Greene County, North Carolina Eviction Risk: Low

Greene County, North Carolina scores 4.8/10 (Moderate) on average across its 4 incorporated cities, placing it at rank 34 of 100 North Carolina counties, where rank 1 is the highest-risk county. That means 33 counties carry more eviction risk than Greene County, and 66 are less risky, landing this rural county squarely in the middle third of the state. For landlords, a 4.8/10 Moderate rating signals a market that is neither a safe haven nor a crisis zone, but one where careful tenant screening and consistent lease enforcement matter. With an average rent burden of 42.4% and a poverty rate of 41.1%, a significant share of Greene County renters are financially stretched, and that underlying economic pressure feeds through to eviction risk.

The county's total population across mapped cities is 4,663, with a renter share of 50.7% and an average rent of $775 per month. The intra-county score range is narrow, running from 4.6 to 4.8, so operating conditions are fairly consistent across the county rather than sharply differentiated by city. Still, that spread is meaningful at the margin and landlords should evaluate each city individually before committing capital.

The cities inside Greene County

Three of Greene County's four cities, Snow Hill (population 2,438), Maury (population 1,339), and Hookerton (population 573), each score 4.8/10. Snow Hill is the county seat and the most populous market. Maury and Hookerton are smaller communities where thin rental demand can make vacancy recovery slow when a tenant departs. All three markets carry the same Moderate rating, though the smaller cities offer less buffer if a single property sits vacant.

Walstonburg, with a population of 313, scores 4.6/10, the lowest-risk figure in the county. That difference of 0.2 points compared to the three larger cities is modest, but it reflects marginally better conditions on the underlying risk factors that feed the model. Even so, at 4.6/10 Walstonburg remains in Moderate territory, not a low-risk market. Risk in Greene County is hyper-local: the same county boundary encloses meaningfully different operating environments depending on which community a property sits in.

State-level laws that apply here

All landlords in Greene County operate under North Carolina state law, specifically N.C.G.S. § 42 (Landlord and Tenant). For nonpayment of rent, the required notice period is 10 days under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 42-3. A material lease breach or a holdover after the lease ends requires no advance notice period under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 42-26. For month-to-month tenancies, a landlord must give 7 days notice under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 42-14. Understanding the full North Carolina eviction process from notice through lockout is essential because an uncontested case still takes 21 to 45 days to resolve, and a contested filing can stretch to 45 to 100 days.

On costs, the North Carolina eviction costs a landlord will face include a court filing fee of $150 to $200, a sheriff lockout fee of $30 to $125, and attorney fees ranging from $500 to $2,500. North Carolina does not require just cause to terminate a tenancy, and state law preempts local rent control, so no city in Greene County may impose its own rent cap or just-cause requirement. Source of income is not a protected class under state fair housing law, though federal protected classes still apply through the North Carolina Human Relations Commission.

With 41.1% of residents below the poverty line and 50.7% of occupied units renter-occupied, the economic backdrop in Greene County rewards landlords who vet tenants rigorously; see the city-by-city grid above for individual risk scores across all 4 cities in the county.