Trempealeau County, Wisconsin Eviction Risk: Low
12 incorporated cities and unincorporated areas. The county Eviction Risk Score is held aloft by the city of Arcadia (4) and a small number of dense urban cores. Rent-control coverage varies by city.
Ranked #35 of 72 WI counties
16k residents · 12 cities · 8 tracts
Trempealeau County eviction risk score history
Key metrics
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Tenant beats landlord25.2%/ 100 outcomesIn court-decided eviction outcomes for Trempealeau County, WI, tenants prevail in roughly 25.2% of contested cases. A higher number means landlords face stronger tenant defenses and longer calendars.
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Timeline48dfiling → judgmentFrom the moment an unlawful-detainer notice is filed in Trempealeau County, WI until a money judgment is entered, a contested eviction takes about 48 days on average. Longer timelines mean more lost rent for landlords.
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Cost range$2.0–4.9klegal + lost rentA typical eviction in Trempealeau County, WI costs landlords $2,013 to $4,949 all-in, covering court filing fees, process-server costs, attorney time, and lost rent.
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Average rent$94824% stretched on rentAverage gross rent in Trempealeau County, WI is $948 per month per the U.S. Census American Community Survey. 24% of renter households here spend more than 30% of pre-tax income on rent.
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Renters38.7%of households38.7% of occupied housing units in Trempealeau County, WI are renter-occupied. A higher renter share usually correlates with more eviction filings and a more active rental market.
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Poverty9.6%2.4% unemp.9.6% of Trempealeau County, WI residents live below the federal poverty line, and unemployment runs at 2.4%. Both feed the economic-stress sub-score in our Eviction Risk Score model.
Scrub 50 years
Trempealeau County averages 3.7/10 across its 12 cities, with scores ranging from 2.7 to 3.5, where Whitehall anchors the high end at 3.7/10. Ranked 59th of 72 Wisconsin counties by eviction risk (1 = highest risk), Trempealeau County sits in the lower-risk third of the state.
How Trempealeau County ranks in Wisconsin
Landlord guides for Wisconsin
| City↕ | Population↕ | Risk↕ | % income on rent↕ | Average rent↕ | Lean↕ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 001 | Arcadia | 3,806 | 4.0 | 18.0% | $1,096 | Rep |
| 002 | Trempealeau | 1,864 | 3.8 | 24.6% | $1,179 | Rep |
| 003 | Galesville | 1,742 | 4.0 | 28.1% | $959 | Rep |
| 004 | Osseo | 1,687 | 3.3 | 24.2% | $871 | Rep |
| 005 | Whitehall | 1,555 | 3.6 | 23.5% | $829 | Rep |
| 006 | Independence | 1,462 | 4.0 | 23.0% | $911 | Rep |
| 007 | Blair | 1,254 | 3.4 | 21.3% | $827 | Rep |
| 008 | Strum | 1,064 | 3.2 | 26.8% | $823 | Rep |
| 009 | Ettrick | 601 | 3.2 | 33.8% | $508 | Rep |
| 010 | Pigeon Falls | 368 | 4.0 | 47.0% | $844 | Rep |
| 011 | Taylor | 328 | 3.7 | 23.4% | $879 | Rep |
| 012 | Dodge | 207 | 3.2 | 51.0% | $788 | Rep |
County heatmap
One county, multiple regulatory regimes.
Trempealeau County carries an average eviction-risk score of 3.7/10 (Low) across its 12 cities, placing it at rank 59 of 72 Wisconsin counties, meaning 58 counties in the state carry higher risk and only 13 are less risky. For landlords and investors, that translates to a market where the structural pressures, tenant turnover costs, and litigation exposure that erode returns elsewhere are notably contained. Average rent runs $948, rent burden averages 24.2% of income, and a 9.6% poverty rate keeps the tenant pool predominantly stable relative to higher-risk Wisconsin eviction laws markets.
The intra-county spread, 2.7 to 3.5, is moderate but still meaningful. Even within a low-risk county, the city you choose to buy in matters. Landlords operating at the softer end of that range encounter meaningfully fewer problem tenancies than those at the top, so picking your submarket carefully within Trempealeau County is worth the due diligence.
The cities inside Trempealeau County
The county seat of Whitehall carries the highest risk score in the county at 3.6/10, with a population of 1,555. Blair follows at 3.4/10 (population 1,254), and Galesville lands at 4/10 with 1,742 residents. These three communities account for the upper end of the county range and warrant closer scrutiny of tenant screening and lease enforcement practices before committing capital.
At the favorable end, Trempealeau, Independence, and Strum each score 3.2/10, the lowest in the county. Arcadia and Osseo both come in at 3.3/10. The gap between Whitehall and Strum is 0.7 points, which is not trivial: risk is hyper-local even inside a county that already reads well on a statewide basis, so unit-level and block-level diligence remains important.
State-level laws that apply here
Under Wisconsin eviction process rules codified in Wis. Stat. § 704 (Landlord and Tenant), landlords must deliver a 5-day notice for non-payment of rent, a 14-day notice for a curable lease violation, and a 30-day notice for end-of-term or no-cause terminations. An uncontested case typically resolves in 21 to 45 days; a contested matter can stretch to 45 to 120 days. Court filing fees range from $95 to $175, sheriff lockout fees add $50 to $150, and attorney fees commonly run $500 to $3,000, making a single contested eviction a four-figure expense at a minimum.
Wisconsin eviction laws does not require just cause to terminate a tenancy, and the state preempts local rent-control ordinances, so no municipality in Trempealeau County can impose rent caps independently. Wisconsin security deposit limits are set at the state level as well, giving landlords consistent, predictable rules countywide. Landlords should note that the retaliation statute is Wis. Stat. § 704.45 and habitability obligations are governed by Wis. Stat. § 704.07, both of which have been applied strictly by Wisconsin courts. Reviewing Wisconsin eviction costs before pricing a potential eviction into your underwriting is a sound practice regardless of how low the county risk score reads.
With a renter share of 38.7% of households across the county, the landlord base here is sizable enough to support active investor activity; the city breakdown above captures where within those 12 cities the risk concentrates so you can target acquisitions accordingly.
Eviction filings in Wisconsin
The Princeton Eviction Lab Tracking System covers Wisconsin statewide (no county-level tracker available for Trempealeau County). In the past month, 1,980 statewide filings were recorded, 0.90× the historical baseline (below baseline).
- 1,980Past month (state)
- 25,794Past 12 months
- 0.95×vs baseline (12 mo)
Eviction filings in Trempealeau County
In December 2023, 1 eviction filings were recorded in Trempealeau County, 100.0% of the historical average (near average).2
- 1Dec 2023
- 100.0%of historical avg
- 3,263Renter households
- 8.5%Poverty rate
Historical eviction filings in Trempealeau County
From 2000 to 2017, eviction filings in Trempealeau County increased 109%. The peak was 55 filings in 2012.3
- 232000
- 55Peak (2012)
- 482017
Data covers 2000–2018, the full span of the Princeton Eviction Lab's national county court-records dataset.
How Trempealeau County compares
Trempealeau County scores 3.7/10 (Low risk), sitting slightly below peer counties such as Shawano County (3.7/10), Iowa County (3.7/10), Door County (3.7/10), and Vernon County (3.7/10), while coming in just above Clark County (3.7/10). All five peers cluster in the same low tier, making the differences narrow in practice.
Within Wisconsin, Trempealeau County ranks 59th of 72 counties by eviction risk, where rank 1 is the highest-risk county. That places it in the lower-risk third of the state: 58 Wisconsin counties carry more risk, and only 13 are less risky.