Arkansas County Distress Index
Financial distress scores for all 75 counties in Arkansas, scored 0–100 across five domains. Mean score: 64.0. 35counties are in Serious or Crisis.
Data: Census, BLS, Urban Institute, HUD, US Courts | Scores as of 2026-03-26
Arkansas Snapshot
75 Counties Scored
64.0 Mean Score
63.6 Median Score
85.9 Crittenden County Most Distressed
34.3 Benton County Least Distressed
4 Crisis 31 Serious 31 Elevated 8 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
Least Distressed
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 | 12 | Crittenden County | 85.9 | Crisis | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 2 | 15 | Phillips County | 85.5 | Crisis | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 3 | 25 | Lee County | 83.7 | Crisis | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 4 | 27 | St. Francis County | 83.3 | Crisis | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 5 | 67 | Desha County | 79.8 | Serious | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 6 | 77 | Miller County | 79.3 | Serious | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 7 | 127 | Jefferson County | 77.0 | Serious | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 8 | 134 | Mississippi County | 76.8 | Serious | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 9 | 154 | Chicot County | 76.1 | Serious | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 10 | 170 | Nevada County | 75.4 | Serious | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 11 | 180 | Craighead County | 75.2 | Serious | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 12 | 204 | Monroe County | 74.6 | Serious | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 13 | 217 | Greene County | 74.2 | Serious | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 14 | 238 | Ashley County | 73.7 | Serious | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 15 | 251 | Poinsett County | 73.3 | Serious | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 16 | 262 | Cross County | 73.2 | Serious | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 17 | 269 | Jackson County | 72.9 | Serious | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 18 | 283 | Drew County | 72.6 | Serious | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 19 | 284 | Hempstead County | 72.6 | Serious | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 20 | 293 | Bradley County | 72.4 | Serious | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 21 | 297 | Clark County | 72.4 | Serious | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 22 | 302 | Dallas County | 72.3 | Serious | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 23 | 328 | Howard County | 71.6 | Serious | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 24 | 351 | Woodruff County | 70.9 | Serious | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 25 | 361 | Union County | 70.7 | Serious | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 26 | 370 | Lawrence County | 70.5 | Serious | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 27 | 388 | Pulaski County | 70.0 | Serious | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 28 | 404 | Little River County | 69.7 | Serious | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 29 | 407 | Garland County | 69.7 | Serious | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 30 | 446 | Scott County | 68.7 | Serious | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 31 | 480 | Lafayette County | 68.2 | Serious | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 32 | 484 | Columbia County | 68.1 | Serious | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 33 | 487 | Arkansas County | 68.0 | Serious | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 34 | 507 | Johnson County | 67.7 | Serious | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 35 | 564 | Ouachita County | 66.7 | Serious | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 36 | 683 | Van Buren County | 64.4 | Elevated | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 37 | 737 | Cleveland County | 63.6 | Elevated | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 38 | 738 | White County | 63.6 | Elevated | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 39 | 768 | Clay County | 63.0 | Elevated | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 40 | 769 | Faulkner County | 63.0 | Elevated | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 41 | 772 | Sevier County | 63.0 | Elevated | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 42 | 805 | Randolph County | 62.4 | Elevated | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 43 | 823 | Hot Spring County | 62.1 | Elevated | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 44 | 839 | Sebastian County | 61.6 | Elevated | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 45 | 864 | Conway County | 61.3 | Elevated | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 46 | 919 | Crawford County | 60.5 | Elevated | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 47 | 927 | Pike County | 60.3 | Elevated | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 48 | 965 | Sharp County | 59.8 | Elevated | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 49 | 980 | Fulton County | 59.6 | Elevated | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 50 | 990 | Independence County | 59.4 | Elevated | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 51 | 1,008 | Izard County | 59.2 | Elevated | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 52 | 1,056 | Perry County | 58.3 | Elevated | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 53 | 1,088 | Montgomery County | 57.8 | Elevated | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 54 | 1,188 | Lonoke County | 56.2 | Elevated | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 55 | 1,192 | Lincoln County | 56.2 | Elevated | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 56 | 1,198 | Polk County | 56.1 | Elevated | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 57 | 1,203 | Pope County | 56.0 | Elevated | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 58 | 1,241 | Logan County | 55.5 | Elevated | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 59 | 1,258 | Franklin County | 55.2 | Elevated | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 60 | 1,327 | Baxter County | 54.2 | Elevated | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 61 | 1,346 | Washington County | 53.9 | Elevated | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 62 | 1,347 | Yell County | 53.9 | Elevated | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 63 | 1,392 | Carroll County | 53.1 | Elevated | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 64 | 1,395 | Stone County | 53.1 | Elevated | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 65 | 1,430 | Boone County | 52.5 | Elevated | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 66 | 1,544 | Prairie County | 50.5 | Elevated | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 67 | 1,612 | Cleburne County | 49.4 | Normal | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 68 | 1,617 | Grant County | 49.3 | Normal | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 69 | 1,658 | Madison County | 48.8 | Normal | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 70 | 1,746 | Marion County | 47.6 | Normal | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 71 | 1,780 | Saline County | 46.9 | Normal | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 72 | 1,848 | Calhoun County | 45.9 | Normal | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 73 | 1,899 | Newton County | 45.0 | Normal | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 74 | 1,964 | Searcy County | 43.8 | Normal | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 75 | 2,509 | Benton County | 34.3 | Healthy | Consumer Credit Distress |
How County Scores Work
Each county is scored 0–100 using PCA-weighted percentile-rank scoring across five statistically derived dimensions: Consumer Credit Distress, Housing Cost Burden, Structural Poverty, Economic Vitality, and Legal Distress. A score of 50 means the county falls at the national median. Higher scores indicate greater household financial distress.
Crisis (≥80) — Among the most distressed counties in the country
Serious (65–80) — More distressed than roughly 80% of counties
Elevated (50–65) — More distressed than roughly half of counties
Normal (35–50) — Near the national median
Healthy (<35) — Less distressed than most counties