Deaf Smith County, Texas Eviction Risk: Very Low

Deaf Smith County carries an average eviction-risk score of 1.8/10 (Low), placing it in the middle third of all 254 Texas eviction laws counties, with 137 counties rated riskier and 116 rated more landlord-friendly. For investors and landlords operating across the county's 2 cities, that headline figure signals a market where tenant non-payment pressure and legal complexity are well below the Texas eviction laws high-risk tier. The intra-county spread, running from 1.1 at the low end to 1.8 at the high end, is narrow, suggesting consistently manageable conditions throughout the area. With an average rent of $953 and an average rent burden of 24.7%, most renters here are not stretched to a degree that drives systemic delinquency.

That said, the Low rating reflects probability, not immunity. Renter share sits at 33.6% of households and the county's poverty rate is 14.4%, so isolated income shocks can still produce individual eviction cases. Knowing the local risk distribution by city, and understanding the Texas eviction laws statutory framework that governs every landlord-tenant relationship here, remains essential before committing capital.

The cities inside Deaf Smith County

The county's risk is concentrated almost entirely in Hereford, which holds a score of 1.8/10 and accounts for the vast majority of the county's 14,874 total residents, with a city population of 14,840. As the county seat and by far the largest rental market, Hereford is where landlords will own most of their units and where eviction filings, when they occur, will be processed.

Summerfield is the only other incorporated place in the county and scores 1.1/10, the lowest in Deaf Smith County, though its population of 34 makes it a negligible rental market in practical terms. The gap between Hereford's 1.8 and Summerfield's 1.1 illustrates that even within a low-risk county, risk is hyper-local, and underwriting decisions should be made at the city level, not the county average.

State-level laws that apply here

Every landlord in Deaf Smith County operates under Tex. Prop. Code § 91 and § 92 (Residential Tenancies). The Texas eviction laws eviction process begins with notice: non-payment of rent, lease violations, and holdover situations all require a 3-day notice to vacate under Tex. Prop. Code § 24.005. Squatters or unauthorized occupants, by contrast, may be removed without any waiting period under Tex. Prop. Code § 24.011 (SB-38). Once notice is served and the case is filed, an uncontested eviction typically resolves in 21 to 30 days, while a contested case can stretch to 45 to 90 days.

Texas eviction costs in a typical case include a court filing fee of $54 to $125, a sheriff lockout fee of $50 to $175, and attorney fees ranging from $500 to $3,500 depending on case complexity. Texas eviction laws imposes no rent control and no just-cause requirement for non-renewal, and state law preempts any local rent-control ordinance under TX Local Gov Code § 214.902. For a full breakdown of deposit rules, see Texas security deposit limits, and for tenant-side rights that affect how cases are argued, review Texas tenant protections.

With a poverty rate of 14.4% and renters making up 33.6% of households, Deaf Smith County's risk profile is shaped primarily by Hereford's rental market; see the city grid above for individual city scores and deeper local data.