Garza County, Texas Eviction Risk: Very Low

Garza County sits in the heart of the Texas South Plains, a sparsely populated stretch of ranch and oil country roughly 90 miles southeast of Lubbock. With a total population of 4,326 and only one incorporated city, Post, the county's rental market is a tight, relationship-driven environment where landlord-tenant dynamics look very different from the urban centers that dominate Texas eviction laws eviction statistics. The Eviction Risk Map research team rates Garza County at 2.2/10 (Very Low), placing it at 201st out of 254 Texas counties - a position firmly in the lower-risk of the state. All 200 counties above it on the risk scale carry higher eviction exposure for landlords; only 53 Texas counties read lower risk than Garza.

Post, the county seat and sole mapped city, accounts for the entire county rental population and scores 2.2/10 - identical to the county average because the two are effectively the same market. Average asking rent comes in at $822 per month, well below the Texas statewide average of 2.6, and rent burden sits at just 19.1% of renter household income. That figure is a meaningful signal: when renters are spending less than a fifth of their gross income on housing, the structural pressure that typically drives missed payments and eviction filings is largely absent. The county's 32.3% renter share is modest but stable, and the 16.5% poverty rate - while elevated relative to wealthier suburban counties - has not translated into the kind of chronic delinquency patterns that push scores higher on this index.

Texas law provides the procedural framework that governs every Garza County landlord-tenant dispute. Under Tex. Prop. Code § 24.005, landlords must serve a 3-day written notice to vacate before filing for eviction - whether the cause is non-payment, a lease violation, or a holdover tenancy. Squatter situations are handled under Tex. Prop. Code § 24.011 (SB-38) with no mandatory notice period. Once a suit is filed, uncontested cases in Garza County typically resolve in 21 to 30 days; contested matters run 45 to 90 days. Court filing fees range from $54 to $125, and sheriff lockout fees add $50 to $175. There is no local rent control in Garza County, and TX Local Gov Code §214.902 blocks any city within the state from enacting it. Landlords are not required to show just cause to terminate a month-to-month or fixed-term tenancy at expiration. Source-of-income discrimination is not a protected class in Texas, giving landlords full discretion in screening criteria, subject to federal Fair Housing Act compliance overseen by the Texas Workforce Commission, Civil Rights Division.

Garza County's Very Low rating reflects a combination of low rent burden (19.1%), a landlord-favorable state statutory framework, and an absence of local tenant protections. The score of 2.2/10 sits at the low end of the state distribution, meaning Texas eviction laws counties show even lower eviction risk - but carry more.