Gogebic County, Michigan Eviction Risk: Low

Gogebic County sits at the western tip of Michigan eviction laws's Upper Peninsula, a remote, sparsely populated corner of the state where the rental market looks very different from Detroit eviction risk or Grand Rapids eviction risk. With a total population of 9,270 spread across seven tracked cities, the county scores 3.1/10 on the Eviction Risk Map - a Low risk designation that nonetheless places it 26th of 83 Michigan counties, meaning 25 counties across the state carry higher eviction pressure. That ranking puts Gogebic in the higher-risk third of Michigan, a nuance worth flagging for landlords who might assume the Upper Peninsula is uniformly calm.

The numbers behind that score reflect real financial stress. Average rent runs $608/month, but average rent burden sits at 27.2% of household income - a figure that exceeds the standard 25% affordability threshold used by housing researchers. With an average poverty rate of 15.6% and only 24.6% of residents renting (well below the statewide norm), the renter pool here skews toward lower-income households who have less cushion against a job loss, medical bill, or winter heating cost spike. Ironwood, the county seat and largest city with 4,997 residents, scores the highest in the county at 3.4/10 - a reflection of its denser rental stock and higher concentration of cost-burdened tenants. Bessemer (pop. 1,733) and Marenisco (pop. 223) each score 3/10, while Wakefield (pop. 1,683) comes in at 2.8/10. The lowest-risk communities are Watersmeet at 2.4/10 and Ramsay at 2.5/10, both very small rural communities where formal rental activity is minimal.

Michigan state law governs the eviction process here without any local overlay - Gogebic County has no rent control ordinance, and Michigan's preemption statute bars local governments from enacting rent control, so what you see at the state level is what applies county-wide. Under MCL § 554.601 et seq., landlords must serve a 7-day notice for nonpayment of rent (MCL 600.5714) before filing in court, or a 30-day notice for lease violations and no-cause month-to-month terminations (MCL 554.134). Court filing fees range from $45 to $150, with sheriff lockout fees adding another $50 to $150. An uncontested eviction typically resolves in 21 to 45 days; a contested case can stretch 45 to 120 days. Attorney fees, when engaged, typically run $500 to $2,500. Tenants retain habitability rights under MCL § 554.139, and retaliation protections are codified at MCL § 600.5720. Source of income is not a protected class under Michigan law, which gives landlords flexibility in applicant screening. Fair housing complaints route through the Michigan Department of Civil Rights.

Scores across Gogebic County's 7 tracked cities range from 2.4/10 (Watersmeet) to 3.4/10 (Ironwood), a relatively tight band that reflects the county's uniformly rural, low-density character - though Ironwood's larger rental market and higher poverty concentration pull that upper end notably above the county average.