Arkansas County Distress Index
Financial distress scores for all 75 counties in Arkansas, scored 0–100 across five domains. Mean score: 61.3. 30counties are in Serious Stress or Crisis.
Data: Census, BLS, Urban Institute, HUD, US Courts | Scores as of 2026-03-17
Arkansas Snapshot
75 Counties Scored
61.3 Mean Score
61.7 Median Score
79.2 Phillips County Most Distressed
27.0 Benton County Least Distressed
30 Serious 39 Elevated 5 Normal 1 Healthy
Zone Distribution Arkansas County Map
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Healthy Normal Elevated Serious Crisis
All 75 Arkansas counties colored by distress zone. Hover for details; click released counties for full reports.
Most & Least Distressed
Most Distressed
#3 St. Francis County
74.9 Serious Stress
Income & Poverty Least Distressed
#75 Benton County
27.0 Healthy
Debt & Delinquency #74 Saline County
36.8 Normal
Employment & Wages #73 Grant County
40.9 Normal
Debt & Delinquency Score Distribution
How Arkansas's 75 county scores are distributed across the 0–100 scale.
All Arkansas Counties
75 counties ranked by distress score. Click column headers to sort.
| State Rank | Nat'l Rank | County | Score | Zone | Primary Driver |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 | Phillips County | 79.2 | Serious Stress | Income & Poverty |
| 2 | 12 | Lee County | 78.8 | Serious Stress | Income & Poverty |
| 3 | 67 | St. Francis County | 74.9 | Serious Stress | Income & Poverty |
| 4 | 110 | Chicot County | 72.6 | Serious Stress | Income & Poverty |
| 5 | 115 | Bradley County | 72.4 | Serious Stress | Income & Poverty |
| 6 | 152 | Crittenden County | 71.2 | Serious Stress | Debt & Delinquency |
| 7 | 160 | Nevada County | 71.1 | Serious Stress | Income & Poverty |
| 8 | 164 | Monroe County | 70.9 | Serious Stress | Income & Poverty |
| 9 | 167 | Scott County | 70.9 | Serious Stress | Income & Poverty |
| 10 | 171 | Desha County | 70.8 | Serious Stress | Income & Poverty |
| 11 | 186 | Montgomery County | 70.5 | Serious Stress | Employment & Wages |
| 12 | 206 | Miller County | 70.2 | Serious Stress | Community Vulnerability |
| 13 | 214 | Howard County | 69.9 | Serious Stress | Debt & Delinquency |
| 14 | 221 | Mississippi County | 69.7 | Serious Stress | Debt & Delinquency |
| 15 | 225 | Jackson County | 69.7 | Serious Stress | Income & Poverty |
| 16 | 239 | Fulton County | 69.4 | Serious Stress | Community Vulnerability |
| 17 | 267 | Ashley County | 68.8 | Serious Stress | Debt & Delinquency |
| 18 | 309 | Poinsett County | 68.1 | Serious Stress | Debt & Delinquency |
| 19 | 329 | Garland County | 67.7 | Serious Stress | Community Vulnerability |
| 20 | 384 | Drew County | 66.9 | Serious Stress | Debt & Delinquency |
| 21 | 400 | Jefferson County | 66.6 | Serious Stress | Debt & Delinquency |
| 22 | 402 | Van Buren County | 66.6 | Serious Stress | Community Vulnerability |
| 23 | 418 | Lafayette County | 66.3 | Serious Stress | Income & Poverty |
| 24 | 421 | Hempstead County | 66.3 | Serious Stress | Debt & Delinquency |
| 25 | 434 | Stone County | 66.1 | Serious Stress | Income & Poverty |
| 26 | 437 | Dallas County | 66.0 | Serious Stress | Debt & Delinquency |
| 27 | 458 | Lawrence County | 65.8 | Serious Stress | Community Vulnerability |
| 28 | 464 | Johnson County | 65.7 | Serious Stress | Employment & Wages |
| 29 | 480 | Woodruff County | 65.3 | Serious Stress | Income & Poverty |
