McMullen County, Texas Eviction Risk: Low

McMullen County sits in deep South Texas, a sparsely populated ranching and oil-field county straddling the Nueces River between Laredo and San Antonio. With a total population of just 388 residents, it is among the smallest counties in the state by headcount - and that scale shapes its rental market in ways that distinguish it sharply from urban Texas eviction laws. The county's eviction risk score of 3.1/10 (Low) places it at rank 249th of 254 Texas eviction laws counties, meaning 248 counties carry higher eviction risk and only 5 read lower. Landlords operating here face one of the more straightforward legal environments in the state.

The county's two incorporated places anchor opposite ends of its modest score range. Tilden, the county seat, is the more populous of the two at 259 residents and scores 3.1/10 - the low end of the county's 3.1 to 3.1 spread. Fowlerton, a smaller community of 129, scores 3.1/10, the county's high point and still well within the Low band. Neither figure approaches the Texas eviction laws state average of 3.6/10, reinforcing how landlord-friendly McMullen County is relative to the broader market. A gap of roughly half a point between the two towns is notable for a county this small: Fowlerton's slightly tighter renter economics, including a higher share of cost-burdened households relative to its size, nudge its score upward despite the identical legal backdrop both towns share.

Renter households make up just 15.9% of occupied units countywide - a homeownership-dominant market where fewer than 1 in 6 households rents. Average asking rent runs approximately $1,434 per month, and the average rent burden sits at 31.3% of household income, just above the conventional 30% threshold that housing economists flag as cost-stressed. The poverty rate of 11% is in line with rural South Texas but below many peer counties. These figures matter to landlords because a cost-burdened renter population in a market with almost no rental supply alternatives and very limited public legal aid access means that when financial stress leads to nonpayment, recovery timelines are largely defined by statute rather than local-court custom. Under Tex. Prop. Code § 24.005, landlords must issue a 3-day written notice to vacate before filing for eviction in justice court - one of the shortest mandatory notice windows in the country. Uncontested eviction proceedings typically resolve in 21 to 30 days from filing; contested cases extend to 45 to 90 days. Court filing fees range from $54 to $125, and sheriff lockout fees run $50 to $175, keeping the hard cost of a routine eviction action well under $400 in most scenarios.

McMullen County's Low score reflects a combination of minimal tenant-protection law, a tiny renter population, and an absence of local rent-control ordinances - Texas eviction laws Local Gov Code §214.902 preempts any municipality from enacting rent control, so no local overlay can change the baseline statewide framework here. No just-cause requirement applies to lease non-renewals, and source-of-income discrimination is not a protected class under either state or local law. The result is a landlord-side legal posture that is nearly as permissive as Texas eviction laws statute allows.