Beadle County, South Dakota Eviction Risk: Low

Beadle County scores 3.4/10 (Low risk) on the eviction-risk index, averaged across 11 cities and a total county population of roughly 15,992. That number sits in the higher-risk third of South Dakota, with 20 of the state's 66 counties carrying a higher score and 45 sitting at lower risk. For landlords, a 1.6 average signals that underlying economic stress, measured by a 16% average poverty rate and a rent-burden average of 27.6%, is real but not acute, and that South Dakota eviction laws's landlord-leaning statute framework keeps the practical consequences of that stress comparatively manageable.

The intra-county spread is narrow, running from 1.1 to 1.6. That tight band tells you Beadle County operates as a cohesive market: no single city inflates the average dramatically, and no corner of the county offers dramatically lower tenant-default exposure. Average rent sits at $880, with renters making up about 30.9% of households, a moderate renter share that keeps tenant-pool depth adequate without producing the oversupply pressure that erodes collection rates in higher-density metros.

The cities inside Beadle County

The county seat, Huron, dominates the landscape here: it accounts for the vast majority of the county's 15,992 residents with a population of 14,385, and it ties the county ceiling at 3.4/10. Two smaller towns, Wolsey (population 692) and Hitchcock (population 91), also come in at 3.2/10. Alpena follows at 3.2/10. Because Huron eviction risk makes up so much of the county's rental stock, its score effectively sets the floor for what most investors will actually encounter when underwriting a Beadle County acquisition.

On the lower end, Cavour and Morningside each score 3.1/10, the lowest readings in the county. Yale and Virgil sit at 3.2/10. These are small communities where the rental market is thin, so a single vacancy or problem tenant can skew your personal experience far more than the scores suggest. The score range is narrow, but the underlying tenant-pool depth varies considerably from Huron's urban core to the rural hamlets at the county's edges, and that hyper-local variation matters when sizing a rental portfolio.

State-level laws that apply here

Landlords in Beadle County operate under South Dakota state law, specifically SDCL § 43-32 (Lease of Real Property). Non-payment and lease-violation notices both carry a 3-day cure period; no-cause terminations at lease end require 30 days. Uncontested cases resolve in 21 to 40 days from filing; a contested matter can extend to 45 to 100 days. Total out-of-pocket eviction costs, combining court filing fees of $95 to $180, sheriff lockout fees of $40 to $150, and attorney fees of $500 to $2,500, will typically land somewhere between roughly $635 and $2,830 depending on complexity. South Dakota imposes no rent control and does not require just cause for non-renewal, and the state preempts any local rent-control ordinance, so landlords face a uniform, predictable ruleset across every city in the county. For a full breakdown, see the South Dakota eviction process guide and the South Dakota eviction costs page, both of which cover statewide filing procedures and fee schedules in detail.

With a 16% average poverty rate and roughly 30.9% of households renting, Beadle County carries moderate but real economic exposure, concentrated almost entirely in Huron. The city grid above breaks out individual scores for all 11 cities so you can compare risk at the submarket level before committing capital.