Vernon County, Wisconsin Eviction Risk: Low

Vernon County sits in the Driftless Area of southwestern Wisconsin, a region of steep coulees and small agricultural communities that collectively house just under 11,000 renters. The county carries an eviction-risk score of 2.9/10 (Low), placing it 30th of 72 Wisconsin counties by risk to tenants -- a position squarely in the middle of the state. That ranking means 29 counties present a more difficult landscape for renters and 42 are more landlord-friendly. Within Vernon County, individual city scores range from as low as 2.5 to as high as 3.2/10, a spread that reflects real differences in rental-market pressure across an otherwise rural and lightly-regulated county.

Viroqua, the county seat and by far the largest rental market, scores 2.8/10 and is home to roughly 4,471 residents. Westby, the second-largest community, comes in at 2.8/10 with about 2,432 residents. These two communities account for the majority of the county's renter population and generally land near the lower end of the county's risk spread. The highest-risk communities are Hillsboro at 3.2/10 and Readstown at 3.2/10 -- both small but meaningful data points for anyone evaluating risk across the county's geography. La Farge, with a score of 3.1/10, sits between those two clusters. Stoddard scores 3/10, Coon Valley 2.9/10, and the small village of Melvina comes in at 2.5/10 -- the lowest in the county. This range signals that while Vernon County as a whole is a Low-risk jurisdiction, tenants and landlords in Hillsboro and Readstown operate in a noticeably tighter environment than those in Viroqua or Melvina.

From a financial standpoint, the average asking rent across Vernon County is $842 per month, and the average renter household spends about 21.7% of income on rent -- well below the 30% threshold commonly used to define cost burden. Roughly 30% of occupied housing units in the county are renter-occupied, and the poverty rate sits at 11.8%. These numbers collectively help explain the Low risk designation: rents are modest, cost pressure is below the statewide average, and the regulatory environment under Wisconsin's landlord-tenant statute (Wis. Stat. § 704) gives landlords relatively straightforward notice and eviction procedures with no local rent-control overlay. The state preempts local jurisdictions from enacting rent control, so no Vernon County municipality has or can impose a cap on rent increases, and Wisconsin does not require just cause for non-renewal of a tenancy. For landlords, that combination of modest rents, below-average cost burden, and a streamlined legal framework makes Vernon County one of the more accessible rural markets in the state.

Vernon County's Low risk profile is driven by a combination of low rent burden (21.7%), a modest poverty rate (11.8%), and Wisconsin eviction laws's landlord-friendly statutory framework under Wis. Stat. § 704 -- which requires only a 5-day notice for nonpayment, does not mandate just cause for lease non-renewal, and expressly preempts local rent-control ordinances. The county's relatively thin rental stock (30% renter-occupied) and small city populations keep competitive pressure and policy risk both low.