About one in three people in Dallas County, Alabama, lives below the poverty line
In Dallas County, 29.6% of people lived below the poverty line (Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates, 2024). That is higher than in 98% of U.S. counties.
More distressed than 99% of U.S. counties.
What drives Dallas County's score
In Dallas County, late payments on loans weigh most: the score for late payments on loans is 98.3. People with a car or retail loan behind: 15.7%, August 2025, higher than in 99% of U.S. counties. Collections and bankruptcy comes next, at 98.1.
The County Distress Index combines five things we measure for every county: jobs, late payments on loans, income and the safety net, collections and bankruptcy, and housing costs. Each gets a score from 0 to 100; the higher the score, the worse off the county is compared with others.
Dallas County is worse off than the typical U.S. county on every measure in the score.
The five parts count equally; together they hold 14 measures. Under each part, a bar shows where Dallas County ranks among all 3,144 U.S. counties on that measure, as a percentile: the share of counties it is higher than. A longer bar means more trouble.
- 98.3 of 100
Late payments
Biggest factorCredit records, August 2025; credit scores, Q4 2025
- People with a car or retail loan behind15.7% · August 202599th percentile
- People with a credit card behind10.8% · August 202596th percentile
- People with a subprime credit score45.3% · Q4 202598th percentile
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- 98.1 of 100
Collections and bankruptcy
Credit records, August 2025; bankruptcy filings, 2025
- People with unpaid debt sent to a collector42.5% · August 202597th percentile
- Bankruptcy filings per 100,000 people569.6 · 202599th percentile
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- 91.4 of 100
Housing costs
HUD's fair market rents, fiscal year 2027; renters, 2020–24 Census survey
- Rent on a two-bedroom as a share of the median income27.4% · fiscal year 202791st percentile
- Renters paying half their income or more in rent26.6% · 2020 to 202490th percentile
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- 87.3 of 100
Income and safety net
Poverty and income, 2024; disability and insurance, 2020–24 Census survey
- Children below the poverty line44.9% · 202499th percentile
- People with a disability21.6% · 2020 to 202487th percentile
- Median household income (lower income, longer bar)$41,409 · 202498th percentile
- People below the poverty line29.6% · 202498th percentile
- People without health insurance8.2% · 2020 to 202453rd percentile
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- 82.7 of 100
Jobs
Adults not working, 2020–24 Census survey; unemployment through Aug 2026
- Adults 25 to 54 not working30.5% · 2020 to 202490th percentile
- Unemployment rate, 12-month average4.8% · Sep 2025 to Aug 202674th percentile
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Sources: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Fair Market Rents and U.S. Census Bureau income; Census Bureau, American Community Survey; Urban Institute, Debt in America; Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, Table F-5A; Equifax via the St. Louis Fed; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics; Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates. County Distress Index by American Default Research, from data through Aug 2026.
Where the money in Dallas County comes from
The Bureau of Economic Analysis adds up all the income that reaches the people of a county and splits it three ways: pay from work, income from investments and rent, and benefit checks.
Cents of every dollar of income, 2024
Dallas County
Alabama
United States
- Pay from work
- Investments and rent
- Benefit checks
In Dallas County in 2024, pay from work was 46 cents of every dollar of income. Income from investments and rentals was 15 cents. Benefit checks were 40 cents. Across the country, pay is 61 cents of the dollar and benefit checks are 18.
Benefit checks brought in more than pay in one of the years since 1969, but pay is ahead now.
In Dallas County, benefit checks rose from 10 to 40 cents of every dollar
Benefit checks and pay from work as shares of all personal income, Dallas County, Alabama: 39.8% and 45.5% in 2024. Yearly, 1969–2024.
Use this chart Free to use with credit
The quote: In 2024, benefit checks made up 39.8% of all personal income in Dallas County, Alabama (U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, CAINC4).
Benefit checks are Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid paid on people's behalf, veterans' benefits, and food and income support, so a high share usually means an older population, low pay, or both. In Dallas County, 20.4% of residents are 65 or older (Census Bureau, 2024), against 17.2% nationally.
How Dallas County has changed
The number of people living in Dallas County fell by about four in 10 between 1969 and 2024, from 56,430 to 35,545. The number of jobs located there fell by about three in 10 from 1990 to 2024.
Unemployment fell from 12.2% in 1990 to 4.6% in 2025.
| Measure | Then | Now |
|---|---|---|
| People living in the countyBEA | 1969 56,430 | 2024 35,545 |
| Jobs located in the countyBLS QCEW | 1990 16,862 | 2024 11,290 |
| Unemployment rateBLS LAUS | 1990 12.2% | 2025 4.6% |
| People below the poverty lineCensus SAIPE | 1989 33.7% | 2024 29.6% |
| Median household income (not adjusted for prices)Census SAIPE | 1989 $15,962 | 2024 $41,409 |
| Share of income from benefit checksBEA | 1969 10.2% | 2024 39.8% |
Figures are as each agency published them, not adjusted for prices. We don't chart the distress score over time because it compares counties at one moment.
