Lincoln County, Wyoming Eviction Risk: Very Low

Lincoln County, Wyoming eviction laws earns an average eviction-risk score of 2.4/10 (Low) across its 22 cities, placing it at rank 17 of 23 Wyoming counties, where rank 1 is the highest risk. That position means 16 counties in Wyoming carry more risk than Lincoln County, and only 6 sit below it on the risk scale, putting landlords here firmly in the lower-risk third of the state. With an average rent of $1,120 and a rent-burden rate of 28.6%, the tenant pool is generally stable, and the county's overall numbers suggest a workable operating environment for buy-and-hold investors.

That said, the intra-county range, 0.9 to 1.9, is wider than the low average implies. A landlord holding units in Grover at 0.9 faces a materially different risk profile than one operating in Cokeville or Afton eviction risk at 1.8 to 1.9. The aggregate score is a useful baseline, but asset-level underwriting demands a city-by-city read.

The cities inside Lincoln County

The highest-risk cities in Lincoln County are Cokeville and La Barge, each scoring 1.9/10, the ceiling in this county. Just behind them are Afton (pop. 2,908), Thayne (pop. 732), and Diamondville (pop. 665), all scoring 1.8/10. Afton is the second-largest city in the county and a common target for multifamily investors, so that 1.8 figure is worth factoring into acquisition models. Star Valley Ranch (pop. 2,007) scores 1.7/10, and Kemmerer (pop. 2,972, the county's largest city) sits at 1.6/10.

On the lower end, Grover scores 0.9/10 and Smoot scores 1.1/10, representing the most landlord-friendly operating conditions in Lincoln County. Risk is genuinely hyper-local here: a two-mile difference in location can move your score by nearly a full point, which matters when setting reserves or pricing vacancy risk.

State-level laws that apply here

Every landlord in Lincoln County operates under Wyoming state law, specifically Wyo. Stat. § 1-21-1201 et seq. (Residential Rental Property). For non-payment of rent or a lease violation subject to cure, Wyoming requires only a 3-day notice before filing. End-of-term, no-cause terminations require a 30-day notice. Those short cure windows are among the more landlord-favorable timelines in the Mountain West. Wyoming does not require just cause for eviction and has no rent-control statute; the state expressly preempts any local rent-control ordinance, so no municipality inside Lincoln County can impose rent caps. Understanding the full Wyoming eviction process, from notice through writ of restitution, helps set realistic expectations: uncontested cases typically resolve in 21 to 45 days, while contested matters can run 45 to 100 days.

On Wyoming eviction costs, landlords should budget a court filing fee of $85 to $175, a sheriff lockout fee of $40 to $150, and attorney fees of $500 to $2,500, depending on whether the case is contested. Those components are the primary direct expenses of a formal eviction proceeding under Wyoming law.

With an average poverty rate of 11% and a renter share of 30.9% across the county, the tenant base is relatively small and the economic stress indicators are modest; use the city grid above to identify which specific markets within Lincoln County best match your risk tolerance.