Estimated values: The U.S. Census suppresses field-level data for small places. Estimated from constituent census tracts, pop-weighted from real underlying ACS data.
Tenant beats landlord
25.0%
/ 100 outcomes
In court-decided eviction outcomes for St. Louis, MO, tenants prevail in roughly 25.0% of contested cases. A higher number means landlords face stronger tenant defenses, longer calendars, and more required documentation, and landlord-friendliness drops as this rises.
Timeline
43d
filing → judgment
From the moment an unlawful-detainer notice is filed in St. Louis, MO until a money judgment is entered, a contested eviction takes about 43 days on average. Longer timelines mean more lost rent and higher carry costs for landlords.
Cost range
$1.3–3.5k
legal + lost rent
A typical eviction in St. Louis, MO costs landlords $1,349 to $3,501 all-in, covering court filing fees, process-server costs, attorney time, and lost rent during the calendar between filing and possession.
Average rent
$997
28% stretched on rent
Average gross rent in St. Louis, MO is $997 per month per the U.S. Census American Community Survey (5-year 2023). 28% of renter households here spend more than 30% of pre-tax income on rent, the federal cost-burden threshold.
Renters
54.7%
of households
54.7% of occupied housing units in St. Louis, MO are renter-occupied (vs owner-occupied). A higher renter share usually correlates with more eviction filings, more turnover, and a more active rental market.
Poverty
20.0%
5.3% unemp.
20.0% of St. Louis, MO residents live below the federal poverty line, and unemployment runs at 5.3%. Both feed into the economic-stress sub-score in our Eviction Risk Score model because rent payment problems track poverty + joblessness more reliably than any other single signal.
Time machine
Scrub 50 years
197619861996200620162026
2026
● LIVE · today◀ REPLAY · historical
Nine-axis profile
9-axis profile · today
Shape of the risk surface
1 landlord · 10 tenant
Sub-scores · with sparkline
Where the score comes from
1 → 10 scale
Local political climate
Dem margin +64.7% (2024)
7.0
Regional political climate
County-weighted neighbor mix
5.0
State political climate
Missouri legislature & governorship
3.0
Economic stress
20.0% poverty · 5.3% unemp.
7.5
Supply constraint
$997 average · 54.7% renters
4.5
Rent Control risk
28.2% of income on rent
2.0
Eviction process difficulty
43 days filing → judgment
5.0
Tenant organizing strength
54.7% renters
5.5
Housing court bias
County bench composition
5.0
Geographic context
Risk heat across St. Louis and the region
Click any city to see its score
How St. Louis compares
Risk score vs. peers, county, state, and the U.S.
Rank in St. Louis city
Very High
#2of 23 cities
#2 of 23 cities in St. Louis city for landlord eviction risk.
Rank in Missouri
Very High
#2of 1,082 cities
#2 of 1,082 cities in Missouri for landlord eviction risk.
vs. county · state · U.S.
Score story
Six-stop tour of the risk profile
3.3
/ 10 · LOW
The verdict
A Low-tier market.
Composite 3.3/10. Mid-range market; standard documentation usually wins. The 50-year curve shows a slow, steady climb.
50-yr trend+0.4 over 50 yr
197620012026
Steady ratchet · no large swings
43d
Typical timeline
The money
What renting (and evicting) looks like.
Rent published at $997/mo. A contested eviction takes 43 days and costs $1,349–$3,501 per case.
50-yr trendCalendar drag rising since '15
197620012026
Court-clerk data lands in the next release.
54.7%
Renters
The renters
Who you'll be renting to.
Out of 288,512 residents, 54.7% rent. 28% are spending 30%+ income on rent, 20.0% below the poverty line.
50-yr trendRenter share rising
197620012026
ACS 1970-present · once the migration overlay is in.
6
Local + regional
The politics
Mid-range climate. Not a coastal market.
Local & regional political climate score 7 and 5 (Dem margin +64.7% (2024)). State climate at 3, a mid-range statehouse.
50-yr trendTracks county vote margin
197620012026
Built on 50-yr presidential margins back to 1976.
3
State politics
The process
Moderate calendar, moderate friction.
State political climate 3/10 sets the legislative ceiling for landlord remedies, and it shows up in the process. Eviction process difficulty reads 5, housing court bias 5, rent-control risk 2. Standard process speed for the state.
