Grundy County, Tennessee Eviction Risk: Very Low
8 incorporated cities and unincorporated areas. The county Eviction Risk Score is held aloft by the city of Monteagle (2.8) and a small number of dense urban cores. Rent-control coverage varies by city.
Ranked #50 of 95 TN counties
9k residents · 8 cities · 4 tracts
Grundy County eviction risk score history
Key metrics
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Tenant beats landlord14.3%/ 100 outcomesIn court-decided eviction outcomes for Grundy County, TN, tenants prevail in roughly 14.3% of contested cases. A higher number means landlords face stronger tenant defenses and longer calendars.
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Timeline36dfiling → judgmentFrom the moment an unlawful-detainer notice is filed in Grundy County, TN until a money judgment is entered, a contested eviction takes about 36 days on average. Longer timelines mean more lost rent for landlords.
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Cost range$1.1–3.0klegal + lost rentA typical eviction in Grundy County, TN costs landlords $1,111 to $3,042 all-in, covering court filing fees, process-server costs, attorney time, and lost rent.
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Average rent$68924% stretched on rentAverage gross rent in Grundy County, TN is $689 per month per the U.S. Census American Community Survey. 24% of renter households here spend more than 30% of pre-tax income on rent.
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Renters19.1%of households19.1% of occupied housing units in Grundy County, TN are renter-occupied. A higher renter share usually correlates with more eviction filings and a more active rental market.
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Poverty17.7%8.3% unemp.17.7% of Grundy County, TN residents live below the federal poverty line, and unemployment runs at 8.3%. Both feed the economic-stress sub-score in our Eviction Risk Score model.
Scrub 50 years
Grundy County averages 2.3/10 (Very Low), with city-level scores ranging from 1.8 to 2.8/10 across 8 communities. The county sits at the Tennessee statewide average of 2.4/10. Ranked 50th of 95 Tennessee counties (middle of the state). 49 counties carry higher risk; 45 carry lower risk.
How Grundy County ranks in Tennessee
Landlord guides for Tennessee
| City↕ | Population↕ | Risk↕ | % income on rent↕ | Average rent↕ | Lean↕ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 001 | Monteagle | 1,926 | 2.6 | 23.4% | $762 | Rep |
| 002 | Tracy City | 1,682 | 2.2 | 32.9% | $400 | Rep |
| 003 | Gruetli-Laager | 1,480 | 2.1 | 9.0% | $773 | Rep |
| 004 | Altamont | 1,322 | 2.8 | 45.0% | $850 | Rep |
| 005 | Coalmont | 906 | 1.9 | 22.5% | $700 | Rep |
| 006 | Palmer | 818 | 2.0 | 9.0% | $583 | Rep |
| 007 | Pelham | 704 | 1.8 | 22.6% | $751 | Rep |
| 008 | Beersheba Springs | 654 | 2.5 | 22.6% | $751 | Rep |
County heatmap
One county, multiple regulatory regimes.
Grundy County sits on the Cumberland Plateau in southern Middle Tennessee eviction laws, a rural county of 9,492 residents where rental housing is a small slice of the overall market - only about 19.1% of households rent. The county's eviction risk averages 2.3/10 (Very Low), placing it 50th of 95 Tennessee counties, meaning it lands squarely in the middle of the state. That middle-of-the-pack ranking reflects a county that is neither the most permissive nor the most restrictive environment for landlords in Tennessee, with 49 counties carrying higher risk scores and 45 carrying lower ones.
Individual city scores within the county range from 1.8 to 2.8/10, a spread that rewards location-specific research rather than treating the county as uniform. At the higher end, Altamont scores 2.8/10 and Monteagle scores 2.6/10 - both above the county average and worth closer scrutiny for landlords active in those communities. Beersheba Springs comes in at 2.5/10, also above the county center. Tracy City (2.2/10) and Gruetli-Laager (2.1/10) both sit just below the average, while Palmer (2/10), Coalmont (1.9/10), and Pelham (1.8/10) represent the lower-risk end of the local range. Average rent across Grundy County is $689/month - well below the Tennessee average - and rent burden sits at 24.4%, meaning the typical renter here is not severely cost-stressed by state standards.
Grundy County falls under TCA Title 29 Chapter 18 rather than the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (URLTA), because its population is under 75,000. That distinction carries real procedural weight: non-URLTA counties require a 30-day written notice to vacate for most lease terminations, compared to the 7-day nonpayment notice available in URLTA counties. Landlords should verify which framework applies to their specific lease and county court, particularly if they operate in multiple Tennessee jurisdictions. Court filing fees run $200 to $300, and an uncontested eviction typically resolves in 21 to 45 days from filing. Contested cases stretch 45 to 120 days. Tennessee imposes no rent control and the state statute (T.C.A. § 66-28) explicitly preempts any local government from enacting it, so rent pricing decisions in Grundy County carry no cap-related risk now or prospectively.
With a poverty rate of 17.7% - above the Tennessee eviction laws statewide average - and an economy historically tied to coal mining and agriculture, Grundy County's rental market is small and locally driven. The low renter share (19.1%) means the landlord pool is thin, and most disputes are handled in General Sessions Court in Altamont, the county seat. Attorney fees for contested eviction matters typically run $500 to $2,500, and sheriff lockout fees range $40 to $150 - costs that are modest relative to more densely populated Tennessee eviction laws counties where court backlogs extend timelines significantly.
How Grundy County compares
Grundy County's 2.3/10 eviction risk (Very Low) sits right at the Tennessee eviction laws statewide average of 2.4/10, meaning this county neither over- nor under-indexes relative to the broader state environment. Among its closest peers by score - Claiborne, Unicoi, Lincoln, Grainger, and Scott counties - risk levels are similarly clustered in the low range, all reflecting the generally landlord-favorable posture of rural Tennessee eviction laws jurisdictions outside the major metro areas. Counties like Shelby (Memphis eviction risk) and Davidson (Nashville eviction risk) score meaningfully higher, driven by denser tenant populations and more active advocacy environments; Grundy sits well below that tier.