Carter County, Montana Eviction Risk: Very Low

Carter County, Montana eviction laws earns an average eviction-risk score of 2/10, placing it in the Low risk tier. With only 2 incorporated places and a combined tracked population of 289, this is one of Montana's most sparsely settled counties. For landlords, a low score signals that tenant-protection burdens are limited, average rents sit at $646, and rent burden averages 27% of income, suggesting tenants here are not dramatically stretched. At rank 26 of 56 Montana eviction laws counties, Carter County sits in the middle third of the state, meaning 25 counties carry higher risk and 30 are actually more landlord-friendly.

The intra-county score range runs a tight 2 to 2.2, so operating conditions are broadly consistent across the county's two communities. That narrow spread reflects the homogenous rural character of the area: a low renter share of 32.7% of households and a poverty rate of 21.9% both deserve attention when underwriting vacancy and collection risk, even if the eviction-law environment itself is permissive.

The cities inside Carter County

The highest-risk location in the county is Alzada, scoring 2.2/10 with a population of just 13. At that scale, a single difficult tenancy can skew a landlord's experience significantly, and investors should factor in the thin rental market when projecting stabilized occupancy.

Ekalaka, the county seat and by far the larger community at 276 residents, scores 2/10, the lower end of the county range. Even Ekalaka's rental market is small in absolute terms, which cuts both ways: limited competition for tenants, but also a shallow pool of qualified applicants. Risk is genuinely hyper-local here, and what happens in one unit can move the needle for a small portfolio.

State-level laws that apply here

All Carter County rentals fall under the Montana eviction laws Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, MCA § 70-24. For non-payment of rent or a lease violation, Montana eviction laws requires only a 3-day notice before a landlord may proceed. No-cause terminations at end of term require 30 days notice. Montana eviction laws has no just-cause eviction requirement and no rent control, and state law expressly preempts any local rent-control ordinance, so no municipality in the county can layer on additional restrictions. Understanding the full Montana eviction laws eviction process is important before filing, because even an uncontested case typically takes 21 to 45 days and a contested matter can run 45 to 120 days.

Montana eviction costs add up quickly once you include every line item. Court filing fees range from $90 to $170, sheriff lockout fees run $40 to $125, and attorney fees typically fall between $500 and $2,500. Combined, a contested removal can therefore cost a landlord $630 to $2,795 before factoring in lost rent. Montana security deposit limits and Montana tenant protections are both defined at the state level under MCA § 70-24, with no local variation permitted in Carter County.

With a poverty rate of 21.9% and a renter share of 32.7%, collection risk warrants careful tenant screening even in this low-score county; see the city grid above for Ekalaka and Alzada individually.