Hardin County, Texas Eviction Risk: Very Low

Hardin County, Texas eviction laws earns an average eviction-risk score of 2/10, placing it in the Low-risk tier and in the middle third of the state, ranked 102 of 254 Texas counties, meaning 101 counties carry higher risk. For landlords and investors, that translates to a market where tenant stability is generally solid, renter demand is modest, and the legal climate under Texas eviction laws law is already one of the more landlord-friendly in the country. The average rent across the county sits at $1,054 per month, with an average rent burden of 24.8% of income, a level that keeps most renters comfortably below the financial-stress threshold where eviction risk begins to climb sharply.

The county-wide average, however, covers real variation. Scores across Hardin County's 8 cities span from 1.5 to 2.4, a range that matters when evaluating individual acquisitions. A landlord buying in the county's softest markets faces meaningfully different operating conditions than one concentrated in its highest-risk pockets, even within the same county lines.

The cities inside Hardin County

At the top of the risk range, Kountze and Sour Lake both score 2.4/10. Kountze, with a population of 2,367, and Sour Lake, with 2,130 residents, are the county's smallest incorporated communities among the riskier tier, combining smaller renter pools with slightly elevated delinquency indicators. Silsbee, the second-largest city in the county at 6,842 residents, scores 2.3/10, still well within the Low category but worth factoring into underwriting when comparing it to county benchmarks.

On the other end of the spectrum, Pinewood Estates records the county's lowest score at 1.5/10, followed by Rose Hill Acres at 1.6/10 and Wildwood at 1.7/10. Lumberton, the county seat by population at 13,963 residents and the largest city in Hardin County, comes in at 1.8/10, reflecting a relatively stable renter base. The takeaway for investors is that risk here is genuinely hyper-local: a 0.9-point spread across eight cities means portfolio composition, not just county-level averages, drives actual operating outcomes.

State-level laws that apply here

All properties in Hardin County fall under the Texas eviction laws eviction process governed by Tex. Prop. Code SS 91 and SS 92 (Residential Tenancies). Texas requires only a 3-day notice to vacate for non-payment of rent, whether for a first-time or habitually delinquent tenant, as well as for lease violations and holdover situations. Squatters and unauthorized occupants can be removed with no prior written notice under Tex. Prop. Code SS 24.011, as added by SB-38. An uncontested filing typically resolves in 21 to 30 days, while a contested case runs 45 to 90 days. Court filing fees range from $54 to $125, sheriff lockout fees from $50 to $175, and attorney fees typically fall between $500 and $3,500 depending on complexity.

Texas security deposit limits impose no statutory cap on the deposit amount itself, and Texas tenant protections include anti-retaliation provisions under Tex. Prop. Code SS 92.331 and habitability obligations under SS 92.052. Critically, Texas state law preempts any local attempt at rent control under TX Local Gov Code SS 214.902, and no just-cause requirement exists for non-renewal, giving landlords throughout Hardin County broad flexibility at the end of a lease term.

With an average poverty rate of 10.1% and a renter share of just 20.2% of households, Hardin County's renter base is relatively small and financially stable by Texas standards, conditions reflected directly in the city-by-city scores shown in the grid above.