Washington County, New York Eviction Risk: High

Washington County carries an average eviction-risk score of 8.2/10 (High) across its 10 scored cities, placing it in the lower-risk third of New York eviction laws state, at rank 40 of 60 counties where rank 1 is the highest-risk, least landlord-friendly place. That position means 39 New York eviction laws counties score higher, yet a 7.5 is still a genuine High designation, driven by a combination of tenant-protective state law, a 33.5% average rent burden, and a 36.9% renter share that concentrates lease turnover risk in a relatively small total population of about 21,590 across the county's cities.

The intra-county spread runs from 7.4 to 8.6, a range landlords should not ignore. An average rent of $973 leaves thin margins when an eviction spirals into a contested proceeding, so understanding exactly where a target property sits within that range matters before committing capital. Operating conditions are workable here compared with the state's riskier urban markets, but New York state law adds layers that rural character alone does not offset.

The cities inside Washington County

The highest-risk address in the county is Whitehall, scoring 8.6/10 with a population of about 2,310. Three cities cluster immediately below at 7.6/10: Hudson Falls (population 7,395, the county's largest city), Whitehall (population 2,690), and Greenwich (population 1,689). Fort Edward follows at 7.8/10 with roughly 3,152 residents. Cambridge, Salem, and Fort Ann each score 8/10, representing materially lower risk than Granville despite sharing the same county lines.

The lowest score in the county belongs to North Granville at 7.4/10, a full 0.8 points below Granville. That gap illustrates how hyper-local risk can be: two communities within the same county boundaries operate under meaningfully different landlord conditions. Investors evaluating Washington County should underwrite each city individually rather than relying on the county average.

State-level laws that apply here

Every landlord in Washington County operates under New York eviction laws state law, specifically N.Y. RPL § 226 et seq. and RPAPL § 711. Notice requirements vary by reason and tenancy length: a nonpayment case requires a 14-day notice under RPAPL § 711(2), a material lease violation triggers a 10-day notice under RPAPL § 711(1), and holdover cases require 30, 60, or 90 days depending on whether the tenancy ran less than one year, one to two years, or two or more years, all under RPL § 226-c. New York eviction laws also requires just cause to evict, adding a substantive hurdle beyond the notice period itself.

The New York eviction laws eviction process, even when uncontested, takes 30 to 90 days from filing; contested cases extend to 90 to 210 days. Court filing fees range from $45 to $210, sheriff lockout fees add $50 to $200, and attorney fees in New York eviction costs typically run $1,000 to $4,000, meaning a fully litigated removal can cost a landlord well over $4,000 in professional fees alone before accounting for lost rent. Rent stabilization applicability varies by locality, and source-of-income is a protected class under New York eviction laws law. Landlords should also review New York security deposit limits and New York tenant protections before finalizing lease terms, as state-level rules on both are more restrictive than many investors expect.

With a poverty rate of 14.4% and nearly 37% of residents renting, Washington County carries meaningful default risk that varies city by city, as the grid above shows.