Live Oak County, Texas Eviction Risk: Low

Live Oak County sits in the brush country of South Texas, anchored by the county seat of George West and the smaller community of Three Rivers along the Nueces River. With a total population near 4,350 and roughly 41.8% of households renting, the local rental market is modest in size but not without the financial pressures common to rural South Texas eviction laws. The county carries a composite eviction risk score of 2.5/10 (Low), ranking it 94th out of 254 Texas counties -- placing it in the middle of the state, with 93 counties carrying higher risk and 160 carrying lower risk. That position reflects a combination of a landlord-friendly state legal framework and a local economy where low rents and limited tenant protections coexist with real income stress among renters.

The two incorporated communities in the county sit at opposite ends of Live Oak's narrow score range of 2.4 to 2.7. George West, the county seat and largest city with a population of about 3,094, scores 2.4/10 -- the lower end of the county spread, consistent with its role as the county's administrative and commercial center. Three Rivers, with roughly 1,256 residents and a more compressed housing stock, scores 2.7/10, making it the county's highest-risk city. That gap of a few tenths of a point is narrow but meaningful: Three Rivers renters face slightly tighter conditions, including a rent burden that tracks closely with statewide rural patterns and a poverty rate of 18.3% countywide that limits the financial cushion available when landlord-tenant disputes escalate to eviction proceedings. Average rent across Live Oak County runs approximately $883 per month, and renters spending 28.3% of gross income on housing are technically below common burden thresholds -- but that figure averages across a population where incomes are well below state urban norms, so the practical margin for error is thinner than the percentage suggests.

Texas law governs eviction procedure uniformly across all 254 counties, and Live Oak County operates entirely within that framework. There is no local tenant-protection ordinance in George West or Three Rivers -- and under TX Local Gov Code §214.902, no Texas municipality may enact rent control, so no such overlay is legally possible. Landlords must serve a 3-day notice to vacate under Tex. Prop. Code § 24.005 for non-payment of rent or lease violations before filing in justice court. Court filing fees range from $54 to $125, and an uncontested case typically resolves in 21 to 30 days. Contested proceedings extend to 45 to 90 days. Texas does not require just cause for non-renewal, does not protect source-of-income status, and imposes no rent cap formula -- all of which keep the county's score anchored at the lower end of the statewide risk distribution.

Live Oak County's 2.5/10 risk score reflects a rural South Texas eviction laws county where Texas eviction laws's uniform pro-landlord statutory framework keeps eviction timelines and costs predictable, while modest renter incomes and an 18.3% poverty rate create a baseline of financial fragility that keeps the county from scoring at the absolute floor of the state distribution.