| 30 | 486 | Izard County | 65.2 | Serious Stress | Employment & Wages |
| 31 | 556 | Greene County | 64.1 | Elevated | Debt & Delinquency |
| 32 | 559 | Cross County | 64.0 | Elevated | Debt & Delinquency |
| 33 | 568 | Columbia County | 63.9 | Elevated | Income & Poverty |
| 34 | 572 | Pike County | 63.8 | Elevated | Community Vulnerability |
| 35 | 581 | Clay County | 63.7 | Elevated | Debt & Delinquency |
| 36 | 631 | Polk County | 62.8 | Elevated | Income & Poverty |
| 37 | 663 | Clark County | 62.4 | Elevated | Community Vulnerability |
| 38 | 704 | Sevier County | 61.7 | Elevated | Debt & Delinquency |
| 39 | 711 | Arkansas County | 61.6 | Elevated | Debt & Delinquency |
| 40 | 722 | Sharp County | 61.4 | Elevated | Income & Poverty |
| 41 | 752 | Searcy County | 61.0 | Elevated | Income & Poverty |
| 42 | 773 | Marion County | 60.8 | Elevated | Employment & Wages |
| 43 | 825 | Craighead County | 60.0 | Elevated | Debt & Delinquency |
| 44 | 828 | Logan County | 60.0 | Elevated | Employment & Wages |
| 45 | 841 | Randolph County | 59.9 | Elevated | Community Vulnerability |
| 46 | 886 | Newton County | 59.3 | Elevated | Employment & Wages |
| 47 | 916 | Baxter County | 58.8 | Elevated | Community Vulnerability |
| 48 | 925 | Ouachita County | 58.6 | Elevated | Debt & Delinquency |
| 49 | 929 | Yell County | 58.6 | Elevated | Employment & Wages |
| 50 | 935 | Conway County | 58.5 | Elevated | Debt & Delinquency |
| 51 | 948 | Union County | 58.4 | Elevated | Debt & Delinquency |
| 52 | 964 | Little River County | 58.3 | Elevated | Debt & Delinquency |
| 53 | 1,033 | Franklin County | 57.5 | Elevated | Community Vulnerability |
| 54 | 1,055 | Sebastian County | 57.3 | Elevated | Community Vulnerability |
| 55 | 1,093 | Perry County | 56.7 | Elevated | Employment & Wages |
| 56 | 1,096 | Lincoln County | 56.7 | Elevated | Debt & Delinquency |
| 57 | 1,156 | Cleveland County | 55.8 | Elevated | Debt & Delinquency |
| 58 | 1,161 | Hot Spring County | 55.8 | Elevated | Community Vulnerability |
| 59 | 1,191 | Pulaski County | 55.2 | Elevated | Housing Cost Burden |
| 60 | 1,193 | White County | 55.2 | Elevated | Community Vulnerability |
| 61 | 1,255 | Madison County | 54.4 | Elevated | Community Vulnerability |
| 62 | 1,307 | Cleburne County | 53.8 | Elevated | Employment & Wages |
| 63 | 1,315 | Crawford County | 53.7 | Elevated | Debt & Delinquency |
| 64 | 1,336 | Pope County | 53.5 | Elevated | Debt & Delinquency |
| 65 | 1,341 | Prairie County | 53.4 | Elevated | Debt & Delinquency |
| 66 | 1,377 | Carroll County | 53.0 | Elevated | Community Vulnerability |
| 67 | 1,424 | Independence County | 52.4 | Elevated | Community Vulnerability |
| 68 | 1,438 | Boone County | 52.2 | Elevated | Community Vulnerability |
| 69 | 1,576 | Faulkner County | 50.2 | Elevated | Debt & Delinquency |
| 70 | 1,609 | Calhoun County | 49.8 | Normal | Community Vulnerability |
| 71 | 1,793 | Washington County | 47.5 | Normal | Housing Cost Burden |
| 72 | 1,973 | Lonoke County | 45.1 | Normal | Debt & Delinquency |
| 73 | 2,299 | Grant County | 40.9 | Normal | Debt & Delinquency |
| 74 | 2,547 | Saline County | 36.8 | Normal | Employment & Wages |
| 75 | 2,983 | Benton County | 27.0 | Healthy | Debt & Delinquency |
2 of 75 county reports for Arkansas are currently available. All 75 counties are scored and visible on the map above. New county reports are published weekly.
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