Washington County, Oklahoma Eviction Risk: Very Low

Washington County carries an average eviction-risk score of 2.3/10 (Low), placing it 17th out of 77 Oklahoma eviction laws counties, where rank 1 is the highest-risk and least landlord-friendly. That means 16 counties present more risk than Washington County, while 60 are more landlord-friendly, putting the county in the higher-risk third of the state overall. For a landlord or investor scouting northeast Oklahoma eviction laws, the Low label tells part of the story, but the rank context matters: conditions here are meaningfully tougher than in the majority of the state.

Across the county's 8 cities, scores span a 1.9 to 2.9 range, a full point of variation on a 10-point scale. The average rent is $914, and the average rent burden sits at 31.2% of renter income, a level that keeps a meaningful share of tenants financially stretched even in a low-cost market. About 31.9% of households rent, giving landlords a healthy rental pool but also a tenant base that can be sensitive to income shocks.

The cities inside Washington County

Dewey carries the highest risk score in the county at 2.9/10, with a population of 3,412. Bartlesville, the county seat and by far the largest city at 37,878 residents, scores 2.3/10, matching the county average and representing the vast majority of the local rental market. Ramona also scores 2.3/10. These three cities drive the county's aggregate profile, and landlords with holdings spread across them should expect similar baseline conditions.

On the other end of the spectrum, Avant scores 1.9/10, the lowest in the county and a noticeably more landlord-favorable profile, though its population of just 209 means the rental market is thin. Whippoorwill (score 2.1/10, population 27) and Vera (2.4/10, population 323) round out the lower-risk cluster. Risk in Washington County is genuinely hyper-local: a landlord owning units in Dewey and another owning in Avant is operating in meaningfully different environments despite being in the same county.

State-level laws that apply here

Every landlord in Washington County operates under 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 notice before filing. A lease-violation or cure notice requires 10 days, and a no-cause end-of-term termination requires 30 days. Oklahoma eviction laws does not require just cause for most evictions, and the state preempts any local rent control ordinances, so no city in Washington County can impose rent caps independent of state law. Understanding the full Oklahoma eviction laws eviction process is essential before filing, because uncontested cases take 21 to 45 days and contested cases stretch to 45 to 100 days once the notice period expires.

Direct eviction costs under Oklahoma eviction laws law include a court filing fee of $75 to $175, a sheriff lockout fee of $40 to $125, and attorney fees typically ranging from $500 to $2,500, depending on case complexity. Landlords routinely underestimate the attorney-fee component, which dominates total cost in any contested matter. Reviewing Oklahoma eviction costs carefully before structuring lease agreements and security deposit policies is worth the time; Oklahoma security deposit limits and how they interact with the notice framework can meaningfully affect how quickly a landlord can recover possession and costs.

With a poverty rate of 16.2% and roughly 31.9% of residents renting, Washington County's tenant base has meaningful economic vulnerability, which is reflected in the intra-county risk spread above. The city grid on this page breaks down each of the 8 cities by individual score for a more precise view of where conditions are tightest.