County Data

County-Level Distress Index

Financial distress scores for every U.S. county. Each of the 3,144 counties is scored 0–100 across five domains: debt and delinquency, income and poverty, housing cost burden, employment and wages, and community vulnerability.

Data: Census, BLS, Urban Institute, HUD, US Courts | Scores as of 2026-03-17

National Snapshot

3,144 Counties Scored
50.0 Mean Score
498 Serious or Crisis
1100 Elevated
82.9 Pemiscot County, MO Most Distressed
13.3 Los Alamos County, NM Least Distressed

County Distress Map

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Healthy Normal Elevated Serious Crisis

All 3,144 counties colored by distress zone. Hover for details; click released counties for full reports.

Score Distribution

How 3,144 county distress scores are distributed across the 0–100 scale. The median county scores 50.3.

50 Most Distressed Counties

Counties with the highest composite distress scores across all five domains. 498 counties are in Serious Stress or Crisis zones.

Rank County State Score Zone Primary Driver
1 Pemiscot County MO 82.9 Crisis Income & Poverty
2 Petersburg city VA 82.0 Crisis Housing Cost Burden
3 Gadsden County FL 80.3 Crisis Debt & Delinquency
4 Wayne County MO 80.2 Crisis Income & Poverty
5 Dunklin County MO 79.7 Serious Stress Debt & Delinquency
6 Mitchell County GA 79.6 Serious Stress Debt & Delinquency
7 Phillips County AR 79.2 Serious Stress Income & Poverty
8 Sequoyah County OK 79.2 Serious Stress Community Vulnerability
9 Starr County TX 79.2 Serious Stress Income & Poverty
10 Dougherty County GA 79.0 Serious Stress Income & Poverty
11 Humphreys County MS 79.0 Serious Stress Income & Poverty
12 Lee County AR 78.8 Serious Stress Income & Poverty
13 Richmond County GA 78.6 Serious Stress Debt & Delinquency
14 Wilkinson County MS 78.2 Serious Stress Income & Poverty
15 Washington County MS 78.1 Serious Stress Income & Poverty
16 Hancock County TN 78.1 Serious Stress Income & Poverty
17 Jim Wells County TX 78.1 Serious Stress Income & Poverty
18 Holmes County MS 77.8 Serious Stress Income & Poverty
19 Bell County KY 77.8 Serious Stress Income & Poverty
20 Dimmit County TX 77.8 Serious Stress Income & Poverty
21 Bronx County NY 77.7 Serious Stress Income & Poverty
22 Hancock County GA 77.5 Serious Stress Income & Poverty
23 Issaquena County MS 77.4 Serious Stress Income & Poverty
24 Hardee County FL 77.3 Serious Stress Housing Cost Burden
25 Halifax County NC 77.3 Serious Stress Income & Poverty
26 Madison Parish LA 77.2 Serious Stress Income & Poverty
27 Adair County OK 77.2 Serious Stress Community Vulnerability
28 Bertie County NC 77.1 Serious Stress Income & Poverty
29 Yazoo County MS 77.1 Serious Stress Debt & Delinquency
30 Ripley County MO 77.0 Serious Stress Community Vulnerability
31 Bee County TX 76.9 Serious Stress Income & Poverty
32 Scotland County NC 76.8 Serious Stress Income & Poverty
33 McIntosh County OK 76.8 Serious Stress Community Vulnerability
34 Seminole County OK 76.8 Serious Stress Community Vulnerability
35 Quitman County GA 76.7 Serious Stress Community Vulnerability
36 Duval County TX 76.7 Serious Stress Income & Poverty
37 Mississippi County MO 76.6 Serious Stress Income & Poverty
38 Bolivar County MS 76.5 Serious Stress Income & Poverty
39 Noxubee County MS 76.5 Serious Stress Community Vulnerability
40 Lauderdale County TN 76.4 Serious Stress Debt & Delinquency
41 Robeson County NC 76.3 Serious Stress Income & Poverty
42 Brooks County TX 76.2 Serious Stress Income & Poverty
43 Uvalde County TX 76.2 Serious Stress Income & Poverty
44 DeSoto County FL 76.2 Serious Stress Community Vulnerability
45 Charlton County GA 76.1 Serious Stress Debt & Delinquency
46 McKinley County NM 76.1 Serious Stress Income & Poverty
47 Vance County NC 76.1 Serious Stress Income & Poverty
48 Bibb County GA 76.1 Serious Stress Debt & Delinquency
49 Crosby County TX 76.0 Serious Stress Community Vulnerability
50 Sharkey County MS 75.8 Serious Stress Income & Poverty

50 Least Distressed Counties

Counties with the lowest distress scores — strong employment, low debt delinquency, and affordable housing.

