Tippah County, Mississippi Eviction Risk: Very Low

Tippah County, Mississippi scores 2.5/10 on the eviction-risk index, a Low rating that places it at rank 82 of 82 Mississippi counties, meaning 81 counties carry higher risk. For landlords and investors, that ranking translates to one of the most operationally stable environments in the state: rent burden sits at a modest 25.5% of income on an average rent of $720, and renter share across the county's 6 tracked cities is 35.5%, a level that supports steady demand without the concentration risk that pushes scores higher elsewhere.

Within the county, scores span a tight range of 1.5 to 2.8, which means even the highest-risk submarket here would rank comfortably in the lower half of most Mississippi counties. That consistency is meaningful: operators moving between cities inside Tippah County face incremental differences in risk profile, not the dramatic swings common in metro or coastal markets. The poverty rate of 17.4% warrants attention when screening tenants, but it has not translated into elevated eviction pressure at the county level.

The cities inside Tippah County

Walnut carries the highest risk score in the county at 2.8/10, with a population of 699. Blue Mountain follows at 2.7/10 and 1,232 residents, making it the second-largest city in the county by population and the second-riskiest by score. Ripley, the county seat and by far the most populous city at 5,377 residents, scores 2.5/10, right at the county average, a reassuring signal given that it absorbs the majority of rental activity. These three cities represent the upper end of the risk range, yet all three remain well below statewide averages.

At the lower end, Chalybeate scores just 1.5/10, the lowest in the county and among the lowest in Mississippi. Falkner comes in at 2.2/10 (population 760) and Dumas at 2.3/10 (population 303). Risk is genuinely hyper-local even within a low-risk county: a landlord owning in Chalybeate operates in a meaningfully quieter environment than one owning in Walnut, despite both sitting inside the same county lines.

State-level laws that apply here

Under Mississippi eviction process rules governed by Miss. Code § 89-8 (Landlord and Tenant), notice requirements are landlord-favorable. Non-payment of rent triggers a 3-day notice; a lease violation carries a 14-day cure notice; and a no-cause end-of-term termination requires 30 days. Uncontested cases typically resolve in 30 to 60 days, while contested proceedings extend to 60 to 120 days. Court filing fees run $75 to $150, sheriff lockout fees add $30 to $120, and attorney fees where retained range from $500 to $2,500.

Mississippi security deposit limits and rent-control policy also favor operators here: the state preempts local rent control entirely, and no just-cause requirement exists for terminating a tenancy, giving landlords broad discretion over leasing decisions. Mississippi tenant protections do include a habitability standard under Miss. Code § 89-8-23, so properties must meet basic habitability conditions, but the overall statutory framework is among the more landlord-aligned in the Southeast.

With a poverty rate of 17.4% and a renter share of 35.5%, Tippah County presents a modest but real screening challenge; the city-by-city risk grid above pinpoints which submarkets, from Chalybeate at 1.5/10 to Walnut at 2.8/10, carry the most concentrated exposure.