Santa Cruz County, Arizona

County Distress Index: Serious · 66.5 | 49,158 people · 6th most distressed in Arizona

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Santa Cruz County, AZ shows significant household financial distress with a score of 66.5 — 407th nationally out of 3144 counties. The primary driver is Income & Poverty, where poverty rates are high and household incomes lag well behind state and national medians. Within Arizona, it ranks 6th of 15 counties. It scores higher than all 2 of its neighboring counties.

The Numbers Behind the Score

The CDI measures five domains of financial distress. Santa Cruz County's primary driver is Income & Poverty at 85.9 — worse than roughly 86% of U.S. counties.

Income & Poverty Primary driver 85.9
Poverty Rate 86
Income vs. State Median 83
Child Poverty Rate 88
Housing Cost Burden 72.9
Rent-Burdened (30%+) 62
Severely Rent-Burdened (50%+) 55
Mortgage-Burdened (30%+) 87
Homeownership Rate 76
Rent-to-Income Ratio 84
Debt & Delinquency 67.9
Debt in Collections 58
Medical Debt 61
Student Loan Delinquency 57
Auto Loan Delinquency 78
Credit Card Delinquency 78
Bankruptcy Filing Rate 75
Community Vulnerability 53.6
Uninsured Rate 87
Disability Rate 20
Employment & Wages 52.4
Unemployment Rate 94
Wage-to-Rent Ratio 28
Business Formation Rate 35

Scores are percentile-based: 50 = national median, higher = more distressed. The median line is shown on each bar.

Neighbors and Peers

How Santa Cruz County compares to its 2 neighboring counties and population peers.

Neighboring Counties

County Score Zone vs. Santa Cruz County
Santa Cruz County, AZ 66.5 Serious
Cochise County, AZ 63.0 Elevated -3.6
Pima County, AZ 56.3 Elevated -10.3

Population Peers

County Score Zone vs. Santa Cruz County
Hale County, AL 66.6 Serious +0.0
Lawrence County, MS 66.6 Serious +0.0
Van Buren County, AR 66.6 Serious +0.0
Aransas County, TX 66.6 Serious +0.0
Upson County, GA 66.6 Serious +0.0

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