Franklin County, Vermont Eviction Risk: Moderate

Franklin County scores 4.8/10 (Moderate) across its 9 tracked cities, placing it 4th of 14 Vermont eviction laws counties by eviction risk, meaning only 3 counties statewide carry higher risk and 10 are more landlord-friendly. For investors sizing up this corner of Vermont eviction laws, that ranking signals a market operating in the higher-risk third of the state, not a crisis zone, but one where tenant-protection statutes and local economic pressures deserve serious weight before deploying capital.

City-level scores range from 4.8 to 5.5, a 0.7-point spread that reflects genuine variation in renter demographics and economic conditions within the county. The average rent across tracked cities sits at $1,117 per month, while the average rent burden lands at 30.9% of income, a figure that keeps late-payment risk elevated when local wages soften. Landlords running multi-unit portfolios here should model those pressure points before setting vacancy targets.

The cities inside Franklin County

The highest-risk locations in the county are Fairfax and Cambridge, both scoring 5.5/10, followed closely by Swanton (population 2,670, score 5.3) and Richford (population 1,573, score 5.3). Enosburg Falls comes in at 5.2. These communities share characteristics common to smaller Vermont eviction laws towns, including higher renter shares and tighter household budgets, that translate directly into elevated eviction-risk readings.

On the lower end, Highgate Center scores 4.8/10 and Bakersfield scores 4.9/10, making them the most landlord-favorable markets in the county. St. Albans, the county seat and by far the largest city at a population of 6,954, scores 5.1/10, sitting closer to the moderate middle. The takeaway is that risk in Franklin County is genuinely hyper-local: a few miles and a town line can shift your operating environment by half a point or more.

State-level laws that apply here

Every landlord in Franklin County operates under Vermont eviction laws state law, specifically 9 V.S.A. § 4451 et seq. (Residential Rental Agreements). For nonpayment of rent, the required notice period is 14 days. Lease violations and no-cause (end-of-term) terminations both require 30 days of notice. Vermont eviction laws is a just-cause eviction state, meaning landlords generally must have a legally recognized reason to end a tenancy, which limits flexibility compared to states without that requirement. There is no statewide rent cap, but the state does not preempt local rent-control ordinances either, so local rules could apply in specific jurisdictions.

Understanding the Vermont eviction laws eviction process is essential before purchasing rental property here. An uncontested case typically resolves in 30 to 60 days; a contested case can run 60 to 150 days. Court filing fees range from $295 to $340, sheriff lockout fees add $60 to $150, and attorney fees, which are often unavoidable in contested matters, range from $750 to $3,000. Vermont eviction costs therefore can reach into the low thousands even on a relatively straightforward case. Vermont security deposit limits and Vermont tenant protections, including source-of-income protections enforced by the Vermont eviction laws Human Rights Commission, add further compliance obligations that landlords must factor into their operating budgets.

With an average poverty rate of 19.5% and an average renter share of 42.4% across tracked cities, Franklin County carries meaningful tenant-side financial fragility, making the city-by-city risk scores above a practical starting point for due diligence before acquiring or managing rental property here.