Marquette County, Wisconsin Eviction Risk: Low

Marquette County sits in central Wisconsin eviction laws along the upper Fox River corridor, a rural county of roughly 4,810 residents where the rental market is shaped by modest incomes, seasonal lake-country demand, and the absence of any municipal tenant-protection layers beyond what state law provides. The county's overall eviction risk score is 3.7/10 (Low), placing it 39th of 72 Wisconsin counties - squarely in the middle tier of the state, with 38 counties carrying higher risk and 33 carrying lower risk. Scores within Marquette's eight tracked communities span from 3.2 to 3.9/10, a narrow band that reflects how uniformly state law governs landlord-tenant relationships here once local variation is stripped away.

The county seat, Montello, is the most populous community at roughly 1,404 residents and scores 3.8/10. Westfield, the second-largest at around 1,231 residents, comes in at 3.9/10. At the higher end of the county range, Packwaukee - a small lakeside village of approximately 244 residents on the Montello River arm of Buffalo Lake - registers the county's peak score of 3.2/10, driven partly by tighter local vacancy conditions in a resort-adjacent rental market where demand from seasonal residents occasionally competes with year-round renters. Endeavor scores 3.4/10, while Oxford and Neshkoro each sit at 3.6/10 and 3.7/10 respectively. Briggsville comes in at 3.2/10, and Harrisville anchors the low end of the county at 3.8/10 - the most landlord-favorable reading in Marquette.

Wisconsin eviction laws's landlord-tenant framework under Wis. Stat. § 704 is the governing rulebook across all of Marquette County, and it is relatively landlord-accessible by Midwestern standards. Non-payment notices run just 5 days, cure-or-quit for lease violations is 14 days, and month-to-month tenancies require 30 days notice to end. The state preempts any local rent control, meaning no municipality in Marquette County can impose rent caps or just-cause eviction requirements - a blanket condition that keeps risk ceilings lower than in states where city councils can layer additional tenant protections on top of state law. The county's average rent of approximately $738/month and a rent burden rate of 27.6% suggest that while renters here are not dramatically cost-stressed by urban standards, the 18.5% poverty rate and thin local economy mean that a missed paycheck can push households into 5-day-notice territory quickly. With roughly 35.4% of residents renting, the tenant population is sizable relative to the county's rural character, and the absence of local legal aid infrastructure means contested proceedings - which can run 45 to 120 days under Wisconsin eviction laws's timeline - play out with little tenant-side representation in practice.

Marquette County's 3.7/10 Low score reflects a rural Wisconsin eviction laws baseline: state law sets the ceiling for tenant protections, no local ordinances push risk higher, and the modest rental market - averaging $738/month with a 27.6% rent burden - keeps eviction pressure from reaching the levels seen in Wisconsin eviction laws's urban corridors. The narrow score spread from 3.2 to 3.9 across all eight communities confirms that no single municipality deviates sharply from the county average.