apply here

Every landlord operating in Sharkey County works under Mississippi state law, specifically Miss. Code Section 89-8 (Landlord and Tenant). For non-payment of rent, the required notice period is 3 days. A lease violation with opportunity to cure requires 14 days notice, and a no-cause end-of-term termination requires 30 days. Mississippi does not require just cause for eviction, and state law preempts any local attempt to impose rent control, so landlords face no patchwork of municipal rent caps here.

That procedural clarity has limits once a dispute enters court. The Mississippi eviction process, uncontested, runs 30 to 60 days; a contested case can stretch 60 to 120 days. Filing fees range from $75 to $150, sheriff lockout fees from $30 to $120, and attorney fees from $500 to $2,500. Before committing capital to this market, reviewing Mississippi eviction costs and the full Mississippi security deposit limits framework is prudent due diligence. Mississippi does not limit security of income as a protected class, and there is no state retaliation statute in the dataset, which is relevant context for how disputes are framed.

With a 34.6% poverty rate and 38.4% of households renting, Sharkey County's financial baseline for tenants is among the more stressed in Mississippi. The city-by-city breakdown in the grid above is the most actionable starting point for any investor evaluating specific addresses here.