Liberty County, Texas Eviction Risk: Low

Liberty County carries a county-wide average eviction-risk score of 2.3/10 (Low), placing it 49th of 254 counties in Texas, a position that puts 48 counties above it in risk and only 205 below it. That framing matters for investors: despite the Low label, Liberty County sits in the higher-risk third of the state, not in the comfortable middle. Rent averages $1,040 per month across the county, and roughly 30.3% of households are renters, giving landlords a real but modest tenant pool to work with.

The intra-county spread runs from 1.8 to 2.9 across 13 incorporated places, a gap wide enough that a landlord choosing between the county's safest and riskiest city is effectively operating in two different markets. Average rent burden sits at 35.4% of income, a figure that tells you tenants here are stretching to cover rent, which historically correlates with higher rates of late payment and lease instability regardless of what the headline score says.

The cities inside Liberty County

The highest-risk city in the county is Ames, scoring 2.9/10, followed closely by Daisetta at 2.8/10 and Dayton, the county's most populous city at 9,058 residents, at 2.7/10. Kenefick comes in at 2.6/10 and Plum Grove at 2.5/10. These five cities cluster near or above the county average and warrant closer due-diligence on tenant screening and cash-flow assumptions before acquiring rental property there.

At the lower end, Patton Village scores 1.8/10, the county's best mark, followed by Liberty (the county seat, population 8,650) at 1.9/10 and Cleveland (population 8,984) at 2.3/10. The spread between Ames and Patton Village is more than a full point, confirming that risk in Liberty County is genuinely hyper-local. An address in the county averages very little on its own; the city-level score is the number that actually shapes an investor's operating experience.

State-level laws that apply here

All landlords in Liberty County operate under Texas state law, principally Tex. Prop. Code § 91 and § 92. Texas gives landlords a relatively tight notice framework: the standard notice period for non-payment of rent, lease violations, end of lease, and holdover situations is 3 days, with zero-day notice available for squatters or unauthorized occupants under Tex. Prop. Code § 24.011. For landlords evaluating the full Texas eviction process, that speed is one of the state's clearest advantages. An uncontested case typically resolves in 21 to 30 days; a contested case can run 45 to 90 days.

Out-of-pocket costs matter too. Court filing fees range from $54 to $125, sheriff lockout fees from $50 to $175, and attorney fees from $500 to $3,500 depending on case complexity. Understanding Texas eviction costs in full before acquiring a property here is important, particularly given the county's 21% average poverty rate, which elevates the probability that any given eviction will be contested. Texas imposes no rent control and no just-cause eviction requirement; state law actively preempts any local government from enacting rent caps under TX Local Gov Code §214.902, which means the landlord-friendly statewide framework applies uniformly across every city in Liberty County.

With an average poverty rate of 21% and roughly 30.3% of residents renting, Liberty County is a market where tenant financial stress is a baseline operating condition; the city grid above breaks down exactly where that stress concentrates and where it eases, giving landlords the precision they need before committing capital.