Licking County, Ohio Eviction Risk: Very Low

Licking County carries an average eviction-risk score of 2.3/10, placing it in the Moderate tier and in the higher-risk third of all 88 Ohio counties. The county ranks 23rd out of 88, meaning 22 counties are riskier and 65 are less risky, so landlords here face meaningfully elevated conditions relative to the state's landlord-friendlier rural interior. Across 23 cities and an overall population of 110,944, the average asking rent is $1,069 per month and roughly 34.9% of residents rent rather than own, giving investors a real tenant pool to draw from alongside the risk profile that comes with it.

The intra-county spread runs from 2 to 3 on the 10-point scale, a gap wide enough that neighborhood selection inside Licking County matters as much as the county-level headline. An average rent burden of 25.5% and a poverty rate of 11.7% suggest a renter base that is not stretched to the extreme but is sensitive to economic shocks, a dynamic that shapes both lease-up velocity and payment reliability for landlords evaluating any of the 23 cities tracked here.

The cities inside Licking County

Newark anchors the county at a score of 2.4/10 and a population of 50,783, making it the single largest concentration of risk in the county. Heath scores 2.3/10 (population 10,644) and sits just below Newark on both dimensions. Johnstown and Hebron each post a score of 2.2/10 with populations of 5,286 and 2,508 respectively, while Buckeye Lake comes in at 2.1/10. These five communities cluster near the county average or above it, reinforcing that the suburban and semi-urban core carries the bulk of landlord exposure.

On the lower end, Beechwood Trails stands out at 2.1/10 (population 3,133), the only city in the county hitting the bottom of the intra-county range and meaningfully below any of the five riskier communities. Pataskala scores 2.3/10 and Granville comes in at 2.2/10, both representing a real step down from Newark even while remaining within Moderate territory. Risk is genuinely hyper-local here: choosing Beechwood Trails over Newark represents a full 1.5-point gap on the same county map.

State-level laws that apply here

Ohio eviction laws state law governs landlord-tenant disputes under ORC § 5321 (Landlords and Tenants). For nonpayment of rent or a material lease violation, landlords must serve a 3-day notice before filing. Month-to-month holdovers require a 30-day notice, while the end of a fixed-term lease requires no notice at all under ORC § 1923.02. An uncontested eviction typically resolves in 21 to 45 days; a contested matter stretches to 45 to 120 days. The Ohio eviction process requires a court filing fee of $160 to $250, a sheriff lockout fee of $50 to $175, and attorney fees of $500 to $3,000 depending on case complexity. Ohio eviction costs therefore vary widely, and landlords should budget conservatively when a tenant contests the action.

Ohio eviction laws imposes no just-cause requirement for ending a tenancy and no rent control, and state law explicitly preempts any local municipality from enacting rent caps. Source-of-income discrimination is not protected at the state level. Entry requires 24 hours advance notice under Ohio eviction laws law, and retaliation protections for tenants are codified at ORC § 5321.02. Ohio security deposit limits carry their own rules landlords should review before placing a new lease.

With 11.7% of residents below the poverty line and 34.9% of households renting, the underlying tenant-base economics in Licking County are best understood at the city level; see the city grid above for individual scores across all 23 tracked communities.