Lebanon County, Pennsylvania Eviction Risk: Moderate

Lebanon County carries an average eviction-risk score of 4/10 (Moderate) across its 27 tracked cities, placing it in the higher-risk third of Pennsylvania. Ranked 20th of 67 counties statewide, Lebanon County sits above the midpoint: 19 Pennsylvania counties are riskier, while 47 score better for landlords. With an average rent of $1,238 and a rent-burden rate of 28.6%, the county's tenant base is financially stretched in ways that translate into elevated collection risk for landlords operating here.

The intra-county spread tells a sharper story: scores range from 3.5 to 6.5 across Lebanon County's cities, a three-point gap that makes neighborhood selection arguably more important than the county average itself. A portfolio concentrated in the right pockets faces meaningfully different operating conditions than one spread across the county's higher-stress corridors.

The cities inside Lebanon County

The city of Lebanon, with a population of 26,536 and a risk score of 6.5/10, anchors the high end of the range and accounts for roughly a third of the county's total population. West Myerstown and Reinerton each score 6.1/10, and Pleasant Hill, Cleona, Richland, and Mount Gretna all register at 5.7/10. These cities collectively represent the operational terrain where eviction probability, vacancy exposure, and collection difficulty converge most sharply.

At the opposite end, Campbelltown scores 4/10 and Newmanstown scores 3.6/10, the lowest in the county. Palmyra (4.7/10, population 7,755) and Myerstown (4.5/10, population 3,124) also sit well below the county average. The gap between Lebanon at 6.5 and Newmanstown at 3.6 illustrates how hyper-local risk is in this county: two communities separated by a short drive can sit in fundamentally different risk environments.

State-level laws that apply here

All landlords in Lebanon County operate under the Pennsylvania Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951 (68 P.S. § 250.101 et seq.). Notice requirements depend on circumstance: nonpayment of rent requires a 10-day notice, material breach triggers a 15-day notice for tenancies under one year or a 30-day notice for tenancies of one year or more, and lease-end terminations require no advance notice under 68 P.S. § 250.501(c). Understanding the Pennsylvania eviction process is essential before filing: an uncontested case resolves in 30 to 60 days, while a contested matter can stretch to 60 to 150 days. Total out-of-pocket costs, excluding attorney fees, run from a court filing fee of $130 to $250 plus a sheriff lockout fee of $50 to $150; with attorney fees of $500 to $3,000, a fully litigated eviction can cost $680 to $3,400 or more. Pennsylvania eviction costs at that scale make tenant screening and lease quality material financial decisions, not formalities.

Pennsylvania does not require just cause for eviction and state law preempts local rent-control ordinances, which removes two layers of regulatory friction common in other states. There is no state-mandated entry-notice period in the data for Pennsylvania, though the anti-retaliation statute at 68 P.S. § 250.205 and habitability requirements at 68 P.S. § 250.206 still impose meaningful compliance obligations. Source-of-income protection is not required at the state level, though landlords should verify local ordinances independently.

With a poverty rate of 13.2% and 37.7% of residents renting, Lebanon County's tenant pool carries above-average financial stress; the city-level grid above shows which of the 27 cities in the county amplify that risk most sharply and where conditions are comparatively stable.