Brown County, Wisconsin Eviction Risk: Low

Brown County, Wisconsin eviction laws carries a county-average eviction-risk score of 3.5/10 (Low), but that headline figure conceals meaningful variation across its 13 cities. Despite the Low label, the county ranks 18th of 72 in Wisconsin eviction laws, placing it in the higher-risk third of the state: 17 counties are riskier, while 54 are more landlord-friendly. For investors evaluating the Green Bay metro area, this context matters. The average rent of $1,022 per month and an average rent-burden rate of 25.8% suggest tenants here are, on balance, not severely cost-strained, which tends to support more stable payment histories than in higher-burden markets.

The intra-county spread runs from 3.2 to 4.7, a gap of 1.5 points that is wide enough to shift the practical risk picture from comfortably low to noticeably elevated depending on exactly where a property sits. Landlords who treat Brown County as a monolithic market may be underpricing risk in some submarkets or overestimating it in others. Granular city-level diligence is the only reliable approach here.

The cities inside Brown County

Pulaski tops the risk list at 3.7/10, the only city in the county reaching near the mid-range nationally. Ashwaubenon (population 17,314) follows at 4/10, and Bellevue (population 16,442) registers 3.6/10. Hobart (population 10,610) sits at 3.4/10, and Denmark and Greenleaf both come in at 3.4/10. These higher-scoring cities cluster in the suburban ring around the core, a pattern worth noting when comparing opportunities across the county.

At the other end of the range, Suamico scores 3.2/10 and is among the most landlord-stable municipalities in the county. Green Bay, the county seat and by far the largest city at population 106,253, scores 3.4/10, landing on the lower end of the risk scale despite its size and renter base. De Pere (population 25,301) and Howard (population 21,087) both score 3.6/10, in line with the county average. Risk here is genuinely hyper-local: two adjacent ZIP codes can carry scores that differ by a full point.

State-level laws that apply here

Every lease in Brown County operates under Wisconsin eviction laws state law, primarily Wis. Stat. § 704 (Landlord and Tenant). For non-payment, the required notice period is 5 days. A lease-violation cure notice requires 14 days, and a no-cause end-of-term notice requires 30 days. Landlords must also provide 12 hours notice before entering a unit. Understanding the Wisconsin eviction laws eviction process from the start is essential: an uncontested case typically resolves in 21 to 45 days, while a contested case can run 45 to 120 days. Court filing fees range from $95 to $175, sheriff lockout fees run $50 to $150, and attorney fees typically add $500 to $3,000, meaning a single contested eviction can cost several thousand dollars before you recover possession.

Wisconsin eviction laws does not require just cause to end a tenancy, and state law preempts any local rent-control ordinance, so no municipality in Brown County can impose a rent cap. There is no source-of-income protection under state law. For a full breakdown of allowable deposits, required disclosures, and fee schedules, review Wisconsin security deposit limits and Wisconsin eviction costs before signing your next lease in this market. Retaliation protections for tenants are codified under Wis. Stat. § 704.45, and habitability duties under Wis. Stat. § 704.07 apply to all residential rentals.

With an average poverty rate of 10.7% and a renter share of 35.9% across the county, the risk environment is moderate but not uniform; use the city grid above to pinpoint conditions at the specific location level before committing capital.