Wilson County, Texas Eviction Risk: Low

Wilson County, Texas eviction laws carries an average eviction-risk score of 1.8/10 (Low), placing it in the middle third of the state at rank 131 of 254 Texas eviction laws counties, meaning 130 counties score higher and present greater landlord risk. For investors and operators, that average signals a workable market, though it masks a real spread: city-level scores inside the county run from 1.6/10 to 2.5/10, a range wide enough to matter when you are picking a submarket. Across all five tracked cities, average rent sits at $1,083, and about 32% of households are renters, giving landlords a meaningful renter pool in a county with roughly 14,400 people.

The overall Low rating reflects conditions that are generally manageable compared to most urban Texas eviction laws markets, but a 32.1% average rent-burden rate across those renter households is worth noting: nearly a third of tenant income goes to rent, which can elevate late-payment frequency even in lower-risk markets. Investors underwriting buy-hold deals here should factor that pressure into vacancy and collections assumptions rather than relying on the county average alone.

The cities inside Wilson County

Elmendorf carries the highest risk in the county at 2.5/10, and with a population of 2,389 it is a small but distinct submarket worth separate underwriting. La Vernia follows at 2/10 with about 1,095 residents, and both Poth and Stockdale score 1.9/10 with populations of 1,532 and 1,377, respectively. Risk in this county is hyper-local: a landlord operating in Elmendorf faces conditions measurably different from one operating a few miles away in Floresville, which at 1.6/10 and a population of 8,007 is the county seat and its most landlord-favorable market.

That gap between Elmendorf's 2.5 and Floresville's 1.6 is nearly a full point on a 10-point scale. Investors assembling a Wilson County portfolio should treat each city as its own risk cell rather than assuming the county average applies uniformly across units.

State-level laws that apply here

All Wilson County landlords operate under Texas state law, specifically Tex. Prop. Code ss 91 and 92 (Residential Tenancies). The Texas eviction laws eviction process begins with a 3-day notice for non-payment of rent (whether the tenant is a first-time or habitual late payer), a 3-day notice for non-rent lease violations, and a 3-day notice for holdover or end-of-term situations under Tex. Prop. Code ss 24.005. Unauthorized occupants or squatters can be removed with no notice period under Tex. Prop. Code ss 24.011 (SB-38). An uncontested case typically resolves in 21 to 30 days; a contested matter can stretch to 45 to 90 days.

Texas eviction costs range from a court filing fee of $54 to $125, a sheriff lockout fee of $50 to $175, and attorney fees of $500 to $3,500 depending on complexity. Texas eviction laws is a landlord-favorable regulatory environment in two important respects: just cause is not required to terminate a tenancy, and state law expressly preempts any local rent control ordinance under TX Local Gov Code ss 214.902, so no city in Wilson County can impose a rent cap. For a fuller breakdown, see the Texas security deposit limits and Texas tenant protections guides.

With a poverty rate of 14.9% and roughly 32% of households renting, the risk picture varies considerably by city, as the grid above shows; underwriting at the city level rather than the county average will give you a sharper read on actual operating conditions in Wilson County.