Crane County, Texas Eviction Risk: Low

Crane County sits in the oil-patch heart of the Permian Basin in far West Texas, roughly 60 miles south of Midland. With a total population of 2,829 residents spread across two incorporated places - the county seat of Crane (3.2/10, population 2,640) and the small community of Imperial (3.1/10, population 189) - this is one of the least densely settled rental markets in Texas eviction laws. That thinness, combined with a state legal framework that squarely favors landlords, pushes Crane County to 235th of 254 Texas counties for eviction risk, placing it firmly in the lower-risk tier. Only 14 counties statewide register a lower risk reading.

The county carries an overall eviction risk score of 3.2/10 (Low). Scores range from 3.1 to 3.2 across the two cities tracked here, reflecting a market where tenant protections are minimal and rental demand stays tied almost entirely to oil field employment cycles. The average asking rent runs just $872 per month - well below both the Texas urban average and the national figure - and renters dedicate only 14.5% of household income to rent on average, one of the lowest rent-burden readings in the state. Renter-occupied households make up only 22.7% of all occupied housing, which limits the pool of potential eviction disputes significantly. When landlords do need to act, Texas law gives them a short runway: 3-day written notice covers non-payment, lease violations, and end-of-term holdovers under Tex. Prop. Code § 24.005, and squatter situations carry no notice requirement at all under the 2023 SB-38 amendment. Court filing fees run $54 to $125 at the local justice court, and uncontested cases typically resolve in 21 to 30 days. Contested matters stretch to 45-90 days, though contested evictions are rare in a county this size.

Texas imposes no rent control anywhere in the state - TX Local Gov Code §214.902 expressly preempts any local rent cap ordinance - and Crane County's small municipal governments have no independent tenant protection ordinances of their own. There is no just-cause eviction requirement, no source-of-income protection, and no mandatory landlord entry notice period in Texas residential tenancy law (though the practical norm is 24 hours). The Texas Workforce Commission's Civil Rights Division handles fair housing complaints statewide. For landlords comparing West Texas options, Crane County's metrics cluster tightly with peer rural counties including Knox, Collingsworth, Duval, and Crockett counties - all of which sit at similarly low risk levels and share the same state legal framework. The primary variable across this peer group is local court volume and the speed of individual justice of the peace courts, not substantive law.

Crane County's Low risk rating reflects a structurally landlord-favorable environment: minimal tenant protections under state law, a low renter share (22.7%), low rent burden (14.5%), and a compact two-city market where eviction filings are relatively rare. The county ranks 235th of 254 in Texas, meaning 234 counties carry higher risk and only 19 carry lower risk.