St. Clair County, Missouri Eviction Risk: Low

St. Clair County is a small, rural county in west-central Missouri with a total population of 3,264 spread across 8 municipalities. The county earns a Low eviction risk score of 3.5/10 on the Eviction Risk Map, placing it 56th out of 115 Missouri eviction laws counties - squarely in the middle third of the state. That means 55 counties carry higher friction for landlords and 59 sit at lower risk. The low score reflects a relatively manageable rent burden and Missouri eviction laws's landlord-leaning statutory framework, not a sign that collections are effortless in a county where 21.5% of residents live below the poverty line.

Average rent in St. Clair County runs $605 per month, and renters spend an average of 25% of income on housing - below the commonly cited 30% stress threshold. Roughly 41.8% of occupied housing units are renter-occupied, a share above what many comparably-sized rural Missouri eviction laws counties see, which keeps tenant turnover and re-leasing timelines as real operational concerns. Appleton City, the county seat area and largest community at 1,221 residents, scores 3.2/10. Osceola, the second-largest city (1,042 residents), comes in at 4/10. Rockville leads the county at 3.5/10 - the highest individual city score in St. Clair County - while Gerster posts the lowest at 3.1/10. The county-wide range of 1.8 to 2.7 is narrow, indicating fairly uniform conditions rather than sharp pockets of tenant-side strength.

Missouri eviction laws statutes govern landlord-tenant relations under RSMo § 441 (Landlord and Tenant), and St. Clair County landlords operate entirely within that framework - there is no local rent control, and the state preempts any municipality from enacting it. Evictions for nonpayment of rent proceed under RSMo § 535.010 with no mandatory pre-filing notice period (immediate rent-and-possession action is permitted). Material lease violations require a 10-day notice under RSMo § 441.060, and month-to-month tenancies require 30 days notice under the same statute. Court filing fees run $70 to $180, sheriff lockout fees range from $40 to $150, and attorney costs typically fall between $500 and $3,000 depending on complexity. Uncontested cases typically conclude in 21 to 45 days; contested matters stretch to 45 to 120 days. Source of income is not a protected class in Missouri eviction laws, and just cause for eviction is not required by statute.

St. Clair County's 3.5/10 average score reflects scores ranging from 3.5/10 in Gerster to 3.1/10 in Rockville - a tight band that signals consistent, low-friction conditions across all 8 tracked communities.