Fisher County, Texas Eviction Risk: Low
4 incorporated cities and unincorporated areas. The county Eviction Risk Score is held aloft by the city of Rotan (3.4) and a small number of dense urban cores. Rent-control coverage varies by city.
Ranked #213 of 254 TX counties
2k residents · 4 cities · 2 tracts
Fisher County eviction risk score history
Key metrics
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Tenant beats landlord13.6%/ 100 outcomesIn court-decided eviction outcomes for Fisher County, TX, tenants prevail in roughly 13.6% of contested cases. A higher number means landlords face stronger tenant defenses and longer calendars.
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Timeline27dfiling → judgmentFrom the moment an unlawful-detainer notice is filed in Fisher County, TX until a money judgment is entered, a contested eviction takes about 27 days on average. Longer timelines mean more lost rent for landlords.
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Cost range$1.0–3.4klegal + lost rentA typical eviction in Fisher County, TX costs landlords $979 to $3,434 all-in, covering court filing fees, process-server costs, attorney time, and lost rent.
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Average rent$60020% stretched on rentAverage gross rent in Fisher County, TX is $600 per month per the U.S. Census American Community Survey. 20% of renter households here spend more than 30% of pre-tax income on rent.
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Renters27.6%of households27.6% of occupied housing units in Fisher County, TX are renter-occupied. A higher renter share usually correlates with more eviction filings and a more active rental market.
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Poverty15.2%4.6% unemp.15.2% of Fisher County, TX residents live below the federal poverty line, and unemployment runs at 4.6%. Both feed the economic-stress sub-score in our Eviction Risk Score model.
Scrub 50 years
Fisher County's 3.2/10 (Low) eviction risk score reflects a rural West Texas market with low rents, a small renter population, and a landlord-favorable state statute. Scores across the county's four cities range from 3.2 to 3.4. Ranked 213th of 254 Texas counties (where rank 1 = highest risk), Fisher County falls in the lower-risk of the state - 212 counties carry more risk and 41 carry less.
How Fisher County ranks in Texas
Landlord guides for Texas
| City↕ | Population↕ | Risk↕ | % income on rent↕ | Average rent↕ | Lean↕ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 001 | Rotan | 1,204 | 3.2 | 21.1% | $604 | Rep |
| 002 | Roby | 679 | 3.2 | 17.5% | $593 | Rep |
| 003 | Sylvester | 52 | 3.2 | 19.8% | $600 | Rep |
| 004 | McCaulley | 35 | 3.4 | 19.8% | $600 | Rep |
County heatmap
One county, multiple regulatory regimes.
Fisher County sits in the rolling plains of West Texas, roughly 60 miles southeast of Lubbock, with a population of about 1,970 residents spread across four small communities. Agriculture anchors the local economy - cotton farming, cattle ranching, and oil-field work define the county's character. The rental market here is modest by any measure: the average rent runs around $600 per month, and only about 27.6% of households are renters, compared to the statewide renter share that runs higher in Texas eviction laws metros. That thin rental inventory, combined with low tenant legal resources in a rural setting, shapes the eviction risk picture in ways that matter whether you own a single rental house in Rotan or a small portfolio across the county.
Eviction Risk Map scores Fisher County at 3.2/10 (Low), placing it 213th out of 254 Texas counties, where rank 1 represents the highest-risk county in the state. That position means 212 Texas counties carry more eviction risk than Fisher County does, while 41 counties are rated lower-risk. Within the county, scores span a narrow band - from 3.2 at the low end (McCaulley, population 35) to 3.4 at the high end - reflecting the fact that all four communities operate under the same West Texas economic conditions and the same state landlord-tenant statute. Rotan (pop. 1,204), the county seat and largest community, scores 3.2/10. Roby (pop. 679), the second-largest town, matches that at 3.2/10. Sylvester, a tiny community of about 52 residents, also comes in at 3.2/10. McCaulley, the smallest community at roughly 35 residents, sits lower at 3.4/10 - reflecting its extremely small population and limited rental activity.
The legal framework governing evictions in Fisher County is set entirely at the state level under Tex. Prop. Code § 91 & § 92. Texas does not allow local governments to impose rent control - TX Local Gov Code §214.902 preempts any such local ordinance - and Fisher County has no just-cause eviction requirement and no source-of-income protections. For non-payment of rent, the required written notice period is 3 days under Tex. Prop. Code § 24.005(a). Court filing fees in justice-of-the-peace courts run from $54 to $125, and an uncontested eviction typically resolves in 21 to 30 days from filing. A contested case can stretch to 45 to 90 days. Attorney costs for eviction proceedings in rural West Texas typically fall in the $500 to $3,500 range depending on complexity. The county's average rent burden of 19.8% - the share of household income going to rent - sits below both state and national averages, which tends to reduce financial-stress-driven eviction filings relative to higher-burden markets.
Fisher County's Low eviction risk rating reflects a rural West Texas eviction laws market where low rents, a small renter population, and a landlord-favorable state statute keep risk contained. The county's 15.2% poverty rate and limited tenant legal resources are factors worth monitoring, but the overall picture ranks Fisher County in the lower-risk of Texas eviction laws counties by eviction risk.
Historical eviction filings in Fisher County
From 2000 to 2018, eviction filings in Fisher County increased. The peak was 7 filings in 2017.1
- 02000
- 7Peak (2017)
- 72018
Data covers 2000–2018, the full span of the Princeton Eviction Lab's national county court-records dataset.
How Fisher County compares
Fisher County scores 3.2/10 against a Texas state average of 3.6/10, landing in the lower-risk of all 254 Texas counties. Nearby peer counties - Concho, Hemphill, Mills, Mason, and Coke - cluster at similar levels, all reflecting the same rural West Texas economic conditions and state-level landlord-tenant framework. None of the peer counties carry materially different risk profiles; differences are minor and driven primarily by local population size and rental market depth.