Richland County, North Dakota Eviction Risk: Low

Richland County sits along North Dakota's southeastern border with Minnesota, anchored by Wahpeton on the Red River. With a county-wide eviction risk score of 3.6/10 (Low) and a statewide rank of 7th of 53, Richland lands in the higher-risk tier among North Dakota's 53 counties. Scores across its 15 tracked communities span a relatively narrow band from 3.1 to 3.8/10, which signals broadly consistent conditions rather than sharp pockets of risk that landlords often find in mixed urban-rural counties.

Wahpeton eviction risk, the county seat and by far its largest community at roughly 8,010 residents, posts an eviction risk score of 3.8/10 -- consistent with the county average. That figure reflects a market where 41.5% of housing units are renter-occupied, average asking rent runs $722 per month, and the rent burden sits at 19.9% of household income. Those numbers matter operationally: a rent burden well below the nationally-watched 30% threshold means most tenants in Wahpeton are not financially overextended, which historically correlates with lower eviction filing rates. Lidgerwood (pop. 719) and Oxbow (pop. 491) both score 3.2/10 and 3.1/10 respectively, representing the least-pressured markets in the county. Hankinson and Wyndmere each score 3.2/10 and 3.2/10 -- modestly above the county floor but still well within the Low-risk band.

The highest single score in Richland County belongs to Mooreton, a small community in the county's northern tier, at 3.4/10 -- the widest gap from the county floor. Abercrombie, near the Minnesota line, follows at 3.1/10. Neither score represents elevated risk in absolute terms, but landlords active in those towns should maintain tighter lease documentation and notice-period tracking than they might in Oxbow or Colfax. North Dakota's statewide average is 3.4/10, and Richland County's 3.1/10 sits in line with that benchmark. The county's poverty rate of 14.1% is a relevant watch metric: it runs modestly above the statewide low-income threshold that tends to predict rising eviction filing frequency when rent increases compound with flat wages. For now, Richland's numbers reflect a stable, landlord-accessible market governed by a clear, landlord-friendly statutory framework under N.D.C.C. § 47-16.

Richland County's 3.6/10 score (Low) reflects a market shaped by modest rents, a below-average rent burden of 19.9%, and North Dakota eviction laws's streamlined eviction statute. No local rent control ordinances apply -- the state preempts them -- and no just-cause requirement limits lease non-renewals, giving landlords straightforward legal footing across all 15 communities in the county.