Rank County State Score Zone Primary Driver
3144 Los Alamos County NM 13.3 Healthy Employment & Wages
3143 Goochland County VA 13.9 Healthy Housing Cost Burden
3142 Oldham County KY 15.1 Healthy Housing Cost Burden
3141 Lincoln County SD 15.2 Healthy Housing Cost Burden
3140 Edmunds County SD 15.8 Healthy Income & Poverty
3139 Williamson County TN 15.9 Healthy Housing Cost Burden
3138 Hamilton County IN 16.6 Healthy Housing Cost Burden
3137 Steele County ND 16.7 Healthy Employment & Wages
3136 Lyon County IA 16.9 Healthy Employment & Wages
3135 Cavalier County ND 17.1 Healthy Employment & Wages
3134 Billings County ND 17.3 Healthy Income & Poverty
3133 Hamilton County NE 17.5 Healthy Housing Cost Burden
3132 Hamlin County SD 18.3 Healthy Community Vulnerability
3131 Oconee County GA 18.3 Healthy Employment & Wages
3130 Nemaha County KS 18.3 Healthy Employment & Wages
3129 Grundy County IA 18.4 Healthy Employment & Wages
3128 Plymouth County IA 18.5 Healthy Housing Cost Burden
3127 LaMoure County ND 18.7 Healthy Income & Poverty
3126 Boone County NE 18.7 Healthy Income & Poverty
3125 Delaware County OH 18.8 Healthy Housing Cost Burden
3124 Traill County ND 18.8 Healthy Housing Cost Burden
3123 Morgan County UT 19.0 Healthy Employment & Wages
3122 Dallas County IA 19.1 Healthy Housing Cost Burden
3121 Bowman County ND 19.3 Healthy Income & Poverty
3120 Sully County SD 19.6 Healthy Community Vulnerability
3119 Union County SD 19.6 Healthy Housing Cost Burden
3118 McLean County ND 19.6 Healthy Employment & Wages
3117 Winneshiek County IA 19.8 Healthy Employment & Wages
3116 Ransom County ND 19.8 Healthy Housing Cost Burden
3115 Osage County MO 19.8 Healthy Employment & Wages
3114 Hand County SD 20.1 Healthy Employment & Wages
3113 Hanson County SD 20.2 Healthy Community Vulnerability
3112 Hyde County SD 20.4 Healthy Income & Poverty
3111 Sargent County ND 20.5 Healthy Employment & Wages
3110 Bremer County IA 20.6 Healthy Employment & Wages
3109 Botetourt County VA 20.8 Healthy Employment & Wages
3108 Burke County ND 20.8 Healthy Employment & Wages
3107 Iowa County WI 20.8 Healthy Housing Cost Burden
3106 Warrick County IN 20.9 Healthy Debt & Delinquency
3105 Deuel County SD 21.0 Healthy Community Vulnerability
3104 Sioux County IA 21.0 Healthy Housing Cost Burden
3103 Boone County IN 21.0 Healthy Employment & Wages
3102 Summit County UT 21.1 Healthy Housing Cost Burden
3101 Union County OH 21.2 Healthy Employment & Wages
3100 Warren County OH 21.2 Healthy Housing Cost Burden
3099 Waukesha County WI 21.3 Healthy Housing Cost Burden
3098 Bottineau County ND 21.4 Healthy Community Vulnerability
3097 Pembina County ND 21.6 Healthy Community Vulnerability
3096 Oliver County ND 21.7 Healthy Employment & Wages
3095 Ozaukee County WI 21.8 Healthy Housing Cost Burden

Browse by State

Select a state to see county-level distress data, rankings, and maps.

