Dodge County, Wisconsin Eviction Risk: Low

Dodge County, Wisconsin eviction laws posts a county-wide average eviction-risk score of 2.8/10 (Low), placing it 29th of 72 Wisconsin counties, meaning 28 counties carry more risk and 43 are less risky, landing Dodge County squarely in the middle third of the state. For landlords and investors, that aggregate number signals a manageable operating environment: rent burdens average 22.6% of income, poverty sits at 8.8%, and average rents run $956 per month across a renter share of 36% of residents. Conditions are not friction-free, but they are considerably more predictable than the state's urban cores.

The more important figure for site-selection is the intra-county spread. Across the county's 18 cities, risk scores range from a low of 2.5/10 to a high of 4.1/10, a gap wide enough to materially change underwriting assumptions from one jurisdiction to the next. An investor buying in the county's quietest market faces a very different profile than one acquiring in its most pressured city, and that gap is not captured by the county average alone.

The cities inside Dodge County

The county's highest-risk concentration is at the top of the population stack. Beaver Dam, the largest city at 16,565 residents, carries the peak score of 4.1/10, driven by a combination of tenant-stress indicators that make it the most landlord-challenging market in the county. Fox Lake (population 1,780) is the second-highest at 4.0/10. Below those two, Lowell scores 3.7/10, and Iron Ridge, Neosho, and Burnett each score 2.8/10, all sitting at or slightly above the county average.

The lowest-risk options are found in Mayville (3.1/10, population 5,228) and Juneau (3.2/10, population 2,625). Waupun at 3.3/10 (population 11,174) also clears well below the county ceiling. The takeaway is that risk in Dodge County is genuinely hyper-local: the same county line encloses a 1.6-point score range, so city-level due diligence is essential before committing capital.

State-level laws that apply here

Wisconsin eviction laws state law governs every landlord-tenant relationship in Dodge County under Wis. Stat. § 704 (Landlord and Tenant). For non-payment of rent, the required notice period is 5 days; lease violations carry a 14-day cure notice; and no-cause terminations at the end of a term require 30 days. Understanding the Wisconsin eviction laws eviction process matters for budgeting: an uncontested case typically resolves in 21 to 45 days, while a contested matter can run 45 to 120 days. Court filing fees range from $95 to $175, sheriff lockout fees from $50 to $150, and attorney fees commonly fall between $500 and $3,000, so total out-of-pocket costs vary widely depending on whether the tenant contests. Wisconsin eviction costs are a real factor in deal underwriting, particularly for smaller portfolios where a single contested case can erase months of cash flow.

On the regulatory side, Wisconsin eviction laws does not require just cause for non-renewal, and state law preempts local rent control ordinances, so no city in Dodge County can impose its own rent cap. Source-of-income discrimination is not a protected class under state law. Entry notice is required at 12 hours. Wisconsin security deposit limits and Wisconsin tenant protections follow the state framework with no local overlays adding complexity in this county.

With a county poverty rate of 8.8% and a renter share of 36%, Dodge County's tenant pool is relatively stable compared to higher-risk Wisconsin eviction laws markets; the city grid above breaks out individual scores for all 18 cities so investors can identify the specific submarkets that fit their risk tolerance.