Stephens County, Texas Eviction Risk: Low

Stephens County, Texas eviction laws registers an eviction risk score of 2.7/10 (Low), placing it 36th out of 254 counties statewide -- putting it in the higher-risk of Texas counties by risk level. That ranking reflects how 35 Texas counties score higher and 218 score lower, meaning landlords here operate in a moderately competitive enforcement environment relative to the broader state, even though the absolute score sits well below the state average of 2.6/10. With only one incorporated place -- Breckenridge, scoring 2.7/10 -- the county score and the city score are the same figure, so there is no intra-county spread between 2.7 and 2.7.

The foundation of that score is a landlord-favorable legal environment. Texas law under Tex. Prop. Code § 24.005 sets a 3-day notice-to-vacate period for virtually every eviction scenario: non-payment of rent (whether first-time or habitual), lease violations, holdover tenancies, and end-of-lease situations all carry the same 3-day window before a landlord can file in justice court. Squatter and unauthorized-occupant cases are even faster -- zero days under Tex. Prop. Code § 24.011 as added by SB-38. Court filing fees in Texas justice courts run $54 to $125, and uncontested cases typically resolve in 21 to 30 days. Contested matters take 45 to 90 days. There is no rent control at any level: TX Local Gov Code § 214.902 explicitly preempts any local ordinance that would cap rent, and Stephens County sits in a part of West Texas where no municipality has ever attempted one. Landlords are not required to demonstrate just cause for non-renewal, and source-of-income protection does not apply under state law.

Stephens County's rental market is compact. Total county population is approximately 5,170, with about 35.1% of households renting -- roughly 1,800 renter households concentrated in and around Breckenridge. Average rent runs $839 per month, which is meaningfully below the Texas statewide average and reflects the rural, oil-patch character of this corner of the Palo Pinto-Stephens basin. Rent burden averages 26.2%, meaning the typical renting household here spends just over a quarter of income on housing -- below the 30% threshold conventionally considered cost-burdened, though a poverty rate of 18.4% means a significant share of renters have thin financial margins and limited capacity to absorb unexpected rent increases or eviction costs. That combination -- low rents in absolute terms, meaningful poverty, and a streamlined legal process -- means Stephens County presents a distinctive profile: enforcement is fast and inexpensive for landlords, but tenant vulnerability from income stress is real. That tension is what the 2.7/10 score is designed to surface.

Stephens County's 2.7/10 (Low) score reflects West Texas eviction laws norms: a 3-day notice standard, no rent control, no just-cause requirement, and a justice-court system that resolves most uncontested evictions in under a month. The single incorporated city, Breckenridge, scores 2.7/10 -- identical to the county average -- and accounts for virtually the entire renter population in Stephens County.