McCulloch County, Texas Eviction Risk: Moderate

McCulloch County sits in the Texas Hill Country, anchored by the county seat of Brady -- a ranching and agricultural community about 110 miles northwest of Austin. With a total population of 5,494 and roughly 44% of households renting, the rental market here is small but active. The county carries an eviction risk score of 4/10 (Moderate), placing it 14th of 254 Texas counties -- meaning only 13 counties statewide register higher risk than McCulloch. For a sparsely populated rural county, that position in the higher-risk third of Texas reflects the underlying framework of state landlord-tenant law rather than an unusually contentious local housing market.

Brady, with 5,230 residents and a score of 4/10, accounts for the overwhelming share of rental activity in the county. The two smaller communities -- Melvin at 3.1/10 and Rochelle at 3.8/10 -- each have fewer than 200 residents, though Rochelle's lower score reflects the lighter rental concentration in that community. County-wide, scores range from 3.1 to 4, a narrow band that signals relatively uniform risk conditions across all three incorporated places. Average rent sits at $780 per month, and renters here spend about 29.5% of income on housing -- a rent burden figure that, while not severe, is meaningful in a county where 12% of residents fall below the poverty line.

The legal context shaping these numbers is entirely state-driven. Texas preempts local rent control under TX Local Gov Code §214.902, so no city in McCulloch County can cap rent increases or impose rent stabilization regardless of local conditions. The state likewise requires no just-cause justification for non-renewal or termination of a lease: once proper notice is served, a landlord's reasons for ending a tenancy are not subject to legal scrutiny. Notice periods are uniformly short -- 3 days for non-payment, lease violations, end-of-term holdovers, and first-time delinquency alike under Tex. Prop. Code § 24.005. For squatters or unauthorized occupants, SB-38 reduced that to zero days under Tex. Prop. Code § 24.011. An uncontested eviction in a Texas Justice of the Peace court typically concludes in 21 to 30 days from filing; a contested case stretches to 45 to 90 days. Court filing fees range from $54 to $125, and sheriff lockout fees add another $50 to $175 on top of that. For tenants seeking legal representation, attorney fees in rural Texas eviction matters commonly run $500 to $3,500 depending on complexity. Texas does not recognize source-of-income as a protected class under state fair housing law, though federal protections for race, color, national origin, sex, familial status, and disability apply. The Texas Workforce Commission Civil Rights Division handles fair housing complaints at the state level. Retaliation against tenants for habitability complaints is prohibited under Tex. Prop. Code § 92.331, and landlord habitability obligations are codified at Tex. Prop. Code § 92.052.

McCulloch County's 4/10 score reflects the permissive-to-tenant posture of Texas eviction laws landlord-tenant law applied to a rural, low-density rental market. With scores ranging only from 3.1 to 4 across the county's three cities, risk conditions are essentially uniform countywide. The county average tracks very close to the Texas state average of 3.6/10, consistent with a market shaped almost entirely by state statute rather than any local regulatory overlay.