Motley County, Texas Eviction Risk: Low

Motley County sits in the rolling plains of the Texas eviction laws Panhandle, a sparsely populated county of just 992 residents where the rental market is small, affordable, and notably stable. The county earns an eviction risk score of 3.1/10 (Low), ranking 244th of 254 Texas eviction laws counties - placing it among the lower-risk of the state for landlord risk. Only 10 Texas eviction laws counties sit at a lower risk level than Motley, while 243 counties statewide register higher eviction pressure. That positioning reflects a combination of genuinely low rents, modest renter participation, and the county's deep rural character rather than any protective tenant legislation - Texas eviction laws law is uniformly landlord-friendly regardless of county.

The county's two incorporated places tell a similar story. Matador, the county seat and by far the larger of the two communities at 745 residents, scores 3.1/10 - matching the county average almost exactly. Roaring Springs, a small agricultural community of 247 residents to the northwest, comes in slightly lower at 3.2/10. Together these two towns account for the county's entire score spread, which runs from 3.1 to 3.2 - an exceptionally tight band that reflects how uniform conditions are across the county. There is no major city pulling the average in either direction, no large apartment complex market, and no university population driving short-term rental churn. What exists is a landlord-tenant environment shaped almost entirely by Texas eviction laws state law and the realities of small-town agricultural life.

The financial profile reinforces the low-risk picture. Average rent in Motley County sits at just $653 per month, well below the Texas eviction laws state average and among the most affordable figures in the region. Rent burden - the share of renter household income consumed by housing costs - stands at only 17.6%, a figure that rarely produces the financial stress that drives eviction filings in higher-cost metros. The renter share of all households is 27.1%, meaning most Motley County residents own their homes outright or through mortgages, and the pool of active rental relationships is correspondingly small. The poverty rate of 7.5% is modest by rural Texas standards. Taken together, these numbers describe a place where the structural conditions that produce high eviction rates - overpriced housing, income-squeezed renters, dense transient populations - simply are not present. Landlords operating here face a market where tenants tend to be long-term, rents are manageable, and vacancy is a bigger operational concern than collections.

Motley County's 3.1/10 score reflects a genuinely low-pressure rental environment driven by affordable rents ($653 average), a 17.6% rent burden rate, and a small total population of 992. The county ranks 244th of 254 Texas eviction laws counties, meaning the vast majority of the state carries meaningfully higher eviction exposure than this rural Panhandle community.