Perry County, Tennessee Eviction Risk: Moderate

Perry County sits in the Tennessee Hill Country along the Buffalo River, roughly 80 miles southwest of Nashville. With a total renter population spread across just two incorporated places - Linden (county seat, population 1,122) and Lobelville (population 1,007) - this is one of Tennessee eviction laws's smallest rental markets by headcount. The county earns an eviction risk score of 4/10 (Moderate), placing it 14th out of 95 Tennessee counties, where rank 1 represents the highest risk to landlords. That position means 13 counties carry a higher eviction risk than Perry, and 81 are more landlord-favorable - putting Perry in the higher-risk of the state's risk spectrum. Local scores range narrowly from 4 to 4 across the two cities, reflecting how consistently rural and low-density the market is throughout the county.

Linden, the county seat and largest city, scores 4/10 - the lower end of Perry County's range. Lobelville, the county's only other incorporated place, comes in at 4/10, nudging slightly higher but still well within the Low tier. Both figures sit comfortably below the statewide average of 3.7/10. The narrow 4-4 spread means landlords face broadly similar conditions regardless of which municipality a rental property sits in; there are no sharp intra-county contrasts of the kind seen in larger metro-adjacent counties. Average rent across Perry County is $733 per month - among the lower figures in the state - and rent burden runs at 29.7% of renter household income, modestly above the commonly-cited 30% threshold but not dramatically so. The renter share of occupied units is 35.7%, and the county poverty rate stands at 15.4%, both of which contribute to the model's baseline risk inputs for this market.

Perry County falls below the 75,000-population threshold that triggers Tennessee's Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (URLTA). That distinction matters for practitioners: landlords here operate under the older TCA Title 29 Chapter 18 framework rather than URLTA's stricter procedural rules. Under Title 29, a landlord must give a 30-day written notice to quit before filing - longer than the 7-day nonpayment notice available in URLTA-covered counties. Court filing fees in Perry County run $200 to $300, sheriff's lockout fees between $40 and $150, and uncontested cases typically resolve in 21 to 45 days from filing. Tennessee law preempts any local rent control ordinance statewide (no municipality in Tennessee may enact a rent cap), and just-cause eviction requirements do not apply here. Source of income (such as housing vouchers) is not a protected class under Tennessee fair housing law, leaving tenant-screening decisions largely within the landlord's discretion. The combination of a sub-$750 average rent, a thin rental pool of around 2,129 total residents, and a permissive statewide regulatory environment keeps Perry County's eviction risk profile firmly in the Low tier.

Perry County's 4/10 score reflects a rural West Tennessee eviction laws market with below-average rents ($733/month), a 29.7% rent burden rate, and no local rent-control or just-cause ordinances. Landlords here operate under TCA Title 29 (non-URLTA) rules, requiring a 30-day notice to quit - longer than the 7-day URLTA standard - but still benefit from a streamlined, landlord-favorable state framework with no voucher-discrimination protections and no rent-cap risk.