Hawkins County, Tennessee Eviction Risk: Very Low

Hawkins County, Tennessee scores 2.4/10 on the eviction-risk index, placing it in the Low risk tier and at rank 53 of 95 counties statewide. That middle-third position means 52 Tennessee eviction laws counties carry higher risk and 42 are more landlord-friendly, putting Hawkins County in broadly workable operating territory. Across all 6 incorporated places in the county, the average rent runs $790 per month, rent burden sits at 27.2% of renter income, and renters make up just 22% of households, a comparatively thin tenant pool that tends to keep vacancy competition modest and tenant turnover manageable.

The intra-county spread runs from 2.1 to 2.8, a range of 0.7 points that is wide enough to matter when choosing where to place capital. Landlords who pick the right city inside Hawkins County can operate meaningfully closer to the most landlord-friendly conditions in the state, while those who buy in the wrong pocket face conditions closer to the Tennessee eviction laws average.

The cities inside Hawkins County

Rogersville is the county seat and its highest-risk city, scoring 2.8/10 with a population of 4,647. Its score is still well inside the Low tier, but it sits 0.3 points above the county average, and landlords there should price that extra exposure into their underwriting. Bulls Gap scores 2.6/10 across a smaller base of 948 residents, and Surgoinsville comes in at 2.4/10 with 1,911 people, matching the county average exactly.

The lower end of the range is anchored by Mooresburg at 2.1/10 and a population of 755, the least-risky market in the county. Church Hill, the county's largest city at 7,139 residents, scores 2.4/10, making it a relatively favorable operating environment given its scale. Mount Carmel, with 5,472 residents, scores 2.3/10. Risk is genuinely hyper-local here: the 0.7-point spread from Mooresburg to Rogersville is the difference between two distinct operating environments, even though both are within the same county lines.

State-level laws that apply here

Because Hawkins County's population falls under the 75,000 threshold, landlords must rely on the non-URLTA track under TCA Title 29 Chapter 18, which requires a 30-day notice before filing rather than the shorter URLTA timelines (7 days for nonpayment, 14 days for material breach) that apply in larger Tennessee eviction laws counties. A non-curable breach still triggers only a 3-day notice under TCA § 66-28-517. Understanding how these notice rules interact is a core part of navigating the Tennessee eviction laws eviction process, and landlords new to the county should confirm which track applies to their specific municipality before serving any notice.

On cost, Tennessee eviction laws state law produces a realistic eviction expense of $200 to $300 in court filing fees, $40 to $150 for sheriff lockout, and $500 to $2,500 in attorney fees, depending on complexity. An uncontested case typically resolves in 21 to 45 days; a contested one can run 45 to 120 days. Tennessee eviction laws carries no statewide rent control, no just-cause eviction requirement, and state law preempts any local rent-control ordinance, so investors face no patchwork of local caps. For a full breakdown of what each step costs, see Tennessee eviction costs. There is no source-of-income protection under Tennessee eviction laws law, giving landlords standard screening flexibility within federal fair-housing limits enforced by the Tennessee eviction laws Human Rights Commission. For tenant-protection rules that do apply, reviewing Tennessee tenant protections before leasing is worth the time.

With a poverty rate of 12.3% and renters comprising just 22% of households, Hawkins County presents a contained tenant pool operating in predominantly Low-risk conditions, as reflected in the city-by-city score grid above.