Houston County, Texas Eviction Risk: Low

Houston County sits in deep East Texas - pine forests, one mid-size county seat in Crockett, and a handful of small towns strung along US-287 and SH-21. With a total population around 8,965 and about 48% of residents renting, landlord-tenant disputes here move through a relatively streamlined rural court system. The county's overall eviction risk score is 3.9/10 (Low), placing it 24th out of 254 Texas counties - meaning 59 counties statewide carry higher risk and 194 carry less. That puts Houston eviction risk County in the higher-risk of the state for landlord friction, a position driven largely by its low-income renter base rather than any local regulatory layer.

Across the county's five tracked cities, scores run from a low of 3.2 in Kennard (3.2/10) up to 4 in Grapeland (4/10). The county seat, Crockett - home to roughly 6,364 residents and the largest rental market in the county - scores 4/10, right at the county average. Latexo, a small community along US-287, scores 3.6/10, while Lovelady checks in at 3.2/10. That 3.2-to-4 spread is relatively tight, which tells you this county does not have one neighborhood pulling the numbers dramatically higher than everywhere else. Risk is distributed fairly evenly across small-town Texas patterns: high poverty, modest rents, and a tenant population with limited resources to contest evictions but also limited ability to delay them through legal maneuvering. Average rent runs $885/month against a poverty rate of 20.7%, and roughly 29.5% of renters are cost-burdened - figures that track closely with what drives eviction caseloads in rural East Texas generally.

On the regulatory side, Houston County landlords operate under statewide Texas law with no local overlay. Texas does not require just cause to terminate a tenancy (Tex. Prop. Code § 92), does not protect source of income as a fair housing class, and since 2023 has preempted any municipality from enacting local rent control under TX Local Gov Code §214.902 - meaning none of the towns here can cap rents even if they wanted to. Notice requirements are landlord-friendly: a 3-day notice to vacate covers non-payment, lease violations, and end-of-term holdovers under Tex. Prop. Code § 24.005. Squatters and unauthorized occupants get no notice period at all under SB-38's amendment to Tex. Prop. Code § 24.011. Court filing fees in Justice of the Peace court run $54 to $125, and an uncontested eviction typically resolves in 21 to 30 days from filing - fast by national standards. A contested case stretches to 45-90 days, and attorney fees for a fully litigated eviction range $500 to $3,500 depending on complexity. The county's relative position in the higher-risk of the state reflects structural factors - poverty concentration, an older housing stock, limited tenant legal resources - rather than regulatory burden, which in Texas stays minimal by design.

Houston eviction risk County's 3.9/10 score reflects primarily economic pressure: a 20.7% poverty rate and $885 average monthly rent combine to keep a meaningful share of the 48.3% renter population close to the margin. The 3.2-to-4 city spread shows no single hotspot; risk is distributed across all five communities roughly in proportion to their size and income levels.