AL 67

Alabama

Mean: 56.2 High: 73.0
AK 30

Alaska

Mean: 49.5 High: 65.9
AZ 15

Arizona

Mean: 59.9 High: 71.4
AR 75

Arkansas

Mean: 61.3 High: 79.2
CA 58

California

Mean: 55.0 High: 73.2
CO 64

Colorado

Mean: 43.8 High: 70.1
CT 9

Connecticut

Mean: 44.8 High: 55.6
DE 3

Delaware

Mean: 52.4 High: 61.4
DC 1

District of Columbia

Mean: 47.6 High: 47.6
FL 67

Florida

Mean: 61.6 High: 80.3
GA 159

Georgia

Mean: 61.3 High: 79.6
HI 5

Hawaii

Mean: 41.3 High: 50.4
ID 44

Idaho

Mean: 43.4 High: 64.9
IL 102

Illinois

Mean: 44.5 High: 65.6
IN 92

Indiana

Mean: 43.9 High: 64.8
IA 99

Iowa

Mean: 34.3 High: 58.9
KS 105

Kansas

Mean: 42.1 High: 69.3
KY 120

Kentucky

Mean: 54.4 High: 77.8
LA 64

Louisiana

Mean: 59.8 High: 77.2
ME 16

Maine

Mean: 49.5 High: 66.8
MD 24

Maryland

Mean: 45.9 High: 71.5
MA 14

Massachusetts

Mean: 46.7 High: 68.5
MI 83

Michigan

Mean: 49.5 High: 70.5
MN 87

Minnesota

Mean: 36.8 High: 59.7
MS 82

Mississippi

Mean: 62.3 High: 79.0
MO 115

Missouri

Mean: 50.8 High: 82.9
MT 56

Montana

Mean: 44.8 High: 72.1
NE 93

Nebraska

Mean: 36.6 High: 57.1
NV 17

Nevada

Mean: 54.9 High: 75.5
NH 10

New Hampshire

Mean: 42.3 High: 57.5
NJ 21

New Jersey

Mean: 48.2 High: 74.9
NM 33

New Mexico

Mean: 60.2 High: 76.1
NY 62

New York

Mean: 47.5 High: 77.7
NC 100

North Carolina

Mean: 55.9 High: 77.3
ND 53

North Dakota

Mean: 29.6 High: 61.4
OH 88

Ohio

Mean: 48.9 High: 68.9
OK 77

Oklahoma

Mean: 60.4 High: 79.2
OR 36

Oregon

Mean: 54.3 High: 70.4
PA 67

Pennsylvania

Mean: 46.5 High: 66.7
RI 5

Rhode Island

Mean: 43.1 High: 58.4
SC 46

South Carolina

Mean: 60.6 High: 74.9
SD 66

South Dakota

Mean: 34.8 High: 65.6
TN 95

Tennessee

Mean: 57.7 High: 78.1
TX 254

Texas

Mean: 57.5 High: 79.2
UT 29

Utah

Mean: 38.9 High: 64.0
VT 14

Vermont

Mean: 39.0 High: 50.4
VA 133

Virginia

Mean: 48.5 High: 82.0
WA 39

Washington

Mean: 48.4 High: 64.5
WV 55

West Virginia

Mean: 52.8 High: 70.3
WI 72

Wisconsin

Mean: 37.5 High: 69.4
WY 23

Wyoming

Mean: 39.4 High: 57.4

How County Scores Work

Each county is scored 0–100 using percentile-rank averaging across five data domains: Debt & Delinquency, Income & Poverty, Housing Cost Burden, Employment & Wages, and Community Vulnerability. A score of 50 means the county falls at the national median. Higher scores indicate greater financial distress.

Crisis (80+) — Extreme distress across multiple domains
Serious Stress (65–80) — Significant distress, multiple domains elevated
Elevated (50–65) — Above-average distress in several areas
Normal (35–50) — Near the national median
Healthy (<35) — Below-average distress

Full methodology and data sources

County detail pages are being published on a rolling basis. 99 of 3,144 county reports are currently available, with new counties added weekly. All 3,144 counties are scored and visible on the map above.

Frequently Asked Questions

What data sources are used for county distress scores?

County scores draw from six federal and nonprofit data sources: the Urban Institute (debt delinquency), Bureau of Labor Statistics (unemployment), Census Bureau (poverty, housing burden, business formation), HUD (fair market rents), US Courts (bankruptcy filings), and BLS QCEW (wages). Each county is scored across 19 individual indicators grouped into five domains.

How often are county scores updated?

County data is updated as new source data becomes available — typically monthly for employment and wages, annually for Census poverty and housing data. The composite scores are recomputed after each data update. New county detail pages are published weekly.

How do county scores differ from the national American Distress Index?

The national ADI tracks household financial distress over time using quarterly time-series data. County scores are cross-sectional — they compare counties to each other at a point in time using percentile-rank averaging. Both use a 0–100 scale with the same zone thresholds, but they measure different things: the ADI tracks trends, county scores compare places.

Related Data

State Financial Distress Profiles

State-level distress scores, debt data, and foreclosure law summaries for all 50 states and DC.

American Distress Index

The national composite tracking U.S. household financial stress over time.

Household Debt by State

Full 51-state comparison of consumer debt, delinquency, and per-capita debt levels.

County Story Kits

Pre-built story packages for journalists: county scores, context, charts, and source contacts.
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If you're struggling with debt or facing foreclosure, free help is available. Find help near you · Browse the Glossary · The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development provides HUD-approved housing counselors at no cost. You can also call 1-800-569-4287.