Marion County, Tennessee Eviction Risk: Very Low

Marion County, Tennessee eviction laws earns an average eviction-risk score of 2.2/10 (Low) across its 9 tracked cities, placing it at rank 23 of 95 Tennessee eviction laws counties, meaning 22 counties carry higher risk and 72 are more landlord-friendly. That positioning puts Marion in the higher-risk third of the state, so the Low label reflects relative calm at the local level, not immunity from tenant-payment problems. Landlords should calibrate expectations accordingly: the county sits in a meaningful risk tier even if individual markets within it stay manageable. With an average rent of $796 and a rent-burden rate of just 24.4%, tenants here are not severely overextended on housing costs, which tends to dampen default frequency in normal economic conditions.

The intra-county score range runs from 2 to 3.1, a span that matters practically: a landlord operating at the low end of that range faces a meaningfully different environment than one at the top. The county's renter share is modest at 23.7% of households, so the rental stock is smaller and turnover dynamics differ from urban markets. Investors evaluating Tennessee as a whole should treat Marion's county average as a baseline, then drill into individual cities before committing capital.

The cities inside Marion County

South Pittsburg is the highest-risk city in the county at 3.1/10, with a population of 3,013, making it both the most exposed and one of the two largest rental markets here. Whitwell (3/10, population 2,052) and Kimball (3/10, population 1,639) tie for second-riskiest, giving landlords three distinct markets at the top of the county's risk band. Jasper, the largest city in the county at 3,612 residents, scores 2.2/10, matching the county average almost exactly.

On the lower end, Powells Crossroads scores 2.6/10 and Sequatchie comes in at 2.3/10, the most landlord-favorable reading in the county. That 0.8-point gap between Sequatchie and South Pittsburg illustrates how hyper-local risk is: two Marion County addresses can land in appreciably different operating environments. Investors focused on minimizing tenant-default exposure will find the southwest and rural nodes of the county less challenging than the larger towns along the Tennessee eviction laws River corridor.

State-level laws that apply here

Marion County's population falls under 75,000, which under TCA Title 29 Chapter 18 means landlords in non-URLTA jurisdictions must issue a 30-day notice before filing. Where URLTA does apply (TCA § 66-28-505, as amended by SB-1088), nonpayment of rent requires only a 7-day notice, and a material breach triggers a 14-day notice. A non-curable breach carries a 3-day notice under TCA § 66-28-517. Understanding the Tennessee eviction laws eviction process from notice through lockout matters here because uncontested cases still resolve in 21 to 45 days, while contested cases can stretch 45 to 120 days. Filing costs range from $200 to $300, sheriff lockout fees add $40 to $150, and attorney fees run $500 to $2,500 depending on complexity. On Tennessee eviction costs alone, a contested case with counsel could approach $2,950 in hard outlays. Tennessee eviction laws imposes no rent control and requires no just cause for non-renewal, and state law preempts any local rent-cap ordinance, giving landlords a stable regulatory floor statewide.

With a poverty rate of 14.1% among Marion County residents, landlords should underwrite for some income volatility even in this relatively low-risk market; the city-by-city grid above is the most reliable guide to where that exposure is concentrated.