Iowa County, Wisconsin Eviction Risk: Low

Iowa County, Wisconsin scores 3.5/10 (Low risk) averaged across its 12 cities, placing it at rank 55 of 72 Wisconsin eviction laws counties, meaning 54 counties carry higher eviction risk and only 17 are less risky than Iowa County. For landlords sizing up this rural southwestern Wisconsin eviction laws market, that ranking reflects a county where tenant-related stress is genuinely below the state norm. The intra-county spread runs a tight 2.7 to 3.3, so the overall calm holds fairly consistently across the county's communities.

Average rent here sits at $903 per month against an average rent burden of 25.1% of income, suggesting tenants are not financially overstretched by Wisconsin standards. With 29.1% of residents renting and a poverty rate of 8.6%, the renter population is modest in size and not under unusual economic pressure, both factors that tend to reduce eviction frequency over time.

The cities inside Iowa County

Risk is not uniform across Iowa County's 12 communities. Dodgeville, the county seat and largest city at a population of 5,042, carries the county's highest score at 4/10, tied with Hollandale and Edmund, each also at 4/10. Arena and Avoca follow at 3.2/10. These figures are still well into Low-risk territory, but landlords concentrating holdings in Dodgeville should plan around a modestly higher baseline than the county average.

At the other end of the range, Barneveld scores just 3.2/10 with a population of 1,416, making it the most landlord-friendly community in the county by this measure. Mineral Point, with 2,559 residents, sits at 3.2/10, also comfortably below the county average. The gap between the lowest-risk and highest-risk cities is only 0.6 points, which underscores that Iowa County is broadly calm, not just calm on average.

State-level laws that apply here

Wisconsin state law governs every tenancy in Iowa County through Wis. Stat. § 704 (Landlord and Tenant). For non-payment of rent, landlords must serve a 5-day notice before filing; a lease-violation cure notice requires 14 days, and a no-cause end-of-term notice requires 30 days. Wisconsin requires 12 hours advance notice before entry. The Wisconsin eviction process, once a case is filed, runs 21 to 45 days for uncontested matters and 45 to 120 days for contested ones. Court filing fees run $95 to $175, sheriff lockout fees add $50 to $150, and attorney fees for eviction work typically range $500 to $3,000, so total out-of-pocket costs can reach into the low thousands even in a straightforward case.

Wisconsin eviction costs are controlled statewide, with no local rent-control ordinances permitted: Wisconsin preempts any local rent cap, and there is no just-cause requirement for non-renewal. Wisconsin security deposit limits are set by state statute, not by county. Landlords operating here benefit from a relatively clear, landlord-accessible statutory framework compared to states with layered local regulation. Wisconsin tenant protections do exist, including retaliation protections under Wis. Stat. § 704.45 and habitability duties under Wis. Stat. § 704.07, but they do not add procedural hurdles beyond the state baseline.

With an average poverty rate of 8.6% and just under a third of residents renting, Iowa County's tenant base is relatively stable; see the city grid above for scores across all 12 communities.