Benton County, Tennessee Eviction Risk: Very Low

Benton County sits in the western Highland Rim of Tennessee, anchored by the small county seat of Camden on the shores of Kentucky Lake. With a total rental population spread across just four incorporated places - Camden (2.3/10), Big Sandy (2.2/10), Holladay (2/10), and Eva (2.7/10) - this is one of Tennessee eviction laws's smallest rental markets by volume. The county carries an overall eviction risk score of 2.3/10 (Very Low), placing it 48th out of 95 Tennessee counties, squarely in the middle tier of the state. With 47 counties posting higher risk scores and 47 posting lower, Benton reads as a genuinely middle-ground market - not among the easiest in Tennessee, not among the most fraught.

The score spread within the county runs from 2 to 2.7 across its cities, a narrow band that reflects how consistently modest conditions are throughout the area. Average rent sits at $750 per month - well below state urban averages - and the average rent burden lands at 28.9%, meaning the typical renter household spends roughly a third of its income on housing. That figure is meaningful: it sits below the 30% threshold commonly used to define housing cost stress, though with an average poverty rate of 19.6% and a renter share of just 34.9% of households, the tenant population here is a smaller but economically vulnerable slice of the community. When renters do fall behind, the financial exposure is real even if eviction filings are less frequent than in larger metro counties.

Benton County falls below the 75,000-population threshold that triggers Tennessee's Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (URLTA), which means landlord-tenant disputes are governed by TCA Title 29, Chapter 18 rather than the stronger procedural framework of T.C.A. § 66-28. Under this older framework, landlords must provide 30 days' written notice to terminate a month-to-month tenancy - longer than the 7-day nonpayment notice available in URLTA counties, but without many of the tenant habitability and retaliation protections URLTA imports. For landlords operating here, the practical consequence is that initial notice periods are more drawn out, but contested proceedings can still extend 45 to 120 days when a tenant disputes a filing. Court filing fees in Benton County run $200 to $300, with sheriff lockout fees adding $40 to $150 on top. Attorney costs, when retained, typically range $500 to $2,500. There is no local rent control, no just-cause eviction requirement, and no source-of-income protection - Tennessee state law preempts any local ordinance that would impose rent caps, leaving landlords with straightforward authority over lease terms and renewal decisions. For a county this size, that combination of structural simplicity and modest tenant demand makes Benton one of the more predictable rural markets in the state.

Benton County's 2.3/10 score reflects a rural Tennessee eviction laws market with limited rental density, no rent control, and a non-URLTA legal framework that extends initial notice timelines but offers landlords clear, uncomplicated process once a case reaches the courthouse. The county's 19.6% poverty rate is the primary driver of any risk that does exist - when tenants earn less, payment disruptions come faster and recovery is slower.