Dated events in Dallas County's history
Largest decennial census count
The county's largest recorded population was the 1960 Census count of 56,667. The 2020 Census counted 38,462, 68% of the peak. Census Bureau
1818
February 9, 1818, created from Montgomery County. Wikipedia
1860
Redoshi (Sally Smith) kidnapped in Benin at age 12 in 1860, transported on slave ship Clotilda to Mobile, Alabama. Wikipedia
1865
Selma iron works and foundry second-most important military weapons source for Confederacy, operated during Civil War. Wikipedia
1978
Tornado: $2.5 million in property damage. NOAA Storm Events Database
1983
Tornado: $2.5 million in property damage, one death. NOAA Storm Events Database
1996
Tornado: $8 million in property damage, four deaths. NOAA Storm Events Database
2025
Tornado: two deaths. NOAA Storm Events Database
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Since 1975
27 federal disaster and emergency declarations have covered Dallas County, 9 of them for flooding. FEMA
Storms are listed if they did $1 million or more in damage or killed someone.
Dallas County beside its neighbors
Dallas County scores higher than all six counties that border it. For the share of income from benefit checks, Dallas County ranks 3rd of the seven; Perry County is highest, at 46.0%.
| County | Score | Poverty | Benefit checks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dallas County, AL | 99 | 29.6% | 39.8% |
| Perry County, AL | 99 | 29.8% | 46.0% |
| Wilcox County, AL | 99 | 34.0% | 45.5% |
| Lowndes County, AL | 97 | 25.0% | 32.3% |
| Marengo County, AL | 92 | 21.6% | 34.2% |
| Chilton County, AL | 72 | 15.4% | 27.5% |
| Autauga County, AL | 54 | 12.9% | 23.0% |
Distress score: American Default Research, County Distress Index, data through Aug 2026; each county scored against all 3,144. Poverty rate: Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates, 2024. Benefit checks: Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2024. Neighbors share a border, from Census county maps.
Is Dallas County the poorest county in Alabama?
No, Dallas County's poverty rate was 29.6% in 2024, 7th highest of 67 in Alabama (U.S. Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates). By that measure the poorest county in the state is Bullock County, at 36.7%. On our distress index, which counts more than poverty, Dallas County ranks 1st of 67 in the state.
Dallas County in photographs
Places in Dallas County from Wikimedia Commons, each captioned in its photographer's own words.
The Dallas County Courthouse in Selma, Alabama.
Photo: Altairisfar (Jeffrey Reed) via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Portion of the corten steel monument at the EJI’s National Memorial for Peace and Justice memorializing the Black individuals lynched in Dallas County, Alabama.
Dallas County, Alabama: common questions
What is the poverty rate in Dallas County, Alabama?
29.6% in 2024, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates: about one in three people. Among children it was 44.9%.
Is Dallas County the poorest county in Alabama?
No, Dallas County's poverty rate was 29.6% in 2024, 7th highest of 67 in Alabama (U.S. Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates). By that measure the poorest county in the state is Bullock County, at 36.7%. On our distress index, which counts more than poverty, Dallas County ranks 1st of 67 in the state.
What is the population of Dallas County, Alabama?
About 35,545 people in 2024, by the Bureau of Economic Analysis's count. The 2020 Census counted 38,462, 68% of the county's peak of 56,667 in 1960.
How is the County Distress Index calculated?
We rank every U.S. county on 14 federal measures of money trouble, grouped into five equally weighted parts, and average them. The published score is the share of the other 3,143 counties with a lower average. The methodology lists every measure and its source.
If you're behind on your mortgage in Dallas County
A U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development-approved housing counselor works at a nonprofit agency approved by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The counseling to avoid foreclosure is free, and a counselor can help you talk to your mortgage company and understand what it offers, according to the Consumer Financial Protection BureauSourceCFPB.
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Legal Services Alabama
Legal aid
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Alabama State Bar Lawyer Referral Service
Legal aid
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HUD-approved housing counselors
Counseling to avoid foreclosure is free. Our help directory lists 1,313 approved agencies by state.
The score, its 14 measures and their sources, in one file. Free to use with credit to American Default Research.
Download the CSV for Dallas County · Every U.S. county (CSV)
Sources and method
- American Default Research · County Distress Index Data through Aug 2026, built from HUD Fair Market Rents and Census income; Census Bureau, American Community Survey; Urban Institute, Debt in America; U.S. Courts, Table F-5A; Equifax via the St. Louis Fed; Bureau of Labor Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics; Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates. Our methodology
- U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Economic Accounts (CAINC4) · income shares Where the money in Dallas County comes from, 2024.
- History The agencies named in each row and the linked records above.