Dixon County, Nebraska Eviction Risk: Low

Dixon County, Nebraska eviction laws earns an eviction risk score of 3.1/10 (Low), placing it 32nd out of 93 Nebraska eviction laws counties by landlord risk exposure. That rank puts it in the middle of the state: 27 counties carry higher risk, and 65 are less risky for landlords. Statewide, the average risk sits at 3.6/10, so Dixon County runs modestly below that line. Scores across the county's 9 incorporated places span from 3.1 to 3.7, a spread that reflects real differences in local rental market stress despite the county's overall rural character.

The county's largest community, Wakefield (population 1,305), scores 3.7/10 - the highest reading among the bigger towns and consistent with the somewhat elevated rent-burden picture in the county seat area. Ponca (population 727, county seat) comes in at 3.4/10, and Allen (population 468) matches Wakefield at 3.5/10. On the lower end, Newcastle (population 376) and the city of Dixon (population 78) both score 3.2/10 and 3.1/10 respectively, while Concord (population 143) is among the lowest in the county at 3.1/10. The outlier is the small community of Maskell (population 76), which posts the county's highest reading at 3.2/10 - a signal that even in a generally low-risk rural county, concentrated rental stress in a tiny village can move the needle sharply. Waterbury (population 95) lands at 3.1/10.

On the economic fundamentals, Dixon County tenants pay an average of $651 per month in rent against a rent burden rate of 30% - meaning the typical renter household allocates roughly 30 cents of every dollar of income to housing. The renter share of the population is 28.6%, relatively modest for Nebraska, and the poverty rate stands at 6.6%. That combination - low renter density, below-average incomes stretched by a 30% burden rate - explains why the county's Low risk label is genuinely low but not negligible. Landlords operating here face a tenant population where affordability is tight even at these modest rent levels, which can elevate the frequency of payment shortfalls even without tenant-protective regulations adding procedural friction. Nebraska's statewide statutory framework under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 76-1401 et seq. applies uniformly across Dixon County: a 7-day notice to quit for non-payment, 14 days to cure a lease violation, and 30 days for no-cause end-of-term terminations. There is no local rent control, no just-cause eviction requirement, and no source-of-income protection - a landlord-favorable baseline that holds countywide and keeps the overall risk profile low.

Dixon County's 3.1/10 score reflects stable rural rental conditions anchored by Nebraska eviction laws's landlord-friendly statute. Court filing fees run $85-$200, sheriff lockout fees $40-$150, and uncontested proceedings typically resolve in 21-45 days at the Dixon County District Court. Contested cases extend to 45-100 days. The absence of rent caps, just-cause requirements, or source-of-income protections keeps regulatory overhead minimal, though the 30% average rent burden signals that tenant payment capacity warrants monitoring.