Polk County, Tennessee Eviction Risk: Low

Polk County sits in the southeastern corner of Tennessee where the Cherokee National Forest meets the Ocoee River gorge. With a rental population of roughly 35% of 3,752 residents and an average rent of $649 per month, the county's landlord-tenant dynamic is shaped more by sparse settlement and limited housing stock than by tenant-protection policy. Eviction risk here registers 2.5/10 (Low), placing Polk 12th out of 95 Tennessee counties - inside the higher-risk of the state by risk level, even as the raw score stays well below the Tennessee average of 2.4/10.

Scores across Polk's six incorporated places span from 1.7 to 2.7, which is a narrower band than most rural Tennessee counties. The county seat Benton (pop. 1,560) and former copper-mining town Ducktown (pop. 456) share the high end of that range at 2.7/10 and 2.7/10 respectively - driven by higher poverty rates and older rental housing concentrated near the historic mining district. Delano (pop. 838) comes in at 2.6/10, while Copperhill (pop. 493) sits at 2.4/10, reflecting the cross-border character of a community that straddles the Georgia state line. At the lower end, Farner scores 2/10 and Ocoee reaches the county floor at 1.7/10.

Tennessee landlord law governs here under a significant threshold: Polk County's population falls below 75,000, which means it is not subject to the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (URLTA). Eviction notices run under TCA Title 29 Chapter 18 instead, requiring a 30-day notice to quit rather than the 7-day nonpayment notice available in URLTA counties. Court filing fees run $200 to $300, sheriff lockout fees add $40 to $150, and the full cycle from filing to judgment - uncontested - typically takes 21 to 45 days. There is no local rent control and state law preempts any municipality from enacting it. The poverty rate of 17.3% and the 28.1% rent burden both suggest a tenant population with little financial cushion, which is a relevant risk factor for landlords regardless of the comparatively low score. Screening and consistent lease documentation remain the primary tools for managing vacancy and nonpayment risk in a market where legal costs can quickly exceed the value of a single month's $649 rent.

Polk County's 2.5/10 risk average reflects both the legal framework - no URLTA protections, no rent cap, no just-cause requirement - and real economic stress among renters, with a 17.3% poverty rate and a rent burden just above 28%. The 1.7-to-2.7 score spread across its cities is tight, meaning conditions are fairly uniform across the county rather than concentrated in one pocket.