Uvalde County, Texas Eviction Risk: Low

Uvalde County scores 3.5/10 (Low) on the eviction-risk scale, averaging across 4 incorporated places. That figure puts the county at rank 71 of 254 in Texas eviction laws, meaning 70 counties carry higher risk and 183 are more landlord-friendly, placing Uvalde County squarely in the higher-risk third of the state. For landlords and investors, the score reflects a small, cost-burdened renter base: the average monthly rent is $957, and renters spend an average of 30.2% of income on housing, a burden level that keeps late-payment pressure elevated relative to more prosperous markets.

Intra-county scores run from 1.8 to 2.2, a relatively tight band, but even modest spread matters in a market this small. With only about 18,968 total residents and a renter share of 29.2%, vacancy turns slow and tenant pool depth is limited. Operators should price that illiquidity into any acquisition underwriting before comparing Uvalde County to higher-volume Texas metros.

The cities inside Uvalde County

The county seat, Uvalde, is also the largest and highest-risk community here, scoring 3.5/10 with a population of 15,417. Uvalde Estates (score 2.2, population 1,908) and Knippa (score 2.2) sit at the same risk tier, so three of the four tracked cities share the countywide average. Risk is hyper-local even when headline scores converge: vacancy dynamics, tenant screening depth, and local justice-of-the-peace caseloads vary block by block in markets this size.

The lone outlier is Sabinal, a community of 799 residents that scores 3.2/10, the lowest in the county. Its smaller renter population and tighter social fabric translate to marginally better landlord operating conditions than the county seat. Investors targeting the lowest-risk footprint in Uvalde County should weight Sabinal accordingly, while accepting the trade-off of a very thin tenant pool.

State-level laws that apply here

Across all four cities, landlords operate under Texas state law. Texas requires only a 3-day notice to quit for non-payment of rent (whether a first-time or habitually delinquent tenant), lease violations, and holdover situations. For squatters or unauthorized occupants, no notice period is required under Tex. Prop. Code § 24.011. Understanding the full Texas eviction process is essential here because even a procedurally clean case takes 21 to 30 days uncontested and 45 to 90 days if the tenant contests, with court filing fees running $54 to $125 and sheriff lockout fees adding another $50 to $175.

Attorney fees for an eviction action range from $500 to $3,500 depending on complexity, making Texas eviction costs a meaningful line item even in a low-risk county. On the regulatory side, Texas imposes no rent control and the state preempts any local attempt to establish it (TX Local Gov Code §214.902). There is no just-cause requirement for non-renewal, and source-of-income is not a protected class under state law. Those landlord-favorable rules apply uniformly in Uvalde County, but they do not eliminate the cash-flow risk that comes with a poverty rate of 24.1% among the local population.

With 29.2% of residents renting and a poverty rate of 24.1%, the underlying tenant economics in Uvalde County run thin, which explains why even a Low overall score still places the county in the higher-risk third of Texas eviction laws. Review the city grid above to compare Uvalde, Sabinal, and the other tracked places before choosing where to place capital.