Summit County, Ohio Eviction Risk: Low

Summit County scores 2.8/10 (Low) across its 27 cities, placing it 9th out of 88 counties in Ohio eviction laws, which means only 8 counties statewide carry more eviction risk for landlords. That ranking puts Summit County solidly in the higher-risk third of the state, not a comfortable mid-pack position. Average rent runs $1,167 per month, and with a rent burden averaging 29.6% of household income, tenants here are operating with limited financial cushion, a condition that typically correlates with elevated delinquency pressure for landlords.

The overall 4.8 county average does real work as a planning number, but it can obscure meaningful variation. Scores across Summit County's cities span from 2.2 to 3.4, a full 1.6-point range that puts the riskiest markets in a substantially different operating environment than the most landlord-friendly ones. Investors treating Summit County as a monolith rather than a patchwork of distinct local markets will misprice both yield expectations and management costs.

The cities inside Summit County

The county's highest-risk cities cluster at 5.3/10: Barberton (population 24,844) and Twinsburg Heights share that top score. Cuyahoga Falls, the county's second-largest city at 50,909 residents, comes in at 5.1/10, joined by Mogadore and Lakemore at the same level. These markets demand tighter screening standards and more conservative vacancy assumptions from landlords who choose to operate there.

At the other end of the spectrum, Hudson scores just 2.3/10, the lowest in the county and a notably different risk profile for a city of 23,039. Stow comes in at 2.4/10, and Green lands at 2.4/10, both meaningfully below the riskiest cities. Akron, the county seat and by far the largest city at 189,247 residents, sits at 4.9/10, slightly above the county average. These gaps confirm that risk in Summit County is genuinely hyper-local: a few miles of distance can shift the operating environment by more than a full point.

State-level laws that apply here

Every landlord in Summit County operates under Ohio eviction laws state law. For nonpayment of rent or a material lease violation, the required notice period is just 3 days under ORC SS 1923.04, which is relatively fast compared to many states. Holdover month-to-month tenants require a 30-day notice under ORC SS 5321.17, while the end of a fixed-term lease requires no additional notice. Ohio eviction laws imposes no just-cause requirement to terminate a tenancy and no rent control, with the state actually preempting any local rent-control ordinances. Understanding the full Ohio eviction laws eviction process matters here because even a favorable notice period can stretch: uncontested cases run 21 to 45 days to resolution, while contested proceedings can take 45 to 120 days.

Ohio eviction costs are a real line item to budget. Court filing fees run $160 to $250, sheriff lockout fees add another $50 to $175, and attorney fees range from $500 to $3,000 depending on case complexity. Landlords who have not priced these carrying costs into their pro formas, particularly for lower-rent units where the fee-to-rent ratio is most punishing, are often surprised by how quickly a single contested eviction erodes a full year of net income. Reviewing Ohio security deposit limits and Ohio tenant protections before executing leases is advisable for any landlord new to the state.

With a poverty rate of 13.6% and renters making up 33.7% of Summit County households, the income and renter concentration here will feel meaningfully different city to city, which is exactly why the city grid above is the most actionable starting point for any landlord or investor evaluating specific Summit County markets.