Florence County, Wisconsin Eviction Risk: Low

Florence County sits in the far northeast corner of Wisconsin, bordering Michigan's Upper Peninsula, with a total renter population of roughly 794 people spread across just four tracked communities. The county carries an eviction risk score of 3.2/10 (Low), placing it 5th out of 72 Wisconsin eviction laws counties - meaning 4 counties in the state carry higher risk and 67 are more landlord-friendly. That ranking puts Florence firmly in the higher-risk of Wisconsin, a notable position for such a rural and thinly settled county. Scores within the county range from 2.4 to 3.4, a relatively compressed spread that reflects how uniformly the local rental market operates under Wisconsin's baseline landlord-tenant framework, Wis. Stat. § 704.

Florence itself, the county seat and largest community with 488 residents, posts the highest local score at 3.4/10 - the only community here that edges above the county average. Goodman, with 170 residents, scores 3.1/10, sitting just below average. Dunbar (96 residents) comes in at 2.5/10, while Long Lake, the smallest tracked community at 40 residents, lands at 2.4/10 - the lowest in the county. The gap between Florence and Long Lake represents the full 2.4-to-3.4 spread, driven primarily by differences in local poverty rates and renter cost burden rather than any municipality-level tenant protection ordinances, which Wisconsin state law preempts statewide. Average rent across the county runs $590 per month, well below Wisconsin urban markets, and the average rent burden sits at 27.5% of income - meaningful for a county where 23.7% of residents live below the poverty line.

Wisconsin does not require just cause for eviction, does not cap rents at the local level (the state preempts local rent control), and does not protect source of income in housing decisions. The governing statute, Wis. Stat. § 704 (Landlord and Tenant), sets a 5-day notice for nonpayment of rent, 14 days for lease violations with a right to cure, and 30 days for no-cause termination. Landlords must give 12 hours of notice before entry. Court filing fees run $95 to $175, with an uncontested eviction typically resolving in 21 to 45 days and a contested case stretching to 45 to 120 days. Sheriff lockout fees add $50 to $150. Attorney costs for contested matters typically range from $500 to $3,000. For the county's small renter population - just 24.4% of households - these procedural timelines and costs are the primary legal protection available, with no local ordinance adding extra layers. Florence County's Low risk score reflects that structural reality: Wisconsin's statute is procedurally landlord-accessible, but the extremely rural character and very low rent levels keep absolute displacement pressure modest compared to the state's urban and suburban counties.

Florence County's 3.2/10 average masks a tight internal range of 2.4 to 3.4 - the narrowest spread among comparable rural Wisconsin eviction laws counties - reflecting a rental market where local conditions in the county's four communities differ modestly but all operate under the same statewide statutory framework without any local tenant protections layered on top.