Miller County, Georgia Eviction Risk: Low

Miller County sits in the far southwest corner of Georgia with a total population of 1,923 spread across two incorporated places - Colquitt and the small community of Boykin. The county earns a Low eviction risk score of 2.8/10 on the Eviction Risk Map, but that headline number requires context: Miller ranks 17th of 159 Georgia counties in risk, placing it in the higher-risk third of the state. Sixteen counties have a more difficult landlord environment; the remaining 142 are more landlord-friendly. Landlords operating here should treat that ranking seriously even while the absolute score remains low.

The underlying economics tell a harder story than the score alone suggests. Average rent runs $699 per month, and renters here put roughly 44.9% of their income toward housing costs - a burden level well above the 30% threshold that housing researchers treat as a danger zone. The poverty rate of 41.2% is among the most severe in Georgia, and renters make up 51% of occupied housing units. That combination - majority-renter, high poverty, and deep rent burden - means that a single job loss or medical bill can tip a household into arrears quickly. Landlords in Miller County tend to see shorter runways between a missed payment and a formal notice filing than in wealthier markets, even though the legal process itself is governed by the same statewide rules that keep Georgia's framework relatively landlord-friendly.

Colquitt, with a population of 1,898, is the county seat and carries the county's average risk score of 2.8/10. Boykin, with just 25 residents, scores 1.7/10, the lowest figure recorded anywhere in the county. Georgia law under O.C.G.A. § 44-7 (Landlord and Tenant) sets the procedural floor for all landlords in the county. Nonpayment of rent and material lease violations each require only a 3-day notice per O.C.G.A. § 44-7-50 before a dispossessory filing may proceed, while holdover or no-cause terminations require a 60-day notice under O.C.G.A. § 44-7-7. Court filing fees run $60 to $250, sheriff lockout fees add $25 to $100, and attorney costs can range from $500 to $3,000 depending on whether the case is contested. Uncontested proceedings typically resolve in 14 to 30 days; contested matters stretch to 45 to 90 days. Georgia also preempts local rent control statewide under O.C.G.A. § 44-7-19, so no municipality in Miller County can impose a rent cap, and no just-cause eviction requirement exists at the state level.

Miller County's rental market is dominated by a single city - Colquitt accounts for nearly the entire county population - so county-level averages and city-level figures move together closely; shifts in Colquitt's economic conditions will drive most measurable changes in the county's risk profile.