Sauk County, Wisconsin Eviction Risk: Low

Sauk County, Wisconsin scores 2.9/10 (Low risk), placing it 27th out of 72 Wisconsin eviction laws counties, meaning 26 counties carry higher eviction risk and 45 are more landlord-friendly. That middle-third positioning reflects a county where operating conditions are generally workable: average rent runs $1,026, the average rent burden sits at 26.3%, and a poverty rate of 9.5% keeps financial stress below levels seen in higher-risk markets. For landlords evaluating whether to acquire or expand here, the headline number is encouraging, but it masks meaningful variation across the county's 17 incorporated places.

The intra-county score range runs from 2.7 to 4.3, a spread of 1.6 points that translates directly into different tenant-pool stability, collection risk, and turnover patterns depending on which city you operate in. Investors who treat Sauk County as a uniform market will underprice risk in the higher-scoring corridors while potentially passing on attractive opportunities in the lower-scoring ones.

The cities inside Sauk County

Reedsburg sits at the top of the county risk table with a score of 4.3/10. At a population of 10,168, it is the second-largest city in the county and the only one to breach the 4.0 threshold, making it a materially different operating environment from the county average. Wisconsin Dells follows at 3.9/10 (population 2,547), a tourism-heavy market where seasonal income volatility among renters can translate into uneven payment patterns. Baraboo, the county seat and largest city at 12,769 residents, scores 3.6/10, roughly in line with the county average and consistent with a stable, small-city rental market.

On the lower end, Sauk City (3.2/10) and Prairie du Sac (3.3/10) represent the most landlord-friendly conditions in the county, with scores nearly a full point below Reedsburg. Lake Delton, West Baraboo, and Spring Green each score 3.4/10. The range makes clear that risk in Sauk County is hyper-local: a landlord holding units in Reedsburg and Sauk City simultaneously is effectively operating in two distinct risk environments under one county umbrella.

State-level laws that apply here

Every landlord in Sauk County operates under Wisconsin state law, specifically Wis. Stat. § 704 (Landlord and Tenant). For nonpayment of rent, the required notice period is 5 days. Lease violations that allow the tenant an opportunity to cure carry a 14-day notice, while a no-cause or end-of-term termination requires 30 days. Once a case is filed, uncontested proceedings typically resolve in 21 to 45 days; contested cases can stretch to 45 to 120 days. The Wisconsin eviction process is one of the more streamlined in the Midwest, but contested matters still demand budgeting for time and legal fees. Court filing fees run $95 to $175, sheriff lockout fees add $50 to $150, and attorney fees range from $500 to $3,000 depending on case complexity, figures detailed in the Wisconsin eviction costs guide. Wisconsin also preempts local rent control ordinances and does not require just cause for non-renewal, both landlord-favorable provisions that limit regulatory exposure across all 17 cities in the county.

With an average renter share of 36.4% and a poverty rate of 9.5%, Sauk County's rental base skews toward cost-sensitive households, underscoring why city-level scores, shown in the grid above, matter more than the county average alone when underwriting individual acquisitions.