Wise County, Texas Eviction Risk: Very Low

Wise County scores 2.1/10 (Low) for eviction risk, placing it in the higher-risk third of Texas eviction laws counties: 81 of the state's 254 counties rank riskier, while 172 are less risky and more landlord-friendly. That positioning matters for investors who compare North Texas suburban markets. Across the county's 12 tracked cities, risk is compressed into a narrow band from 2 to 2.2 out of 10, which signals broadly stable operating conditions but leaves real differences between the most and least exposed jurisdictions.

Renters make up 25.8% of the county's occupied housing, and the average rent stands at $1,189 per month, with tenants carrying an average rent burden of 27.1% of income. Neither figure suggests acute financial stress at the county level, and the 8% poverty rate is low enough that most landlords here will face a tenant pool with reasonable payment capacity. Still, the intra-county spread from 2 to 2.2 is worth tracking street by street, not just county-wide.

The combination of a low-risk score and a relatively shallow renter pool means Wise County rewards landlords who do their underwriting carefully and understand how Texas eviction process timelines and statutes apply locally.

The cities inside Wise County

The highest-risk municipalities in the county all score 2.2/10: Bridgeport (population 6,331), Chico (population 1,512), Alvord, and Lake Bridgeport. Bridgeport is the second-largest city in the county and its 2.2 score reflects slightly more concentrated tenant-side risk than the county average. Chico is a much smaller community but carries the same score. For landlords with properties in these four localities, the case for tighter tenant screening and faster notice procedures is measurable, not theoretical.

Decatur, the county seat and largest city at 7,426 residents, scores 2.1/10, exactly at the county average. Boyd (population 1,351) also comes in at 2.1. The lowest-risk cities, all scoring 2/10, include Aurora, Runaway Bay, Rhome, and New Fairview. Risk is genuinely hyper-local here: a landlord with units in Runaway Bay faces a materially different profile than one concentrated in Bridgeport, even though both markets sit within the same county line.

State-level laws that apply here

Under Texas state law, Wise County landlords must serve a 3-day written notice before filing for eviction, whether the reason is non-payment of rent (first-time or habitual), a non-rent lease violation, or a holdover at the end of a lease term, per Tex. Prop. Code § 24.005. For squatters or unauthorized occupants, a separate statute (Tex. Prop. Code § 24.011, as added by SB-38) allows a 0-day notice period. Uncontested cases typically resolve in 21 to 30 days; contested cases can run 45 to 90 days.

Understanding the full Texas eviction costs picture is important before any filing: court filing fees range from $54 to $125, sheriff lockout fees run $50 to $175, and attorney fees commonly range from $500 to $3,500. Texas imposes no just-cause requirement for non-renewal, and state law preempts any local rent-control ordinance under TX Local Gov Code § 214.902, so investors considering Wise County are also protected against the kind of local rent-cap exposure seen in other states. A thorough read of Texas security deposit limits and Texas tenant protections rounds out the compliance picture before signing leases.

With a county poverty rate of 8% and renters comprising roughly one in four households, the risk profile across Wise County's 12 cities is driven more by localized market factors than by broad economic distress; the city grid above shows where the 2 to 2.2 range actually lands, city by city.