50-yr trendProcess difficulty +0.0 since '00
197620012026
Court-clerk data lands in the next release.
7.5
Economic stress
The stress
Economic pressure is the background risk.
Economic stress: 7.5. Supply constraint: 4.5. The numbers behind those: 20.0% poverty, 5.3% unemployment, 28% of income on rent.
50-yr trendTwo visible dips · '08 + COVID
197620012026
Mirrors BLS unemployment series.
US eviction landscape · timeline × all-in cost
St. Louis sits in the quick & cheap quadrant
Bubble size = population · color = risk score
St. Louis · 43d · ~$2.4k all-in ($56/day) · score 3.3National average: 58d · $4.6k all-inHover any bubble for stats · click to openColor: 0–4 4–7 7–10
Landlording in St. Louis, Missouri, presents a manageable operating environment for documented landlords. The Eviction Risk Score is 3.3/10 (LOW tier), drawn from the nine sub-axes shown above, covering rent-control exposure, eviction-process difficulty, housing-court bias, tenant-organizing strength, supply constraint, economic stress, and local, regional, and state political climate. This is not a quick-fix market: it's a Mid-tier market where lease drafting, screening discipline, and well-documented notices materially change outcomes.
St. Louis is a city of 288,512 residents where 54.7% of occupied units are renter-occupied, and the typical renter spends 28.2% of income on rent. At an average rent of $997/month, the typical renter household here spends more than the federal 30% threshold on housing, a leading indicator of payment volatility and a precondition for the kinds of tenant defenses that show up most often in housing court.
01Process
How St. Louis eviction process actually works
Eviction process difficulty here reads 5/10, a number that combines statutory complexity (notice categories, just-cause rules, mandatory pre-filing disclosures) with operational realities (court calendar length and clerk responsiveness). The typical contested filing in St. Louis closes 43 days after the initial notice. For non-payment of rent the first step is a properly-formatted, properly-served pay-or-quit notice; for material lease breaches it's a cure-or-quit; for tenancies under just-cause protection an at-fault grounds notice (or a no-fault notice with statutory relocation assistance) is required.
The slow part of St. Louis's timeline is usually the calendar, not the motion practice. Housing court bias scores 5/10 here, meaning judges read borderline procedural defects in the tenant's favor more often than the national norm. The practical implication: every notice and every proof of service needs to be airtight before it gets filed.
02Cost
What it costs (and how long it takes)
An all-in eviction in St. Louis runs $1,349 to $3,501 per case once you account for filing fees, attorney time, lost rent during pendency, sheriff lockout, and unit turnover. That range is wide because the upper bound assumes a tenant answer plus motion practice, common when housing court bias is high. The lower bound assumes a default judgment after proper service.
For landlords running the numbers on holding costs vs. cash-for-keys: if your projected timeline times your monthly rent already exceeds the high-end cost number, cash-for-keys at 1–2 months' rent is typically the economically rational choice. With 43 days of typical timeline and $997/month in lost rent, that crossover happens fast here.
03Operations
Security deposits, screening, and lease terms
Tenant organizing strength scores 5.5/10 in St. Louis, and the city has limited rent control exposure (2/10). Operations practice that survives audit in this environment looks like:
Screening discipline. Document income (verified at 2.5 to 3x rent), credit (with a clear minimum), and prior-tenancy reference checks, but do not screen on protected categories or source-of-income where banned. Keep a written, consistent screening criteria document for every applicant.
Lease specificity. Use a state-specific lease that names every term clearly: rent due date, late fees within statutory caps, deposit handling, smoke and CO disclosure, lead paint disclosure (pre-1978 stock), and a clean attorney's-fees clause.
Security deposit handling. Itemize deductions within the statutory window. Photograph move-in/move-out condition. In Missouri, deposit cap and refund window are statute, so exceed them at your own risk.
Mid-tenancy documentation. Keep date-stamped records of every rent receipt, every habitability request, every notice served. The day you need them in court is too late to start.
