White County, Tennessee Eviction Risk: Very Low
3 incorporated cities and unincorporated areas. The county Eviction Risk Score is held aloft by the city of Sparta (2.7) and a small number of dense urban cores. Rent-control coverage varies by city.
Ranked #58 of 95 TN counties
6k residents · 3 cities · 6 tracts
White County eviction risk score history
Key metrics
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Tenant beats landlord15.0%/ 100 outcomesIn court-decided eviction outcomes for White County, TN, tenants prevail in roughly 15.0% of contested cases. A higher number means landlords face stronger tenant defenses and longer calendars.
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Timeline32dfiling → judgmentFrom the moment an unlawful-detainer notice is filed in White County, TN until a money judgment is entered, a contested eviction takes about 32 days on average. Longer timelines mean more lost rent for landlords.
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Cost range$1.2–2.9klegal + lost rentA typical eviction in White County, TN costs landlords $1,200 to $2,916 all-in, covering court filing fees, process-server costs, attorney time, and lost rent.
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Average rent$76225% stretched on rentAverage gross rent in White County, TN is $762 per month per the U.S. Census American Community Survey. 25% of renter households here spend more than 30% of pre-tax income on rent.
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Renters32.5%of households32.5% of occupied housing units in White County, TN are renter-occupied. A higher renter share usually correlates with more eviction filings and a more active rental market.
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Poverty15.9%6.6% unemp.15.9% of White County, TN residents live below the federal poverty line, and unemployment runs at 6.6%. Both feed the economic-stress sub-score in our Eviction Risk Score model.
Scrub 50 years
White County's 2.2/10 (Very Low) spans a local range of 2.2-2.7 across its three tracked cities -- a compressed spread that reflects the county's uniform rural market conditions. Ranked 58th of 95 Tennessee counties -- 57 counties carry higher eviction risk, 37 carry less.
How White County ranks in Tennessee
Landlord guides for Tennessee
| City↕ | Population↕ | Risk↕ | % income on rent↕ | Average rent↕ | Lean↕ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 001 | Sparta | 4,939 | 2.2 | 22.0% | $731 | Rep |
| 002 | Doyle | 532 | 2.3 | 51.0% | $1,005 | Rep |
| 003 | Bon Air | 205 | 2.7 | 28.1% | $890 | Rep |
County heatmap
One county, multiple regulatory regimes.
White County sits in Tennessee eviction laws's Upper Cumberland plateau, a rural stretch of about 5,676 renters and owners where the rental market moves at a quieter pace than the state's urban corridors. The county's overall eviction risk scores 2.2/10 (Very Low), placing it 58th out of 95 Tennessee eviction laws counties -- putting it squarely in the middle of the state for landlord-tenant friction. Of Tennessee eviction laws's 95 counties, 57 carry higher eviction risk and 37 carry less. That positioning matters: landlords here operate in a framework that leans toward straightforward recovery, while renters face limited statutory protections beyond the baseline floor set by state law.
The county seat of Sparta -- home to roughly 4,939 residents and the largest rental concentration in the county -- scores 2.2/10, consistent with the county average. Doyle, a smaller community of about 532, scores 2.3/10, modestly above the county floor. The highest-risk reading in the county belongs to Bon Air (pop. 205), at 2.7/10 -- still within the Low tier but representing the widest end of the local spread, which runs from 2.2 to 2.7 across all tracked cities. That compressed range signals a county with relatively uniform market conditions rather than the sharp neighborhood-to-neighborhood volatility seen in metro areas.
White County's population falls below the 75,000-resident threshold that triggers coverage under Tennessee eviction laws's Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (T.C.A. § 66-28). That means landlords here operate under the older TCA Title 29 Chapter 18 framework, which requires a 30-day notice to vacate rather than the 7-day nonpayment notice available in URLTA-covered counties like Shelby or Knox. Court filing fees in the county run $200-$300, and an uncontested eviction case typically wraps in 21 to 45 days from filing -- with contested matters stretching to 45-120 days. Tennessee eviction laws state law preempts any local rent control ordinance, and White County has none. There is no just-cause requirement for non-renewal, and source of income is not a protected class under state fair housing rules. Renters with complaints about discrimination can contact the Tennessee Human Rights Commission. Average rent across the county runs about $762 per month, against an average rent burden of 24.9% -- below the 30% threshold that typically signals housing stress -- though a poverty rate of 15.9% and a renter share of 32.5% mean a meaningful fraction of households operate with limited financial cushion when disputes arise.
White County's 2.2/10 score reflects a rural market with limited tenant-protective legislation, below-average rent burden, and a population that falls outside Tennessee eviction laws's stronger URLTA framework -- a combination that keeps eviction friction relatively low compared to the state as a whole, even though other Tennessee eviction laws counties rank higher on the risk scale.
How White County compares
White County's 2.2/10 (Very Low) comes in below the Tennessee statewide average of 2.4/10. Nearby peer counties -- Wayne, Moore, Union, Morgan, and Chester -- all land in a similar band, reflecting the Upper Cumberland region's broadly uniform risk profile rather than any outlier condition in White County specifically. Within Tennessee eviction laws's full 95-county spread, White County sits 58th overall, placing it in the middle of the distribution: landlord-tenant friction here is neither the lowest nor the highest the state produces.