Runnels County, Texas Eviction Risk: Low

Runnels County sits in west-central Texas, anchored by the county seat of Ballinger and the nearby city of Winters. The county carries an overall eviction risk score of 3.4/10 (Low), placing it 196th of 254 Texas eviction laws counties -- putting it squarely in the lower-risk range for tenant protectiveness statewide. With 165 Texas eviction laws counties scoring higher and 88 scoring lower, Runnels occupies a comfortable middle position, though that middling rank reflects state-level comparisons in a state with relatively limited tenant protections overall. Scores across the county's incorporated places span from 3.1 to 3.4/10, a narrow spread that signals consistent conditions rather than stark neighborhood divides.

The county's two largest cities pull the risk average in slightly different directions. Ballinger, home to around 3,583 residents and the primary commercial hub of Runnels County, scores 3.2/10 -- on par with the county average. Winters, the second-largest city with approximately 2,405 residents and a strong agricultural identity tied to its cotton-farming history, is the highest-risk municipality in the county at 3.4/10. Smaller communities round out the picture: Miles (population 1,030) comes in at 3.2/10, while Rowena and Wingate, two very small rural communities, each score 3.1/10 and 3.2/10 respectively -- the lowest readings in the county. The narrow spread from 3.1 to 3.4 suggests that Runnels County's rental market operates under broadly similar conditions regardless of which incorporated place a tenant lives in.

The underlying rental market here is modest in scale. Average rent across the county runs $828 per month, and the average rent burden sits at 21.2% of household income -- notably below the commonly cited 30% stress threshold, which indicates that most renters in Runnels County are not spending an outsized share of income on housing. About 29.4% of households rent rather than own, and the county poverty rate is 11.8%. These numbers reflect a rural, working-class economy where housing costs have not accelerated the way they have in Texas eviction laws metropolitan counties. Texas eviction laws law governs all landlord-tenant relationships here under Tex. Prop. Code § 91 and § 92, and there is no local rent control -- Texas eviction laws state law preempts any municipality from enacting rent stabilization ordinances under TX Local Gov Code §214.902. Landlords must give 3 days written notice before initiating eviction proceedings for non-payment of rent or lease violations, and an uncontested eviction typically resolves in 21 to 30 days in the local justice of the peace court.

Runnels County's 3.3/10 score reflects a rural Texas eviction laws market where rents are affordable relative to local wages, tenant protections are limited to state-level baseline rules, and eviction proceedings move quickly under Texas eviction laws justice court procedures. The county's rank of 196th out of 254 places it in the middle range for Texas eviction laws, meaning a majority of the state's counties carry higher eviction risk scores than Runnels does.