Chautauqua County, New York Eviction Risk: High

Chautauqua County carries an average eviction-risk score of 8/10 (High) across 24 cities, placing it in the middle third of New York state, with 22 counties scoring higher and 37 scoring lower. For landlords evaluating western New York, that middle-tier label understates the daily operating environment: a 41.9% renter share combined with a 21.1% poverty rate and an average rent burden of 31.2% of income means a meaningful share of tenants are perpetually stretched thin, and cash-flow disruptions travel quickly from tenant to landlord.

The intra-county spread runs from 7.3 to 8.1, a range wide enough to matter when underwriting a deal. Investors accustomed to rural markets elsewhere in the state will find Chautauqua County's urban cores more demanding than the county average suggests, while its smaller villages offer modestly better conditions. Average market rent sits at $814 per month, which limits how much cushion a landlord can build into a lease before losing competitiveness.

The cities inside Chautauqua County

The highest-risk addresses in the county are concentrated in its three largest population centers. Jamestown, the county seat, scores 7.9/10 with a population of 28,188, making it both the largest city and the riskiest. Dunkirk (7.8/10, population 12,549) and Fredonia (7.8/10, population 9,467) match that ceiling score. Forestville and Busti also reach 8.1/10, confirming that the top of the risk band is not isolated to the urban core but recurs across the county's geography.

Landlords willing to look beyond the largest cities find a narrower band of relief. Silver Creek scores 7.6/10, the lowest reading in the county's top-eight cities by population, and represents the closest thing to a lower-risk foothold among the larger communities. Westfield, Lakewood, and Falconer each score 7.7/10, just one notch below the county ceiling. The practical takeaway is that risk in Chautauqua County is hyper-local: a few miles of distance can shift a property's risk profile by a full point, so site-level due diligence matters more here than the county average alone.

State-level laws that apply here

All landlords in Chautauqua County operate under New York state law, specifically N.Y. RPL § 226 et seq. and RPAPL § 711. Before filing, a landlord must serve the correct statutory notice: 14 days for nonpayment of rent (RPAPL § 711(2)), 10 days for a material lease violation (RPAPL § 711(1)), and 30, 60, or 90 days for holdover tenancies under 1 year, 1 to 2 years, and 2 years or more respectively, all under RPL § 226-c. New York eviction risk also requires just cause to terminate a tenancy, a requirement that narrows a landlord's flexibility once a tenant is in place. Rent caps vary by locality, so any property in a municipality with its own stabilization ordinance faces an additional layer of regulation beyond the statewide baseline. Understanding the full New York eviction process is essential before any lease is signed.

On the cost side, court filing fees run $45 to $210, sheriff lockout fees add $50 to $200, and attorney fees commonly range from $1,000 to $4,000, meaning even a straightforward case can consume several thousand dollars before a unit is re-rented. Timeline risk compounds the dollar exposure: an uncontested case resolves in 30 to 90 days, but a contested matter can stretch to 210 days. New York eviction costs are among the higher totals in the Northeast, and those figures should factor directly into any yield analysis for Chautauqua County rentals. Landlords should also review New York tenant protections and New York security deposit limits before finalizing lease terms, as both carry specific statewide requirements that affect day-to-day operations.

With a poverty rate of 21.1% and more than two in five residents renting, the financial stress running through Chautauqua County's tenant base is above average for New York eviction laws, and it shows up unevenly across the 24 cities tracked above, making the city-level grid the most reliable starting point for any site-specific investment analysis.