Custer County, South Dakota Eviction Risk: Very Low

Custer County, South Dakota eviction laws earns an average eviction risk score of 1.1/10, placing it in the Low risk tier across all 7 cities tracked in the county. Of South Dakota's 66 counties, 58 carry higher risk scores, meaning Custer County sits comfortably in the lower-risk third of the state. For landlords and investors, that translates to a rental market where tenant-payment stability and lease compliance tend to be stronger than in the vast majority of South Dakota eviction laws counties.

The county's total population of roughly 6,405 keeps demand modest but concentrated. Average rent runs $977 per month, and rent burden sits at 23.2% of income on average, a figure well below the threshold that typically signals widespread payment distress. The renter share is 15.8%, which means the rental pool is small relative to owner-occupants, a dynamic that tends to favor quality tenants self-selecting into available units.

The cities inside Custer County

Risk is not uniform across the county. The city of Custer eviction risk, the county seat and largest rental market with a population of 2,341, carries the highest local score at 1.4/10. Hermosa comes in second at 1.3/10 with a population of 353. Both scores remain low in absolute terms, but landlords operating in Custer or Hermosa should expect slightly more screening diligence to be warranted compared to quieter parts of the county.

At the other end of the spectrum, Johnson Siding scores 0.8/10 and Colonial Pine Hills scores 0.9/10, the latter being the county's most populous community at 2,609 residents. Pringle, Buffalo Gap, and Fairburn also score 0.9/10. Even the county's highest-risk city lands near the bottom of the statewide scale, so the intra-county spread of 0.8 to 1.4 is best understood as a difference in degree, not in kind.

State-level laws that apply here

South Dakota eviction laws state law governs every landlord-tenant relationship in Custer County. Under SDCL § 43-32 (Lease of Real Property), nonpayment of rent and lease violations both require only a 3-day notice before filing, while a no-cause termination at the end of a lease term requires a 30-day notice. The South Dakota eviction laws eviction process, once filed, typically resolves in 21 to 40 days for uncontested cases and 45 to 100 days when contested. Court filing fees range from $95 to $180, sheriff lockout fees from $40 to $150, and attorney fees from $500 to $2,500 depending on case complexity.

South Dakota eviction laws does not require just cause for eviction, and state law preempts any local rent control ordinance, so no city or county in the state can impose rent caps. There are no South Dakota security deposit limits set by statute that restrict landlord flexibility under the current framework. Investors tracking South Dakota tenant protections should note that source-of-income is not a protected class under state law, though the South Dakota eviction laws Division of Human Rights enforces standard fair-housing categories. The legal environment overall is among the more landlord-favorable in the region.

With a poverty rate of 7.1% and a renter share of just 15.8%, Custer County's rental base is small and relatively stable; the city-level scores in the grid above show where within the county that stability is strongest and where modest extra caution applies.