04Strategy
What an everyday landlord should actually do here
If you own one to four units in St. Louis: hire a property manager who knows the local court. The pricing differential between self-managing and hiring out is small relative to the cost of one botched eviction in a LOW tier market. If you own five or more: build relationships with a local landlord-side attorney before you need one, since retainer fees are negligible compared to emergency-rate billing when an eviction is already moving.
The avoidable mistakes here are all upstream of the filing: weak screening, an informal lease, sloppy rent receipts, and notice templates pulled off the internet that don't match Missouri's statutory language. Fix those four, and most cases settle or default. Skip them, and a $3,501 all-in fight is the realistic worst case.
The 2019 fight: St. Louis lost its municipal source-of-income protection when RSMo 441.043 (Tenant Protection Preemption) preempted local SOI ordinances at the state level. The city has not been able to enact meaningful tenant protection beyond what the state framework allows. The St. Louis City Council's 2023 Tenant Bill of Rights study has not produced binding legislation.
Trap · LEGAL SERVICES OF EASTERN MISSOURI
The 22nd Circuit eviction calendar moves quickly. No pre-filing notice means the case starts the day after rent is due. Legal Services of Eastern Missouri staffs defense at limited capacity. The Missouri Supreme Court 2021 decision in Ballew v. Ainsworth reinforced landlord-friendly construction of RSMo 535, which has hardened the procedural environment further.
04Eviction filings
Live filings tracking · Eviction Lab
Princeton Eviction Lab Tracking System, county-level. Last update 2026-05-01.
In the most recent month, 1,180 eviction cases were filed across the tracker's coverage area, 0.43× the historical baseline (far below baseline). Past 12 months: 16,966 filings. Pandemic-era cumulative: 87,541.
1,180Past month
16,966Past 12 months
0.43×vs baseline (past mo)
Notice requirement: at least ten days notice (for nonpayment of rent cases, though in other cases more). Filing fee: $48.50 filing fee.
Last 36 months of filings2023-05-01 – 2026-04-01
Filings dropped 15% over the past 12 months.
Source: Eviction Lab Tracking System, Princeton University. Open Data Commons Attribution license.
05FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Q1
Can I evict a tenant in St. Louis without a reason?
Missouri does not have a statewide "just cause" eviction requirement. For month-to-month tenancies, you can typically terminate with a 30-day notice without stating a specific reason, as long as it's not for discriminatory or retaliatory purposes. For tenants on a fixed-term lease, you generally need a lease violation or non-payment of rent to evict before the lease expires.
Q2
How long does it take to get a tenant out after a judge rules for eviction?
Once a judge issues a judgment for possession, the tenant will have a short period, often a few days, to vacate. If they don't, you'll need to obtain a writ of possession from the court. The sheriff will then serve this writ and schedule a physical lockout, which typically happens within a week or two of the writ being issued, depending on the sheriff's schedule.
Q3
What are common landlord mistakes in St. Louis evictions?
Common mistakes include incorrect notice periods, improper service of notices, attempting "self-help" evictions (like changing locks or shutting off utilities), and not having clear documentation. Any of these can lead to your case being dismissed and you having to start over, costing you more time and money.
Q4
Is there rent control in St. Louis, MO?
No, there is no rent control in St. Louis, MO, or anywhere else in Missouri. State law (Missouri rent control rules) prohibits local governments from enacting rent control measures. This means you are generally free to set rent prices as you see fit, subject to market conditions and fair housing laws.
Q5
Do I need a lawyer for an eviction in St. Louis?
While you can represent yourself in small claims court, an eviction is a legal process. Given the potential costs and complexities, it is highly recommended to consult with or hire an attorney specializing in landlord-tenant law. They can ensure proper procedure, represent your interests, and save you from costly mistakes.
A 3.3/10 places St. Louis in the 100th percentile of Missouri cities on the Eviction Risk Score index. The score is the average of the nine sub-axes, all calibrated on a national 1 to 10 scale where 1 is most landlord-friendly and 10 is most tenant-protective. The 50-year reconstruction shows this score has climbed steadily since 1976, a structural drift driven by court-calendar growth, rent-control adoption, and the rise of tenant-side legal aid. The trajectory matters more than the snapshot: the score is the climate, not the weather.
Neighborhoods in St. Louis (24 with eviction-risk data)
Click a neighborhood to see its pop-weighted score, constituent census tracts, and demographics. Sorted by population.
