Marion County, Missouri Eviction Risk: Very Low

Marion County, Missouri eviction laws carries an average eviction-risk score of 2.3/10 (Low), placing it in the middle third of Missouri's 115 counties, ranked 63rd out of 115. That ranking means 62 counties across the state are riskier for landlords, and 52 are less risky, so Marion County sits in genuinely neutral territory, neither a hotbed of tenant disputes nor the most investor-friendly market in the state. For landlords evaluating a roughly 23,600-person market where average rent runs $794 per month and renters make up 38% of households, conditions are manageable but require city-by-city diligence.

The intra-county spread, from a low of 1.7/10 to a high of 2.6/10, is modest in absolute terms but still meaningful at the operational level. A portfolio assembled entirely in the lower-risk pockets of the county will look very different from one concentrated in Hannibal. Rent burden sits at an average of 25.7% of income, which is below the thresholds that typically drive delinquency spikes, and the absence of local rent control (Missouri eviction laws law preempts it statewide) means landlords retain full pricing authority across the county.

The cities inside Marion County

Hannibal is the county's largest and highest-risk city, with a population of 16,771 and a score of 2.6/10. Because Hannibal accounts for the large majority of the county's total population, its score anchors the county average and deserves the most weight in any underwriting decision. Landlords operating in Hannibal are working in a market that is still rated Low overall, but it sits at the top of the county's risk range.

Palmyra scores 2/10 (population 3,623), a step down from Hannibal and a reasonable market for buy-and-hold investors looking for softer competition. Monroe City and Philadelphia both score 2/10, the lowest in the county, with Monroe City carrying a population of 3,028. These smaller markets offer the most favorable risk profiles in Marion County, though their limited tenant pools mean vacancy risk deserves separate analysis. Risk in Marion County is genuinely hyper-local, and the 0.9-point spread across just four cities is large enough to affect underwriting materially.

State-level laws that apply here

Missouri eviction laws eviction law, governed primarily by RSMo § 441 (Landlord and Tenant), is landlord-accessible by regional standards. For nonpayment of rent, Missouri eviction laws requires no advance notice before filing a rent-and-possession action under RSMo § 535.010, an immediate-demand posture that compresses the timeline compared to many other states. A material lease violation requires a 10-day notice under RSMo § 441.060, and ending a month-to-month tenancy requires 30 days' notice under the same statute. Understanding the Missouri eviction laws eviction process in full, including hearing scheduling and posting requirements, is essential before filing in any jurisdiction here.

Missouri eviction laws imposes no just-cause requirement for eviction, and state law preempts any local rent-control ordinance, so Marion County landlords face no city-level pricing restrictions. The Missouri eviction costs a landlord should budget for range from $70 to $180 in court filing fees, $40 to $150 in sheriff lockout fees, and $500 to $3,000 in attorney fees depending on case complexity. An uncontested case resolves in roughly 21 to 45 days; a contested case can run 45 to 120 days. Missouri security deposit limits and Missouri tenant protections round out the statewide framework every landlord here should review before executing a lease.

With a poverty rate of 16% and renters comprising 38% of households, Marion County presents moderate underlying risk that concentrates most heavily in Hannibal; the city-level scores in the grid above give the clearest picture of where operating conditions diverge across the county's four cities.