Callaway County, Missouri Eviction Risk: Low

Callaway County, Missouri eviction laws carries an average eviction-risk score of 2.6/10 (Low), but that headline figure covers a meaningful spread. Across 7 cities tracked in the county, individual scores run from 1.9 to 2.9, a nearly two-point gap that signals very different operating environments depending on which address you buy. At rank 14 of 115 Missouri counties, only 13 counties statewide carry more risk, placing Callaway County firmly in the higher-risk third of Missouri despite wearing the Low label. Landlords who treat the county average as a green light without checking city-level data are reading the wrong number.

The broader fundamentals set a reasonable baseline. Average rent runs $888 per month, rent burden sits at 25.5% of income on average, and the renter share of households is 41.3%. A market where renters make up a significant share of the population and rent absorbs roughly a quarter of income creates moderate, not negligible, default pressure when household finances get squeezed. Investors underwriting deals here should build that reality into vacancy and concession assumptions.

The cities inside Callaway County

The highest-risk location in the county is Holts Summit, scoring 1.9/10 with a population of 4,609. It sits about a half-point above the county average and leads the county in eviction risk. The county seat, Fulton (population 12,617), scores 2.8/10, matching the county average exactly and accounting for the largest renter pool in the area. New Bloomfield comes in at 2.1/10, and Auxvasse at 2.7/10. These four cities, all above 3.0, are where landlords will face the most tenant-side financial pressure.

At the lower end of the range, Mokane scores 2.4/10, Kingdom City scores 2.3/10, and Holts Summit registers the lowest risk in the county at 1.9/10, though its population of just 386 means it represents a very thin rental market. The spread from 1.9 to 3.8 is a clear reminder that eviction risk is hyper-local. A portfolio assembled entirely from Tebbetts and Kingdom City looks quite different on paper from one concentrated in Holts Summit and Fulton, even though every property sits inside the same county.

State-level laws that apply here

Missouri state law under RSMo § 441 (Landlord and Tenant) governs every lease in Callaway County. For nonpayment of rent, Missouri follows a rent-and-possession action with no advance notice period required before filing under RSMo § 535.010. A material lease violation requires a 10-day notice under RSMo § 441.060, and ending a month-to-month tenancy requires 30 days. Uncontested evictions typically resolve in 21 to 45 days; contested cases can stretch to 45 to 120 days. The Missouri eviction process is among the more streamlined in the region, but contested proceedings still carry real calendar risk. For a full breakdown of what you will spend, the Missouri eviction costs guide covers court filing fees of $70 to $180, sheriff lockout fees of $40 to $150, and attorney fees typically running $500 to $3,000.

Missouri does not require just cause to terminate a tenancy, and the state preempts local rent control, so no Callaway County jurisdiction can impose rent caps above state law. Source of income is not a protected class under Missouri state law, giving landlords screening flexibility that some other states have eliminated.

With a poverty rate of 13.5% and renters making up 41.3% of households, Callaway County's risk profile is uneven enough that city-by-city scores, shown in the grid above, are the most reliable guide for location decisions.