Iron County, Utah Eviction Risk: Very Low
11 incorporated cities and unincorporated areas. The county Eviction Risk Score is held aloft by the city of Cedar City (2.5) and a small number of dense urban cores. Rent-control coverage varies by city.
Ranked #6 of 29 UT counties
51k residents · 11 cities · 12 tracts
Iron County eviction risk score history
Key metrics
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Tenant beats landlord16.6%/ 100 outcomesIn court-decided eviction outcomes for Iron County, UT, tenants prevail in roughly 16.6% of contested cases. A higher number means landlords face stronger tenant defenses and longer calendars.
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Timeline24dfiling → judgmentFrom the moment an unlawful-detainer notice is filed in Iron County, UT until a money judgment is entered, a contested eviction takes about 24 days on average. Longer timelines mean more lost rent for landlords.
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Cost range$0.8–2.6klegal + lost rentA typical eviction in Iron County, UT costs landlords $843 to $2,557 all-in, covering court filing fees, process-server costs, attorney time, and lost rent.
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Average rent$1,07132% stretched on rentAverage gross rent in Iron County, UT is $1,071 per month per the U.S. Census American Community Survey. 32% of renter households here spend more than 30% of pre-tax income on rent.
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Renters36.6%of households36.6% of occupied housing units in Iron County, UT are renter-occupied. A higher renter share usually correlates with more eviction filings and a more active rental market.
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Poverty14.1%4.5% unemp.14.1% of Iron County, UT residents live below the federal poverty line, and unemployment runs at 4.5%. Both feed the economic-stress sub-score in our Eviction Risk Score model.
Scrub 50 years
Iron County averages 1.3/10 across its 11 cities, ranging from a low of 1.1/10 to a high of 2.5/10 in Paragonah, the county's highest-risk city. Ranked 28th of 29 Utah counties by eviction risk, placing Iron County among the least risky markets in the state.
How Iron County ranks in Utah
Landlord guides for Utah
| City↕ | Population↕ | Risk↕ | % income on rent↕ | Average rent↕ | Lean↕ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 001 | Cedar City | 38,524 | 2.2 | 31.4% | $1,054 | Rep |
| 002 | Enoch | 8,144 | 2.1 | 32.8% | $1,164 | Rep |
| 003 | Parowan | 3,165 | 2.5 | 32.2% | $1,013 | Rep |
| 004 | Paragonah | 647 | 1.9 | 25.8% | $1,086 | Rep |
| 005 | Newcastle | 367 | 1.6 | 32.3% | $1,120 | Rep |
| 006 | Kanarraville | 257 | 1.8 | 32.3% | $1,120 | Rep |
| 007 | Beryl Junction | 161 | 2.1 | 32.3% | $1,120 | Rep |
| 008 | Summit | 104 | 1.8 | 32.3% | $1,120 | Rep |
| 009 | Brian Head | 74 | 1.8 | 32.3% | $1,120 | Rep |
| 010 | Cedar Highlands | 27 | 1.6 | 32.3% | $1,120 | Rep |
| 011 | Modena | 15 | 2.1 | 32.3% | $1,120 | Rep |
County heatmap
One county, multiple regulatory regimes.
Iron County scores an average of 2.2/10 (Low) across its 11 cities, placing it 28th out of 29 Utah eviction laws counties ranked by eviction risk, meaning 27 counties in the state carry more risk than Iron County does. For landlords and investors, that ranking translates to a market where tenant-mix stability and low eviction pressure define everyday operations. Average rent runs $1,071 per month, and with a rent burden of 31.6% of income, the tenant base is stretched but not unusually so by Utah eviction laws standards.
That said, the countywide average masks meaningful variation. Individual city scores span 1.1 to 2.5, a spread that matters when selecting a specific submarket. Investors treating all of Iron County as a single risk tier leave due diligence on the table.
The cities inside Iron County
The two highest-risk cities are small ones. Paragonah (population 647) leads the county at 2.5/10, followed closely by Kanarraville (population 257) at 2.4/10. These are rural communities where landlord-tenant disputes can surface in thin rental markets with limited comparables and fewer professional tenants. Parowan (population 3,165) sits at 1.7/10, the next step down, still elevated relative to the county average.
At the other end of the spectrum, Newcastle scores the lowest in Iron County at 1.1/10. Cedar City, the county seat and by far the largest city at 38,524 residents, scores 1.2/10, making it both the economic anchor of the county and one of its most landlord-favorable operating environments. Enoch (population 8,144) comes in at 1.6/10, a moderate score that reflects its position as a fast-growing suburb adjacent to Cedar City. Risk is hyper-local here: a Paragonah rental and a Cedar City rental are a short drive apart but represent materially different risk profiles.
State-level laws that apply here
All Iron County landlords operate under Utah eviction laws state law, which is broadly landlord-friendly. For nonpayment of rent or a curable lease violation, the required notice period is just 3 days. A no-cause termination at the end of a lease term requires 30 days notice. Utah eviction laws does not require just cause for eviction and state law preempts any local rent control ordinances, so no city in Iron County can impose rent caps. The Utah eviction laws eviction process runs roughly 21 to 45 days for uncontested cases and 45 to 120 days when a tenant contests. Understanding the Utah eviction costs before filing is equally important: court filing fees range from $360 to $460, sheriff lockout fees from $50 to $175, and attorney fees from $750 to $3,500 depending on case complexity. Landlords should also be aware that Utah requires 24 hours notice before entering an occupied unit.
Statewide guides on Utah security deposit limits and Utah tenant protections apply uniformly across every city and township in the county, regardless of local population or rental market size.
With a countywide poverty rate of 14.1% and renters making up 36.6% of households, Iron County's fundamentals sit in a moderate range, and the city-level grid above shows exactly where within that range each submarket falls.
Eviction filings in Iron County
In September 2025, 6 eviction filings were recorded in Iron County, 85.7% of the historical average (near average).1
- 6Sep 2025
- 85.7%of historical avg
- 6,403Renter households
- 13.6%Poverty rate
Historical eviction filings in Iron County
From 2004 to 2018, eviction filings in Iron County increased 3%. The peak was 99 filings in 2011.2
- 582004
- 99Peak (2011)
- 602018
Data covers 2000–2018, the full span of the Princeton Eviction Lab's national county court-records dataset.
How Iron County compares
Iron County scores 1.3/10 (Low risk) and ranks 28th of 29 Utah eviction laws counties by eviction risk, where rank 1 represents the highest-risk county. That places Iron County among the most landlord-friendly markets in the state, with only 1 county scoring lower. Among peer rural counties, Iron County outperforms Morgan County (1.38/10), Washington County (1.6/10), Sevier County (1.64/10), Sanpete County (1.74/10), Box Elder County (1.89/10), and Sanpete County (1.74/10).
The intra-county spread from 1.1/10 (Newcastle) to 2.5/10 (Paragonah) is relatively contained, meaning even the county's riskiest submarkets stay well within the Low tier, giving investors predictable conditions across all 11 cities.