Humphreys County, Tennessee Eviction Risk: Low

Humphreys County sits along the Cumberland River in west-central Tennessee, covering roughly 530 square miles of mixed agricultural and riverfront land. The county's rental market is small - about 26.4% of households rent, and the 8,168 residents served by our model are spread across three incorporated municipalities. The county's overall eviction risk registers at 3.8/10 (Low), placing it 49th of 95 Tennessee counties on our index, meaning 22 counties carry higher risk and 72 sit below it. Scores across Humphreys range from 3.2 to 4, a narrow band that reflects broadly consistent market conditions rather than sharp neighborhood contrasts.

The county seat, Waverly, is the most populated and highest-risk municipality at 4/10, with 4,302 residents and a concentration of the county's rental housing stock. Waverly gained national attention in August 2021 when catastrophic flash flooding killed 20 people and damaged hundreds of homes; the recovery period tightened an already limited rental supply and pushed rents upward before gradually stabilizing. McEwen, with 1,806 residents, scores 3.8/10 and functions as a quiet secondary market where longer-term tenant relationships and lower turnover tend to keep disputes infrequent. New Johnsonville, a TVA-era town of 2,060 on the Kentucky eviction laws Lake reservoir, posts the lowest risk in the county at 3.2/10, a profile consistent with its stable, owner-occupied-skewing housing base and proximity to recreational amenities that attract more settled renters.

Because Humphreys County's population falls below the 75,000 threshold, it is governed by Tennessee's non-URLTA residential landlord-tenant framework under TCA Title 29, Chapter 18 rather than the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (T.C.A. § 66-28). In practical terms, this means landlords must serve a 30-day notice to quit before filing for possession - longer than the 7-day pay-or-quit notice available in URLTA counties - but the tradeoff is a procedurally simpler court process. Average rent in the county runs approximately $868 per month, and renters allocate an average of 26.3% of household income toward housing costs, modestly below the 30% threshold conventionally used to define cost burden. A poverty rate of 13.1% is somewhat elevated relative to Tennessee's statewide average, meaning a meaningful portion of the renter population operates with limited financial cushion. Court filing fees for a detainer warrant range from $200 to $300, sheriff lockout fees add $40 to $150, and uncontested cases typically resolve in 21 to 45 days once filed. Tennessee imposes no rent control and the state legislature expressly preempts any local ordinance that would cap rents, so Humphreys landlords operate without rent-increase restrictions of any kind. Taken together, these factors place Humphreys in the middle tier of Tennessee counties - a low-absolute-risk county where the principal planning consideration is the 30-day notice requirement and the modest financial vulnerability of a segment of the renter base.

Humphreys County's 3.8/10 score reflects a rural Tennessee eviction laws market where renter demand is limited, rent-burden pressure is below the cost-burden threshold, and landlord-tenant law offers predictable procedures under the non-URLTA framework. The county's narrow score spread (3.2-4) confirms that conditions are consistent across its three cities rather than concentrated in one hot spot.