Reagan County, Texas Eviction Risk: Low

Reagan County sits in the Permian Basin of far West Texas, home to roughly 2,990 residents and one incorporated place -- Big Lake, the county seat. As an oil-patch community, Reagan County has an economic profile quite different from urban Texas eviction laws: average asking rent runs just $746 a month, and only about 24.7% of households rent rather than own. Those dynamics -- modest rent loads and a predominantly owner-occupied housing stock -- flow directly into an eviction risk reading of 2.5/10 (Low), positioning the county at 89th of 254 Texas counties on our risk scale. That rank places Reagan County squarely in the middle of the state, with 88 counties carrying higher risk and 165 carrying lower risk.

Big Lake, the only tracked city in the county, scores 2.5/10 -- identical to the county average, since its 2,990 residents make up essentially the entire county population. The score spread across the county runs from 2.5 to 2.5, reflecting that single-city reality. Rent burden here is low by Texas standards: at 15.2%, the average renter household spends far less of its income on housing than the national benchmark of 30%, which reduces the financial pressure that typically drives eviction filings. The poverty rate of 11.7% is moderate, and the local economy's oil-field wage base tends to support relatively stable tenancy even during commodity-price cycles -- though energy downturns can shift that picture quickly.

Texas landlord-tenant law governs Reagan County without any local overlay. The state preempts local rent control entirely under TX Local Gov Code §214.902, so no city or county in Texas -- including Big Lake -- may cap rent increases or require just-cause eviction. Landlords must serve a 3-day written notice to vacate before filing for eviction under Tex. Prop. Code § 24.005, whether the ground is non-payment, a lease violation, or end of term. Unauthorized occupants (squatters) may be removed without any notice period under Tex. Prop. Code § 24.011 as amended by SB-38. Court filing fees run $54 to $125 in Justice of the Peace court, and an uncontested case typically resolves in 21 to 30 days; a contested hearing can extend to 45 to 90 days. Those timelines are consistent with the broader Texas low-risk profile relative to coastal states where contested evictions regularly run six months or more. Habitability obligations fall under Tex. Prop. Code § 92.052, and landlord retaliation is prohibited by Tex. Prop. Code § 92.331 -- but source-of-income protections (covering housing vouchers, for example) are not enacted at the state level, leaving voucher-holding tenants without that layer of protection. Fair housing complaints route through the Texas Workforce Commission, Civil Rights Division.

Reagan County's 2.5/10 Low score reflects low rent burden (15.2%), a small renter population (24.7% of households), and a landlord-permissive Texas eviction laws statutory framework -- no rent caps, no just-cause requirement, and 3-day notice periods across all eviction grounds. The county's 89th-of-254 ranking puts it in the middle of Texas, meaning most counties in the state sit on either side of it risk-wise.