Benson County, North Dakota Eviction Risk: Very Low

Benson County sits in the north-central lake country of North Dakota, anchored by Devils Lake's western shoreline and Spirit Lake Nation tribal lands. With a rental market averaging $552 per month and a renter share of 37.1% of occupied units, the county hosts a modest but meaningful landlord population spread across eight small cities. The Eviction Risk Map research team scores Benson County at 1.9/10 (Very Low), placing it 16th of 53 counties in North Dakota eviction laws - firmly in the higher-risk of the state on tenant-protectiveness. Fifteen counties in North Dakota carry higher risk scores; 37 carry lower ones.

Within Benson County, scores range from 1.6 to 2.1/10 across its eight tracked cities. Maddock (population 474) and Minnewaukan (population 191, the county seat) share the county's highest reading at 2.1/10 and 2.1/10 respectively - both driven by a combination of elevated rent-burden pressures and poverty rates above the county average. Leeds, the county's largest city at 503 residents, comes in at 1.8/10, while Warwick (population 83) matches it at 1.8/10. Smaller communities including Oberon (1.6/10), Brinsmade (1.7/10), York (1.6/10), and Churchs Ferry (1.6/10) cluster toward the low end of the county's range. The spread from 1.6 to 2.1 is narrow by national standards, reflecting the county's uniformly rural character and the absence of any urban rental market that would typically pull scores higher.

North Dakota's landlord law framework - codified primarily under N.D.C.C. § 47-16 - gives owners meaningful operational tools that influence where Benson County lands on this index. Non-payment and lease-violation notices require only 3 days, among the shortest cure windows in the Great Plains region. No-cause terminations for month-to-month tenancies require 30 days. North Dakota does not mandate just cause for non-renewal, source-of-income protections are not extended statewide, and the legislature has preempted any local attempt to enact rent control - meaning no Benson County municipality can cap rents or impose additional tenant protections above the state floor. Poverty sits at 19.7% in the county and rent burden averages 27.3%, meaning a meaningful share of renters are financially stretched - a dynamic that raises underlying eviction risk even in a landlord-favorable legal environment. Court filing fees run $75 to $150 and a contested eviction can stretch 45 to 100 days, so landlords operating in Minnewaukan, Leeds, or Maddock should budget time and legal costs ($500 to $2,500 in typical attorney fees) into any contested matter.

Benson County's 1.9/10 score reflects North Dakota eviction laws's structurally landlord-favorable statutes offset by locally elevated poverty and rent-burden rates. The county's overall risk is Low - but its 19.7% poverty rate and 37.1% renter share mean landlord-tenant friction is not uncommon, and the 3-day cure window gives tenants very little runway before a notice is legally valid.