Juneau County, Wisconsin Eviction Risk: Low

Juneau County sits in the heart of Wisconsin's central sand-plain region, covering roughly 800 square miles of cranberry marshes, state forest, and small river towns along the Lemonweir and Yellow rivers. Its rental market is compact -- about 36% of the county's approximately 11,982 residents rent their homes -- but the economics of that market are tight. Average gross rent runs around $847 per month, and renters collectively carry an average rent burden of 25.2%, with an average poverty rate of 18.8% across the county's communities. Those underlying pressures shape eviction dynamics even in a legal environment that is structurally landlord-friendly. Juneau County's overall eviction risk score is 3.8/10 (Low), placing it at 19th of 72 Wisconsin counties, firmly in the higher-risk of the state. That means 18 Wisconsin counties carry higher eviction risk than Juneau, while 53 are lower.

Within the county, risk is not spread evenly across its 9 tracked cities. Scores range from a low of 3.2/10 to a high of 4/10 -- a spread that reflects real differences in local rental housing stock, income levels, and the share of residents in cost-burdened households. The county seat of Mauston, with 4,248 residents, is the largest rental market in the county and scores 4/10. New Lisbon (population 2,562), the second-largest city, posts the county's highest risk at 4/10 -- a figure driven in part by its higher concentration of lower-income renter households relative to its size. Elroy (1,522 residents) comes in at 3.4/10, the most landlord-favorable reading among the county's notable cities. Necedah scores 4/10, Camp Douglas 3.7/10, Lyndon Station 3.8/10, Wonewoc 3.4/10, and Union Center, the county's smallest tracked community at 215 residents, sits at 3.2/10 -- the lowest in the county. New Lisbon, Necedah, and Lyndon Station all tie at the county's ceiling score of 4/10, signaling that in those smaller communities, the combination of poverty exposure and limited rental-housing alternatives creates the most friction between landlords and tenants.

Wisconsin's statewide legal framework under Wis. Stat. § 704 governs landlord-tenant relationships across all of Juneau County's cities uniformly -- there is no local rent control ordinance and the state expressly preempts municipalities from enacting one. Non-payment of rent triggers a 5-day notice before a landlord can proceed to court; a lease violation requires a 14-day cure notice; and no-cause terminations for month-to-month tenants require 30 days. Court filing fees in Wisconsin range from $95 to $175 for an eviction action, and sheriff lockout fees run $50 to $150. For landlords, uncontested cases typically resolve in 21 to 45 days; contested matters can extend to 120 days. That procedural timeline -- combined with the relatively low rent base and tenant financial fragility in much of the county -- means even a single missed rent cycle can quickly escalate to formal proceedings in communities like New Lisbon and Necedah.

Juneau County's 3.8/10 average reflects a rural Wisconsin county where the legal process is streamlined for landlords under Wis. Stat. § 704, but where high poverty rates (18.8% average) and modest incomes keep tenant financial stability thin. The county's 36% renter share and $847 average rent point to a small but economically vulnerable rental base, and the 25.2% average rent burden confirms that many renter households are already operating near the edge before any disruption occurs.