Dallam County, Texas Eviction Risk: Low

Dallam County sits at the far northwest corner of the Texas eviction laws Panhandle, bordering New Mexico eviction laws and Oklahoma eviction laws, with a total population of roughly 8,471 residents and a rental market that is small by Texas eviction laws standards but notably stable for landlords. The county carries an eviction risk score of 3.2/10 (Low), placing it 211th out of 254 Texas counties - a position well inside the lower-risk of the state. With 210 Texas eviction laws counties registering higher risk and only 43 coming in lower, Dallam's market reflects the combination of low tenant protections, a landlord-aligned state statute, and a genuinely modest local rent burden that keeps eviction rates down in the first place.

The county's two incorporated cities anchor a tight score range of 3.2 to 3.2/10. Dalhart, the county seat and by far the largest city with about 7,902 residents, scores 3.2/10 - consistent with the county average. Texline, a small community of 569 near the New Mexico state line, comes in at 3.2/10, the slightly higher end of the local spread. That narrow gap between 3.2 and 3.2 reflects a market where risk conditions are effectively uniform across the county rather than concentrated in any single neighborhood or jurisdiction. Average rent runs $1,051 per month, and the average rent burden sits at just 19.9% of household income - well below the 30% threshold that housing economists treat as cost-stressed. Renter households make up about 34.8% of occupied units, and the poverty rate is 10.1%, both figures pointing to a tenant pool that, on average, is not under the kind of financial pressure that historically drives eviction volume higher.

From a regulatory standpoint, Dallam County landlords operate under some of the most straightforward rules in the country. Texas state law - specifically Tex. Prop. Code § 91 and § 92 - governs residential tenancies, and no local ordinance can layer on top of it: TX Local Gov Code § 214.902 preempts any city or county effort to impose rent control. Texas requires just a 3-day notice to vacate for nonpayment of rent under Tex. Prop. Code § 24.005(a), whether the tenant is a first-time delinquent (§ 24.005(a-1)) or has a pattern of late payment. The same 3-day notice applies to lease violations and end-of-term holdovers. Unauthorized occupants can be removed without any notice period under the SB-38 additions to § 24.011. Court filing fees run $54 to $125, and uncontested cases typically resolve in 21 to 30 days - a timeline that compares favorably against major Texas metro counties where contested dockets can stretch past 90 days. Compared to the statewide average of 3.6/10, Dallam's score of 3.2/10 reflects a meaningful landlord advantage, driven by low rent burden and a legal environment with no local supplements to state law.

Dallam County's Low risk designation stems from a convergence of factors: a 19.9% average rent burden (well under cost-stress thresholds), no local eviction or rent-control ordinances layered on top of Texas eviction laws state law, a 3-day statutory notice period across all standard removal grounds, and court timelines that resolve uncontested cases in as few as 21 days. The score range across the county's cities holds between 3.2 and 3.2/10, indicating that risk conditions are consistent throughout the market rather than skewed by any single jurisdiction.