Stephens County, Oklahoma Eviction Risk: Low

Stephens County, Oklahoma eviction laws carries a county-wide average eviction-risk score of 2.5/10, placing it in the Low risk tier -- but that headline figure masks meaningful variation. Across the county's 9 cities, individual scores span from 1.8 to 3.3, meaning the operating environment a landlord faces depends heavily on which community they invest in. Despite the low aggregate score, the county ranks 6th of 77 in Oklahoma, with only 5 counties carrying higher risk -- so relative to the state, Stephens County sits in the higher-risk third, not the middle of the pack.

The average rent here is $900 per month, and renters make up 29.9% of the population. A rent burden average of 27.9% of income going to housing signals that many tenants are running thin margins, which in practice means landlords should budget for occasional non-payment scenarios and approach tenant screening with discipline. The poverty rate of 19.7% reinforces that dynamic. These are workable conditions, but not frictionless ones.

The cities inside Stephens County

Duncan, the county seat and by far the largest city at 22,958 residents, also carries the highest risk score in the county at 3.3/10. That combination -- size and elevated risk -- means Duncan eviction risk concentrates most of the county's landlord exposure. Investors drawn to the largest tenant pool should account for the fact that Duncan's score is at the top of the county range. Marlow, the next largest city at 4,451 people, scores 3.0/10, meaningfully lower than Duncan but still above the county's mid-range.

Below those two, risk drops noticeably. Comanche scores 2.8/10 with a population of 1,545, and smaller communities like Bray (2.7/10) and Sunray (2.2/10) represent genuinely lower-risk operating environments. The lowest score in the county belongs to Velma at 1.8/10, with a population of 590. The gap between Velma and Duncan -- 1.5 points -- illustrates how hyper-local eviction risk can be even within a single rural Oklahoma eviction laws county. Landlords comparing properties across these communities should treat each city's score as a distinct underwriting input, not assume county-level numbers apply uniformly.

State-level laws that apply here

Every Stephens County tenancy is governed by the Oklahoma eviction laws Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (41 O.S. § 101 et seq.). For non-payment of rent, Oklahoma eviction laws law requires a 5-day written notice before filing. Lease violations carrying a right to cure trigger a 10-day notice, and no-cause terminations at end of term require 30 days. The Oklahoma eviction laws eviction process runs 21 to 45 days for uncontested cases and 45 to 100 days when contested. Cost components under Oklahoma eviction costs include a court filing fee of $75 to $175, a sheriff lockout fee of $40 to $125, and attorney fees typically running $500 to $2,500. Oklahoma eviction laws has no statewide just-cause eviction requirement and no rent control -- and state law preempts local jurisdictions from imposing rent caps, so landlords operating in Stephens County face a consistent, no-cap framework statewide. Oklahoma security deposit limits and Oklahoma tenant protections are defined at the state level and apply uniformly here.

With a poverty rate of 19.7% and roughly 3 in 10 households renting, Stephens County's risk profile is concentrated in a small number of cities -- see the city grid above for the specific scores that should drive your property-level decisions.