Brunswick County, North Carolina Eviction Risk: Moderate

Brunswick County, North Carolina eviction laws earns an average eviction-risk score of 4.6/10, placing it in the Moderate tier across its 20 incorporated places. That middle-of-the-road read is confirmed by the county's state ranking: sitting at 43rd of 100 North Carolina counties, 42 counties carry more risk and 57 are more landlord-friendly, putting Brunswick squarely in the middle third of the state. For landlords and investors, that average signals a market where leasing is workable but not stress-free, with rent burdens and tenant turnover dynamics that require attentive management rather than passive oversight.

The county's average rent of $1,482 per month and a rent-burden rate of 34.4% tell a meaningful story together. When more than a third of renter income goes to housing, any income disruption puts a tenancy at risk. The renter share of the population is relatively thin at 17.1%, which reflects Brunswick's heavily owner-occupied coastal character, but the renters who are here are exposed enough to make nonpayment events a recurring operational concern rather than a rare one.

The cities inside Brunswick County

Risk in Brunswick County is not evenly spread. Belville tops the county at 5.4/10, the highest score among all 20 cities. Leland, the county's largest city with a population of 29,607, follows at 5/10, and Shallotte, with about 4,639 residents, scores 4.8/10. These three municipalities in the county's inland and commercial corridors carry meaningfully higher tenant-side pressure than the county average would suggest.

The lower end of the range tells a different story. Oak Island scores 4/10 and Carolina Shores scores 4/10 as well, while St. James comes in at 4.1/10. The gap between Belville's 5.4 and Oak Island's 4.0 spans the county's full 3.6 to 5.4 range, a 1.8-point spread that makes city-level due diligence essential. A portfolio decision based solely on the county average would miss which specific markets warrant tighter screening and which offer comparatively calmer operating conditions.

State-level laws that apply here

Every landlord in Brunswick County operates under N.C.G.S. § 42 (Landlord and Tenant), North Carolina's consolidated landlord-tenant statute. For nonpayment of rent, state law requires a 10-day notice under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 42-3. A material lease breach or holdover after lease expiration requires no advance notice before filing. Month-to-month tenancies require a 7-day notice to terminate under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 42-14. The North Carolina eviction process, once filed, moves to judgment in 21 to 45 days on an uncontested case and 45 to 100 days when contested, so a defended case can consume three months before a writ issues.

On costs, the North Carolina eviction costs landlords face include a court filing fee of $150 to $200, a sheriff lockout fee of $30 to $125, and attorney fees typically ranging from $500 to $2,500 when counsel is retained. North Carolina does not require just cause to terminate a tenancy, and the state preempts local rent-control ordinances, so Brunswick County cannot impose rent caps or additional just-cause requirements beyond state law. Source-of-income protection is not mandated under state law, giving landlords flexibility in tenant selection consistent with fair-housing rules administered by the North Carolina Human Relations Commission.

With a county poverty rate of 7.4% and a renter share of just 17.1%, Brunswick County's rental market is comparatively small but concentrated enough that local conditions vary sharply by city; the table above breaks down each of the 20 cities individually so you can pinpoint where risk is elevated and where it is not.