Refugio County, Texas Eviction Risk: Low

Refugio County sits along the Texas Coastal Bend, a sparsely settled stretch of ranchland and oil-patch communities roughly 50 miles northeast of Corpus Christi. With a total population of about 5,075 and only around 30.5% of households renting, the county's rental market is narrow by Texas eviction laws standards -- a reality that shapes both the pace of eviction proceedings and the financial stakes for landlords who operate here. The county carries an overall eviction-risk score of 3.6/10 (Low), placing it 96th of 254 Texas counties on our risk index, where rank 1 represents the highest risk. That position lands Refugio in the middle tier for Texas: 95 counties carry a higher risk score and 158 fall below it.

Within the county, risk readings are compressed and uniformly low. The county seat, Refugio, posts a score of 4/10 for a population of about 2,766 -- the largest and most active rental market in the county. Woodsboro, the second city, comes in at 3.2/10 across roughly 1,464 residents, a slightly more landlord-favorable reading. The outlier on the higher end is Tivoli, a small oil-service community of about 433 residents that scores 3.2/10 -- the highest reading in the county and the widest gap from the low end. Bayside, the smallest incorporated place at around 412 people, anchors the bottom of the range at 3.2/10. That spread from 3.2 to 4 is narrow by statewide standards, meaning landlords face comparable legal and economic conditions across every corner of the county.

The economic backdrop is worth tracking carefully. Average asking rent runs approximately $945 per month, and the average rent burden sits at 30.2% of household income -- right at the threshold that housing economists flag as financially stressful for renters. Combined with a 19.4% poverty rate, that rent burden figure points to a tenant population with limited financial cushion. An unexpected job loss or medical bill can push a household toward delinquency quickly, which is why even a Low-risk county like Refugio can produce eviction filings at a rate that catches newer landlords off guard. Texas law provides no grace period beyond the notice window, so understanding those timelines precisely is more important here than in counties where local ordinances add buffer. The county's Low score reflects a legal environment that resolves disputes efficiently -- not that disputes never arise. Landlords who treat the score as an all-clear rather than a calibration tool tend to be the ones caught unprepared when a filing does become necessary.

Refugio County's 4/10 score reflects Texas eviction laws's landlord-friendly statutory baseline -- 3-day notices across all standard grounds, no rent control (state law at TX Local Gov Code §214.902 bars any local cap), and no just-cause requirement for non-renewal -- combined with a local rental market that is small, economically stressed at a 30.2% rent burden, and anchored by four small cities whose scores range tightly from 3.2 to 4/10.