Union County, South Carolina Eviction Risk: Low

Union County, South Carolina eviction laws carries an average eviction-risk score of 2.7/10 (Moderate) across its 6 incorporated places, placing it 20th out of 46 South Carolina eviction laws counties, meaning 19 counties are riskier and 26 are more landlord-friendly. For investors, that middle-of-the-pack position signals a market that demands attention to tenant screening and lease enforcement, but is far from the most hostile operating environment in the state.

The county's overall average rent sits at $775 per month, with an average rent burden of 31.8% of household income, and a renter share of 38.2% of all households. Those figures, combined with a poverty rate of 26.1%, indicate a renter base that operates under real financial pressure. Within the county, individual city scores range from 4.3 to 5/10, a spread wide enough that where you buy in Union County matters considerably more than the county average alone.

The cities inside Union County

The city of Union is the county seat and its largest market, with a population of 8,079 and the highest risk score in the county at 5/10. It accounts for a significant share of the county's total population of 13,247, so landlords concentrated in Union carry above-average exposure to the factors driving that elevated score. Monarch Mill, with 1,822 residents, follows at 2.7/10, matching the county average and representing the second-largest renter pool.

On the lower end of the range, Buffalo scores 4.3/10 with a population of 1,329, making it the most landlord-friendly submarket in the county by score. Jonesville and Carlisle both sit at 4.5/10, while Lockhart registers 4.4/10. The difference between Buffalo at 4.3 and Union at 5/10 is meaningful: risk conditions are genuinely hyper-local here, and a portfolio spread across the smaller outlying communities looks quite different from one concentrated in the county seat.

State-level laws that apply here

Every landlord in Union County operates under S.C. Code § 27-40 (Residential Landlord and Tenant Act). For nonpayment of rent, South Carolina eviction laws law requires a 5-day written notice before filing; lease violations give tenants 14 days to cure; and no-cause terminations at the end of a lease term require 30 days notice. Understanding the South Carolina eviction laws eviction process from notice through judgment is essential, because the timeline to an uncontested lockout runs 21 to 45 days and a contested case can stretch to 45 to 100 days. Landlords should also budget for South Carolina eviction costs carefully: court filing fees run $110 to $200, sheriff lockout fees add $25 to $100, and attorney fees range from $500 to $2,500 depending on case complexity.

South Carolina eviction laws state law does not require just cause for eviction and expressly preempts any local rent-control ordinances, so Union County landlords face no local rent caps. Source-of-income is not a protected class under state law, though fair housing complaints are handled by the South Carolina Human Affairs Commission. Landlords must give tenants 24 hours notice before entering a unit under S.C. Code § 27-40-440, and retaliation against tenants for exercising legal rights is prohibited under S.C. Code § 27-40-910.

With a poverty rate of 26.1% and 38.2% of households renting, financial stress among tenants is a real factor in Union County; review the city-by-city grid above to identify which specific markets within the county carry the most and least exposure before committing capital.