Dickinson County, Michigan Eviction Risk: Low

Dickinson County scores 2.9/10 (Low) on eviction risk, placing it at rank 69 of 83 Michigan eviction laws counties, where rank 1 is the highest-risk county. That position means 68 counties in the state carry more risk for landlords than Dickinson County does, and only 14 are less risky, putting this county comfortably in the lower-risk third of Michigan. For landlords operating across the county's 4 cities, that translates to a market where tenant payment stress and legal friction are real but not severe. Average rent sits at $827 per month against an average rent burden of 30% of income, and roughly 26% of residents rent rather than own, so the tenant pool is relatively modest in size.

Scores across the county range from 2.7 to 3, a gap narrow enough to suggest consistent operating conditions rather than dramatic neighborhood-to-neighborhood swings. Still, where you place a rental unit within Dickinson County matters, and the city-level figures below capture those differences clearly.

The cities inside Dickinson County

Iron Mountain is the county seat and its largest city at a population of 7,518, and it also carries the highest eviction-risk score: 4.2/10. That score sits at the top of the county range and aligns with what you would expect from a city that anchors the local rental market, where a higher concentration of renters and slightly tighter household budgets push the risk index upward. Investors evaluating Iron Mountain should underwrite for occasional contested matters and build in the timeline cushion discussed in the statute section below.

Kingsford, with a population of 5,124, scores 3/10, the lowest in the county and a meaningful step down from Iron Mountain. Norway scores 2.9/10 at a population of 2,833, placing it at the county average, while Quinnesec scores 2.7/10 with a population of 892. The practical takeaway is that risk is hyper-local even within a small county: a landlord operating in Kingsford faces materially different conditions than one across the river in Iron Mountain, despite the two cities sitting adjacent to each other.

State-level laws that apply here

Michigan eviction laws state law governs every landlord-tenant relationship in Dickinson County under MCL § 554.601 et seq. The required notice period before filing depends on the ground: nonpayment of rent triggers a 7-day notice under MCL 600.5714, while a material lease violation or a no-cause month-to-month termination each require 30 days under MCL 554.134. A serious or repeat health and safety hazard also calls for a 7-day notice. Once filed, an uncontested case typically resolves in 21 to 45 days; a contested matter can run 45 to 120 days. Court filing fees range from $45 to $150, sheriff lockout fees from $50 to $150, and attorney fees from $500 to $2,500 when counsel is retained. Understanding the full Michigan eviction laws eviction process before acquiring property here lets investors set realistic hold-period assumptions. Michigan eviction laws has no statewide rent control and state law preempts any local attempt to impose it, so landlords face no cap on rent adjustments between tenancies. Just cause is not required to end a month-to-month tenancy. A review of Michigan eviction costs alongside those filing and attorney fee ranges is a useful exercise before budgeting for a worst-case scenario.

With an average poverty rate of 11.9% and a renter share of 26% across the county's roughly 16,367 residents, Dickinson County's risk profile is shaped by a relatively small but economically exposed tenant base; the city grid above breaks that exposure down at the city level so you can compare Iron Mountain, Kingsford, Norway, and Quinnesec side by side.