Knox County, Texas Eviction Risk: Low

Knox County sits in the Rolling Plains of northwest Texas, a sparsely populated ranch-and-dryland-farming county of roughly 2,778 residents where renters account for about 24.7% of occupied households. The county carries a 3.1/10 (Low) eviction risk rating on the Eviction Risk Map index, placing it at 245th of 254 Texas counties - meaning 231 counties in the state register higher risk for tenants than Knox County does. With scores ranging from 3.1 to 3.2 across its four incorporated communities, the spread here is narrow, reflecting a consistently landlord-accessible legal climate throughout the county with only modest variation between towns.

The county seat of Benjamin carries the county's lowest individual score at 3.2/10, followed by the county's two mid-sized communities - Munday, the largest town at 1,407 residents, rated 3.1/10, and Goree at 3.1/10. Knox City, the community that shares the county's name, registers the highest score in the county at 3.1/10, though that figure still sits well below the Texas statewide average of 3.6/10. Average monthly rent across Knox County stands at approximately $520, and the average rent burden of 18.7% of household income is among the lower burdens tracked in our dataset - a reflection of both modest rents and the income patterns of a rural Texas economy anchored in agriculture and ranching rather than urban employment sectors. The poverty rate of 10.9% is broadly in line with surrounding rural counties in this part of the state.

From a legal framework standpoint, Knox County operates entirely under Texas state landlord-tenant law as codified at Tex. Prop. Code § 91 & § 92 (Residential Tenancies). Texas requires only a 3-day written notice before filing for eviction in non-payment cases (Tex. Prop. Code § 24.005(a)), which is among the shortest notice periods in the country. There is no local rent control in Knox County, nor can any municipality in Texas enact one - TX Local Gov Code §214.902 expressly preempts local rent stabilization. Landlords are not required to show just cause for non-renewal, and source-of-income discrimination is not covered under state fair housing protections. Court filing fees for an eviction suit range from $54 to $125, and an uncontested case typically resolves in 21 to 30 days. These structural features combine to produce the consistently low eviction risk scores observed across all four Knox County communities - the legal environment here offers landlords a straightforward, fast, and low-cost recovery path.

Knox County's 3.1/10 average reflects a rural northwest Texas eviction laws market where low rents ($520/month average), minimal tenant protections, and Texas eviction laws's 3-day notice statute create conditions consistently favorable to landlords. With only 4 incorporated communities and a renter population of roughly 686 households, the local rental market is small and illiquid, which shapes risk dynamics differently than in urban Texas eviction laws counties.