Summers County, West Virginia Eviction Risk: Low

Summers County carries an average eviction-risk score of 3.5/10 (Low), placing it in the middle third of West Virginia's 55 counties. With 18 counties scoring higher and 36 scoring lower, landlords here face moderate conditions, neither the state's most contested markets nor its quietest. The county's total tracked population sits at 2,086, which means the rental pool is thin, and vacancy tolerance is limited. Average rent runs $951 per month, while the average rent burden lands at 37.9% of renter income, a figure that signals meaningful payment-stress risk for a meaningful share of tenants.

With only 1 city in the dataset and a score range of 3.5 to 3.5, there is essentially no intra-county spread to navigate. That uniformity simplifies underwriting but also confirms that conditions here track closely with the broader rural West Virginia pattern: modest rents, a relatively thin renter base, and a poverty rate of 28.8% that warrants careful tenant screening.

The cities inside Summers County

The sole tracked city is Hinton, with a risk score of 3.5/10 and a population of 2,086. As the county seat and only municipal market, Hinton represents the full picture here. Its score puts it squarely in Low territory, and the renter share of roughly 29.8% of households suggests a small but real landlord market. Operators who want to understand local dynamics in detail should review the Hinton city page directly, where granular data is broken out.

Because the county is a single-city market, risk is in one sense already hyper-local: every metric you see at the county level is essentially Hinton's metric. There is no lower-risk suburb to retreat to, and no higher-risk pocket to avoid. Underwriting discipline at the unit and tenant level matters more here than geographic diversification within the county.

State-level laws that apply here

West Virginia state law under W. Va. Code § 37-6 (Landlord and Tenant) governs every lease in Summers County. For non-payment of rent, the statute requires 0 days notice before filing, meaning landlords may proceed to court immediately on the first missed payment. Lease-violation cases require a 14-day cure notice, and end-of-tenancy no-cause terminations require 30 days. Uncontested cases typically resolve in 21 to 45 days; contested matters can stretch to 45 to 100 days. Total out-of-pocket costs, including a court filing fee of $75 to $150, a sheriff lockout fee of $30 to $125, and attorney fees of $500 to $2,500, can range from a few hundred dollars to well over two thousand depending on complexity. A clear picture of those costs is available in the West Virginia eviction costs guide. West Virginia eviction laws does not require just cause for eviction and the state preempts local rent-control ordinances, keeping the regulatory environment relatively straightforward. For a full walkthrough of the notice and filing sequence, see the West Virginia eviction process guide.

With a poverty rate of 28.8% and a renter share of 29.8%, Summers County's landlord market is small and economically stretched; the city grid above breaks out Hinton's score in detail and is the right starting point for any unit-level underwriting.