McIntosh County, North Dakota Eviction Risk: Very Low

McIntosh County sits in the lower-risk tier of North Dakota eviction laws's 53 counties, earning a composite eviction-risk score of 1.7/10 (Very Low) and ranking 47th of 53 statewide - meaning 46 counties carry higher eviction pressure than this one. Scores across the county's six municipalities run from 1.6 to 2.2/10, a tight spread that reflects how uniformly rural and lightly regulated this part of the Great Plains remains. The county's 1,731 residents pay an average rent of $638 per month, well below the North Dakota eviction laws average, and renters dedicate only 18.4% of income to housing - one of the lower rent-burden figures in the state. With renters making up just 20.8% of households and a poverty rate of 21%, the rental market here is thin but structurally stable for landlords who understand the local dynamics.

Wishek is the county's largest community at 849 residents and posts an eviction-risk score of 1.6/10 - the lowest in the county - which is consistent with its role as the commercial hub where longer-term occupancy tends to anchor tenant populations. Ashley, the county seat with 599 residents, matches the county average at 1.7/10 and is where the McIntosh County District Court handles all unlawful-detainer filings. At the higher end of the local range, Lehr scores 2.2/10, the county's peak, followed by Zeeland at 1.9/10 and Venturia at 1.8/10. These smaller towns (Lehr at 66 residents, Zeeland at 96, Venturia at 75) have fewer rental units in circulation, which means individual troubled tenancies represent a larger share of any landlord's portfolio and drive per-property risk perception upward even when absolute filing counts stay very low. Fredonia rounds out the county at 1.7/10.

Under North Dakota eviction laws's landlord-tenant statute (N.D.C.C. § 47-16), McIntosh County landlords can serve a 3-day notice to quit for non-payment of rent and a 3-day notice to cure or quit for lease violations - among the shortest cure windows in the Plains states. No-cause terminations at the end of a lease term require 30 days' written notice. Once a notice expires unfulfilled, the unlawful-detainer process in McIntosh County's District Court typically runs 21 to 40 days for uncontested cases and 45 to 100 days when a tenant contests the action. Court filing fees range from $75 to $150, sheriff lockout fees from $40 to $125, and attorney representation typically costs $500 to $2,500 depending on complexity. North Dakota eviction laws does not require just cause for non-renewal, has no rent-control law, and the state explicitly preempts any local government from enacting rent-control ordinances - so McIntosh County landlords operate under one of the more permissive statutory frameworks in the country. The North Dakota eviction laws Department of Labor and Human Rights enforces fair-housing obligations statewide; source-of-income is not a protected class under current state law.

McIntosh County's Very Low eviction-risk designation reflects a combination of low rent burden (18.4%), a modest renter share (20.8%), and a state legal framework that resolves disputes quickly and without rent-cap constraints. The county's 1.7/10 average sits notably below the North Dakota eviction laws statewide average of 1.8/10, reinforcing its position among the state's most landlord-accessible markets.