Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin Eviction Risk: Low

Fond du Lac County registers a county-wide average eviction-risk score of 2.9/10 (Low) across its 14 incorporated places, placing it 12th of 72 Wisconsin eviction laws counties, meaning 11 counties carry more risk and 60 are more landlord-friendly. That ranking puts Fond du Lac County in the higher-risk third of the state, so while the Low label is accurate in absolute terms, landlords should not read it as a blanket green light. Average rent sits at $914, rent burden averages 27.1% of income, and about 37.9% of households are renters, giving the county a meaningful renter base with some financial strain built in.

The intra-county spread from 2.4 to 4.4 is the detail that most directly affects operating decisions. A landlord buying in the county's quieter rural corners faces materially different conditions than one acquiring units in the urban core. That range of two full points on a 10-point scale means underwriting risk by county average alone will produce errors. Site selection matters more than the headline number.

The cities inside Fond du Lac County

North Fond du Lac carries the county's highest score at 4.4/10, putting it at the top of the local risk ladder despite a population of just 5,392. The city of Fond du Lac, the county seat with a population of 44,494, follows at 4.2/10. Together these two municipalities concentrate most of the county's rental inventory and most of its elevated risk. Investors evaluating either market should run city-level due diligence rather than relying on the county composite.

At the other end of the spectrum, Ripon scores 3/10 with a population of 7,772, and Campbellsport, St. Peter, and Brandon each score 3.2/10. Theresa and Oakfield come in at 3.5/10. The takeaway is that risk in Fond du Lac County is hyper-local: the gap between North Fond du Lac at 4.4 and Ripon at 3.0 is large enough to be the difference between a manageable and a challenging operating environment.

State-level laws that apply here

Wisconsin state law governs every tenancy in the county under Wis. Stat. § 704 (Landlord and Tenant). For non-payment, landlords may serve a 5-day notice; lease violations allow a 14-day cure notice; month-to-month or end-of-term terminations require 30 days. Uncontested cases resolve in 21 to 45 days, while contested proceedings can run 45 to 120 days. Landlords considering how these timelines compound with out-of-pocket expense should review the Wisconsin eviction costs guide for a full breakdown: court filing fees run $95 to $175, sheriff lockout fees $50 to $150, and attorney fees $500 to $3,000, depending on case complexity.

Wisconsin eviction laws state law does not require just cause for non-renewal, and the state preempts local rent-control ordinances, so no Fond du Lac County municipality can impose rent caps. Those protections make the statutory framework comparatively landlord-friendly once you understand the Wisconsin eviction laws eviction process from notice through lockout. Entry notice is required at 12 hours under Wis. Stat. § 704 (Landlord and Tenant), and retaliation protections for tenants are codified at Wis. Stat. § 704.45.

With a poverty rate of 11.7% and renters making up 37.9% of households, Fond du Lac County presents a mixed but manageable picture; the city-level grid above shows exactly which of the 14 markets carry the most concentrated risk.