Jim Hogg County, Texas Eviction Risk: Low

Jim Hogg County sits at the southern tip of Texas, bordered by Mexico along the Rio Grande and anchored by its sole incorporated city, Hebbronville. With a total population of roughly 4,619 residents and a renter share of 44.3%, the county is a small but densely rural jurisdiction where the eviction landscape is shaped more by economic pressure than by regulation. The county's composite eviction risk score is 3.9/10 (Low), placing it 23rd out of 254 Texas counties - squarely in the higher-risk of the state. That rank means 97 Texas counties carry higher eviction risk and 156 are less risky than Jim Hogg.

The score spread across the county's six localities runs from 3.1 to 4, a narrow band that reflects the uniformity of conditions in a small, oil-patch and ranching economy. Oilton, a tiny unincorporated community of about 101 residents along US-59, posts the county's highest local score at 3.1/10 - driven by its concentration of transient oil-field workers and limited permanent rental stock. At the other end, Las Lomitas scores 3.1/10, benefiting from its very small size and low rental turnover. The county seat, Hebbronville, which holds the vast majority of the county's 4,194 residents, comes in at 4/10 - close to the county average and consistent with a community where most eviction exposure tracks the regional norm rather than any local policy quirk. South Fork Estates scores 3.4/10, while Guerra and Thompsonville each register in the lower portion of the range.

What distinguishes Jim Hogg County from higher-risk Texas counties is not a uniquely favorable policy environment - Texas law is uniformly landlord-accessible statewide - but rather the structural economics of a very small rental market. Average rent runs $827 per month, and the average rent burden sits at 27.6% of household income, below the 30% threshold that housing researchers use as a distress marker. Poverty is a real pressure here, at 32.4% of residents, but low absolute rent levels dampen the friction that drives eviction filings in larger metro markets. Compared to the Texas statewide average of 3.6/10, Jim Hogg County lands noticeably below - a genuine low-risk designation in a state that otherwise generates some of the highest eviction volumes in the country.

Jim Hogg County operates entirely under Texas eviction laws state eviction law (Tex. Prop. Code § 91 and § 92), with no local rent control or tenant protection ordinances - Texas eviction laws state law at TX Local Gov Code §214.902 explicitly preempts any such local rules. Landlords are not required to state just cause for non-renewal, and notice periods run as short as 3 days for non-payment. Court filing fees range from $54 to $125 in justice courts, and uncontested evictions typically resolve in 21 to 30 days from filing - among the faster timelines in the country. The practical result is a legal environment that, while not punitive toward tenants, offers no structural friction to slow the eviction process once a landlord decides to proceed.