Stafford County, Virginia Eviction Risk: Moderate

Stafford County scores 5.2/10 (Moderate) for eviction risk, placing it in the higher-risk third of Virginia eviction laws: 37 of the state's 132 counties carry more risk, and 94 are considered less risky or more landlord-friendly. For investors evaluating a Northern Virginia suburban market, that middle-of-the-pack label still deserves scrutiny. An average rent of $2,129 and a rent burden sitting at 34.5% of income suggest a tenant base that has limited financial cushion when income disruptions hit, which in practice elevates the probability of late or missed rent.

The county's renter share stands at 37.3% across a measured population of 24,805, spread over 7 distinct communities. What the county average conceals is a meaningful spread: individual city scores range from 4.4 to 5.8, a 1.4-point gap that can be the difference between a well-performing portfolio and one with chronic collection problems. The specific community you choose inside Stafford County matters more than the county headline.

The cities inside Stafford County

The highest eviction risk in Stafford County is concentrated in Southern Gateway (5.8/10, population 2,771) and Stafford Courthouse (5.6/10, population 5,839). Both sit measurably above the county average. Quantico (5.5/10) and Boswell's Corner (5.3/10) follow in the elevated tier. These four communities account for a substantial portion of the county's renter households, so landlords with holdings in any of them should underwrite with tighter vacancy and collection assumptions.

The lower end of the county's risk spectrum is held by Camp Barrett (4.4/10, population 1,681) and Aquia Harbour (4.8/10, population 7,481). Falmouth (5/10, population 5,216) lands squarely at the county midpoint. Risk is genuinely hyper-local here: a portfolio centered on Aquia Harbour or Camp Barrett operates under materially different conditions than one concentrated in Stafford Courthouse or Southern Gateway, even though all sit within the same county lines.

State-level laws that apply here

Virginia state law governs every landlord-tenant relationship in Stafford County. Under the Virginia eviction process, a landlord must serve a 5-day notice for nonpayment of rent, a 21-day cure-or-quit notice for a material lease violation, and a 30-day notice for a non-curable material breach or to end a month-to-month tenancy. Once a notice period expires and the tenant does not comply, an uncontested eviction typically resolves in 21 to 45 days; a contested case can run 45 to 120 days. Virginia requires 24 hours notice before a landlord may enter an occupied unit.

Virginia eviction costs stack up across three line items: court filing fees of $58 to $90, sheriff lockout fees of $40 to $150, and attorney fees that typically range from $500 to $3,000 depending on complexity. Virginia eviction costs are therefore not trivial even in straightforward cases. On the regulatory side, Virginia imposes no just-cause eviction requirement and has a state-level preemption that bars localities from enacting rent control, both of which are meaningful advantages for landlords operating in Stafford County. Source-of-income is not a protected class under Virginia fair housing law as reviewed through May 2026.

With a poverty rate of 12.2% and roughly 37.3% of residents renting, the financial profile of Stafford County's tenant pool sits in moderate-risk territory; the city breakdown grid above is the most reliable tool for identifying which specific communities within the county carry the most and least exposure.