Rutherford County, Tennessee Eviction Risk: Very Low

Rutherford County carries a county-wide average eviction-risk score of 2.4/10, landing in the Low risk tier and placing it 57th out of 94 Tennessee counties, where rank 1 is the highest-risk. That means 56 Tennessee counties are riskier for landlords and only 37 score better, putting Rutherford squarely in the middle third of the state. For a fast-growing suburban county drawing both residents and investors from Nashville eviction risk, that is a respectable position: rent collections have historically been stable, the legal process moves at a predictable pace under Tennessee's Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, and there is no local rent control to navigate.

With an average rent of $1,526 and an average rent burden of 31.4%, tenants here spend a meaningful share of income on housing, but not at the distress levels that correlate with high eviction rates. Renter households make up 42.1% of occupied units across the county's 7 cities, giving investors a deep and active rental market. The intra-county score range, however, stretches from 2/10 to 3.3/10, a reminder that city-level conditions vary enough to change the calculus on any individual acquisition.

The cities inside Rutherford County

Murfreesboro, the county seat and by far the largest city at 161,445 residents, is also the most landlord-friendly address in the county at 2/10. Its size, institutional tenant base anchored by Middle Tennessee State University, and relatively diversified economy keep risk at the low end of the county range. Rockvale, a small community of 1,611, comes in close behind at 2.2/10.

At the other end of the spectrum, Smyrna scores 3.3/10, the highest-risk mark in the county. With a population of 56,692, it is the second-largest city here, and its tighter rent-to-income dynamics translate to a noticeably different risk profile than Murfreesboro eviction risk. La Vergne follows at 3/10 with 40,243 residents, and Eagleville at 2.8/10. Risk is genuinely hyper-local in Rutherford County: the gap between Murfreesboro and Smyrna is 1.3 full points, wide enough to put them in effectively different operating environments even though they share the same county government and state law.

State-level laws that apply here

Rutherford County falls under Tennessee's Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act. For nonpayment of rent, landlords must serve a 7-day notice under TCA § 66-28-505 before filing; material lease breaches require a 14-day notice, and non-curable breaches carry a 3-day notice period. Understanding the full Tennessee eviction process matters here because timeline varies by dispute type: uncontested cases typically resolve in 21 to 45 days, while contested proceedings can run 45 to 120 days. Direct costs stack up accordingly, with court filing fees ranging from $200 to $300, sheriff lockout fees from $40 to $150, and attorney fees from $500 to $2,500. Tennessee eviction costs can therefore reach well into the thousands on a contested case, which underscores the value of thorough tenant screening upfront. On the regulatory side, Tennessee state law requires no just cause to end a tenancy and expressly preempts any local government from enacting rent control, so landlords in Rutherford County operate without rent caps or just-cause termination requirements.

With a poverty rate of 10.5% and renters representing 42.1% of households, Rutherford County's fundamentals are solid by Tennessee standards; review the city grid above to identify which specific markets within the county align best with your risk tolerance.