Crawford County, Wisconsin Eviction Risk: Low

Crawford County sits in the rugged Driftless Area of southwestern Wisconsin, a largely rural county of roughly 9,374 residents hugging the Mississippi River. Its eviction risk landscape earns a county-wide score of 3.6/10 (Low), placing it 52nd out of 72 Wisconsin counties - firmly in the lower-risk tier of the state. With 44 counties carrying higher risk scores and 27 carrying lower ones, Crawford occupies a position that reflects both its small rental market and the baseline protections embedded in Wis. Stat. § 704. The county's 29.4% renter share is modest by Wisconsin standards, and average monthly rent of $773 keeps rent burden at 23.8% - well below the 30% threshold that typically signals financial stress for renters.

Across Crawford County's 13 incorporated places, eviction risk scores range from 3.1 to 4.2 on a 10-point scale. Prairie du Chien, the county seat and by far its largest city at 5,491 residents, scores 3.6/10 - the lowest risk point in the county and a reflection of its larger, more stable rental pool relative to the smaller villages. On the other end of the spectrum, Woodman scores 4.2/10, the county's highest-risk municipality despite a population of only 224. Ferryville comes in just below at 3.2/10, and Soldiers Grove - a village better known for surviving a 1978 flood by relocating to higher ground - registers 4/10. Mid-range villages include Wauzeka at 3.4/10, Gays Mills at 3.8/10, Eastman at 3.4/10, and the county average's exact peer, Seneca, at 3.2/10. De Soto, at 3.1/10, sits at the lower end of the range alongside Prairie du Chien.

The legal framework governing all of these municipalities is Wisconsin's statewide landlord-tenant statute, Wis. Stat. § 704. Crawford County has no local rent control ordinances - Wisconsin state law preempts any such local action. Landlords initiating eviction for nonpayment must serve a 5-day notice before filing; lease violations allow a 14-day notice to cure; and no-cause terminations for month-to-month tenancies require 30 days' written notice. Once filed in Crawford County Circuit Court, an uncontested eviction typically resolves in 21 to 45 days; a contested hearing can extend to 45 to 120 days. Court filing fees run $95 to $175, with sheriff lockout fees adding another $50 to $150. Wisconsin's 12-hour entry notice requirement under Wis. Stat. § 704.05 applies countywide. The county's 14.1% poverty rate and sparse legal aid presence mean that most tenants navigate these proceedings without counsel - a factor that generally favors landlord outcomes but also keeps default-judgment timelines relatively predictable.

Crawford County's 3.6/10 average reflects a market where low rents ($773 average monthly), modest renter density (29.4% of households), and straightforward state eviction procedures combine to keep risk in the Low range. The county's score spread of 3.1 to 4.2 is narrow, driven mainly by village-level variation in vacancy, poverty concentration, and local court volume rather than any differences in the underlying statute - Wisconsin's Wis. Stat. § 704 applies uniformly across all 13 municipalities.