Buffalo County, Wisconsin Eviction Risk: Low
8 incorporated cities and unincorporated areas. The county Eviction Risk Score is held aloft by the city of Mondovi (4) and a small number of dense urban cores. Rent-control coverage varies by city.
Ranked #47 of 72 WI counties
7k residents · 8 cities · 5 tracts
Buffalo County eviction risk score history
Key metrics
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Tenant beats landlord25.1%/ 100 outcomesIn court-decided eviction outcomes for Buffalo County, WI, tenants prevail in roughly 25.1% of contested cases. A higher number means landlords face stronger tenant defenses and longer calendars.
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Timeline47dfiling → judgmentFrom the moment an unlawful-detainer notice is filed in Buffalo County, WI until a money judgment is entered, a contested eviction takes about 47 days on average. Longer timelines mean more lost rent for landlords.
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Cost range$1.9–5.4klegal + lost rentA typical eviction in Buffalo County, WI costs landlords $1,875 to $5,407 all-in, covering court filing fees, process-server costs, attorney time, and lost rent.
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Average rent$81928% stretched on rentAverage gross rent in Buffalo County, WI is $819 per month per the U.S. Census American Community Survey. 28% of renter households here spend more than 30% of pre-tax income on rent.
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Renters34.1%of households34.1% of occupied housing units in Buffalo County, WI are renter-occupied. A higher renter share usually correlates with more eviction filings and a more active rental market.
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Poverty11.6%2.2% unemp.11.6% of Buffalo County, WI residents live below the federal poverty line, and unemployment runs at 2.2%. Both feed the economic-stress sub-score in our Eviction Risk Score model.
Scrub 50 years
Buffalo County's average eviction risk of 3.6/10 (Low) spans a tight 3.1-to-4 range across its 8 communities, all clustering well below the Wisconsin average of 3.9/10. Ranked 47th of 72 Wisconsin counties - 46 counties carry higher risk, 25 carry lower.
How Buffalo County ranks in Wisconsin
Landlord guides for Wisconsin
| City↕ | Population↕ | Risk↕ | % income on rent↕ | Average rent↕ | Lean↕ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 001 | Mondovi | 2,872 | 4.0 | 24.4% | $891 | Rep |
| 002 | Buffalo City | 902 | 3.2 | 48.3% | $697 | Rep |
| 003 | Fountain City | 835 | 3.2 | 22.4% | $805 | Rep |
| 004 | Alma | 788 | 3.4 | 27.0% | $725 | Rep |
| 005 | Cochrane | 516 | 3.2 | 25.2% | $731 | Rep |
| 006 | Nelson | 381 | 3.5 | 28.3% | $972 | Rep |
| 007 | Gilmanton | 148 | 3.2 | 14.0% | $675 | Rep |
| 008 | Waumandee | 81 | 3.1 | 25.7% | $774 | Rep |
County heatmap
One county, multiple regulatory regimes.
Buffalo County sits in the middle of Wisconsin eviction laws counties for eviction risk, earning a county average of 3.6/10 (Low) and ranking 47th of 72 statewide - a position that puts it well below most of the state in terms of displacement pressure on renters. With 46 Wisconsin eviction laws counties scoring higher and only 25 scoring lower, Buffalo County's rental market carries notably limited eviction activity relative to Wisconsin eviction laws as a whole, and well below the Wisconsin eviction laws average of 3.9/10.
The county's 8 incorporated communities span a narrow risk band from 3.1 to 4, signaling unusual consistency rather than the sharp local swings common in larger metro-adjacent counties. At the lower end, Waumandee 3.1/10 and Nelson 3.5/10 reflect the quiet, low-density character of the county's smallest villages. Alma 3.4/10 and Cochrane 3.2/10 sit in the middle of that range. The county seat, Mondovi, is also the most populous community at roughly 2,872 residents and scores 4/10 - consistent with the county average. Fountain City 3.2/10 is close behind. Gilmanton 3.2/10 edges slightly higher. Buffalo City 3.2/10 leads the county's risk table, though even at the top of the local range it remains a low-risk score in any statewide context.
The economic picture reinforces the low-risk finding. Average rent across Buffalo County runs $819 per month, and renters allocate an average of 27.8% of income toward rent - a burden rate that, while meaningful, falls short of the 30% threshold typically associated with acute housing stress. Roughly 34.1% of households rent rather than own, a moderate renter share for a rural Wisconsin eviction laws county. The poverty rate of 11.6% is consistent with other agricultural counties along the Mississippi River corridor. Eviction proceedings under Wisconsin eviction laws law (Wis. Stat. § 704) typically cost landlords $95 to $175 in court filing fees and require 5-day notice for non-payment, 14 days for a curable lease violation, and 30 days for a no-cause end-of-term termination. Uncontested cases resolve in 21 to 45 days; contested matters can run 45 to 120 days. Those procedural timelines, combined with the county's small renter population and limited court activity, contribute to a stable low-risk profile that has remained consistent across our research team's multi-year observation of the region.
Buffalo County's Low eviction risk rating (3.6/10, ranked 47th of 72 Wisconsin eviction laws counties) reflects a rural rental market with moderate affordability pressure - $819 average rent and 27.8% rent burden - and a landlord-tenant legal framework under Wis. Stat. § 704 that imposes standard Wisconsin eviction laws notice requirements without any local rent stabilization overlay, since state law preempts municipal rent control ordinances statewide.
Eviction filings in Wisconsin
The Princeton Eviction Lab Tracking System covers Wisconsin statewide (no county-level tracker available for Buffalo County). In the past month, 1,980 statewide filings were recorded, 0.90× the historical baseline (below baseline).
- 1,980Past month (state)
- 25,794Past 12 months
- 0.95×vs baseline (12 mo)
Eviction filings in Buffalo County
In December 2023, 1 eviction filings were recorded in Buffalo County, 100.0% of the historical average (near average).2
- 1Dec 2023
- 100.0%of historical avg
- 1,234Renter households
- 8.7%Poverty rate
Historical eviction filings in Buffalo County
From 2000 to 2017, eviction filings in Buffalo County increased 150%. The peak was 26 filings in 2015.3
- 42000
- 26Peak (2015)
- 102017
Data covers 2000–2018, the full span of the Princeton Eviction Lab's national county court-records dataset.
How Buffalo County compares
Buffalo County's 3.6/10 (Low, 47th of 72) tracks closely with a cluster of similarly rural Wisconsin counties - Adams, Price, Richland, Oneida, and Lafayette all fall in a comparable risk band. None of those peers sits dramatically above or below Buffalo County; each reflects the low-density, modest-rent dynamics common to Wisconsin eviction laws's non-metro counties. Buffalo County's score is also well below the Wisconsin eviction laws average of 3.9/10, reinforcing its standing as one of the more landlord-stable environments in the state. The narrow spread between Buffalo County's lowest-scoring community (3.1) and highest (4) further distinguishes it from peer counties that tend to show wider intra-county variation driven by a larger anchor city.