Hot Springs County, Wyoming Eviction Risk: Low

Hot Springs County sits in north-central Wyoming along the Bighorn Basin, covering roughly 2,012 square miles with a total renter population that skews small even by Wyoming standards. The county's overall eviction risk comes in at 2.5/10 (Low) -- placing it 15th out of 23 Wyoming counties, squarely in the middle range. That ranking means 14 counties carry higher risk than Hot Springs and 8 come in lower, putting this county in genuinely moderate territory rather than at either extreme. Across the five incorporated places tracked here, individual scores range from 2.2 to 3.2/10, a spread that reflects real variation in local rental market stress despite the county's small size.

The county seat and population center is Thermopolis eviction risk, with 2,709 residents and an eviction risk score of 2.6/10. As the commercial and judicial hub for the county, Thermopolis eviction risk concentrates the majority of the county's approximately 3,532 total residents and its rental housing stock. Average rent runs $845 per month, and 29.3% of households are renters -- a renter share meaningfully lower than the Wyoming average, which reflects the county's rural, owner-occupied character. Rent burden sits at 30.1%, indicating that a meaningful share of renters spend roughly 30 cents of every dollar earned on housing -- a figure that tracks with the county's 13.2% poverty rate and suggests a tenant population with limited financial cushion when disputes arise.

Lucerne, the second-largest community, comes in at 2.2/10 -- the lowest score in the county and a reflection of its quiet, largely residential character with 567 residents. East Thermopolis, directly across the Bighorn River from the county seat, scores 2.5/10 with 192 residents. The highest-risk places in Hot Springs County are smaller communities: Kirby reaches 3.2/10 -- the county's peak score -- despite a population of just 60 people, and Owl Creek scores 2.8/10. These smaller communities often have thinner local support infrastructure for both landlords and tenants navigating disputes, which contributes to their elevated readings relative to Thermopolis. Wyoming's landlord-tenant framework under Wyo. Stat. § 1-21-1201 et seq. applies uniformly statewide, so the score differences across these places reflect local economic and demographic conditions rather than differing legal rules. Landlords must issue a 3-day notice for nonpayment of rent or lease violations and a 30-day notice for no-cause terminations. Court filing fees run $85 to $175, and uncontested cases typically resolve in 21 to 45 days -- among the faster timelines in the Mountain West.

Hot Springs County's Low risk score of 2.5/10 reflects Wyoming eviction laws's landlord-friendly statutory framework -- no rent control, no just-cause eviction requirement, and a state preemption law barring any municipality from enacting local rent caps. The county's relatively low renter share (29.3%) and small rental market limit the absolute volume of disputes, but its 30.1% rent burden and 13.2% poverty rate mean the tenants who do rent here face meaningful financial pressure. Court costs between $85 and $175 and sheriff lockout fees of $40 to $150 keep Wyoming's procedural costs lower than most states, which factors into the overall risk profile.