About half people with a credit file in Crittenden County, Arkansas, have unpaid debt sent to a collector
In Crittenden County, 48.3% of people with a credit file had unpaid debt sent to a collector. That is higher than in 99% of U.S. counties.
More distressed than 99% of U.S. counties.
What drives Crittenden County's score
In Crittenden County, collections and bankruptcy weighs most: the score for collections and bankruptcy is 96.9. Late payments on loans come next, at 96.6.
The County Distress Index looks at five parts of household money trouble in Crittenden County: jobs, late payments on loans, income and the safety net, collections and bankruptcy, and housing costs. Each part is scored from 0 to 100, and a higher score means worse off than other counties.
Crittenden County is worse off than the typical U.S. county on every measure in the score.
A longer bar means more trouble. See how the county score works.
- 96.9 of 100
Collections and bankruptcy
Biggest factorCredit records, August 2025; bankruptcy filings, 2025
- People with unpaid debt sent to a collector48.3% · August 202599th percentile
- Bankruptcy filings per 100,000 people360.6 · 202594th percentile
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- 96.6 of 100
Late payments
Credit records, August 2025; credit scores, second quarter of 2026
- People with a credit card behind10.5% · August 202596th percentile
- People with a car or retail loan behind13.4% · August 202598th percentile
- People with a subprime credit score59.2% · second quarter of 202695th percentile
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- 86.6 of 100
Jobs
Unemployment through Sep 2026; adults not working, 2020–24 Census survey
- Unemployment rate, average over the latest year5.5% · Oct 2025 to Sep 202688th percentile
- Adults 25 to 54 not working27.9% · 2020 to 202484th percentile
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- 86.5 of 100
Housing costs
Renters, 2020–24 Census survey; HUD's fair market rents, fiscal year 2027
- Renters paying half their income or more in rent22.6% · 2020 to 202475th percentile
- Rent on a two-bedroom as a share of the median income30.3% · fiscal year 202797th percentile
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- 80.7 of 100
Income and safety net
Poverty and income, 2024; disability and insurance, 2020–24 Census survey
- People below the poverty line22.5% · 202493rd percentile
- Children below the poverty line31.5% · 202493rd percentile
- People with a disability17.6% · 2020 to 202464th percentile
- People without health insurance9.6% · 2020 to 202463rd percentile
- Median household income (lower income, longer bar)$51,600 · 202488th percentile
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Sources: Urban Institute, Debt in America; Equifax via the St. Louis Fed; Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, Table F-5A; U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey; U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Fair Market Rents and Census income; 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 Sep 2026.
Where the money in Crittenden County comes from
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 Crittenden County, 15.3% of residents are 65 or older (Census Bureau, 2024), against 17.2% nationally that year.
Cents of every dollar of income, 2024
Crittenden County
Arkansas
United States
- Pay from work
- Investments and rent
- Benefit checks
In Crittenden County, benefit checks' share of income has grown to about four times its 1969 level, reaching 31.3% in 2024, but pay from work still brings in twice as much as benefit checks
In Crittenden County, Arkansas, benefit checks' share of income grew to about four times its 1969 level by 2024, reaching 31.3%; pay from work is plotted alongside. Every fifth year and 2024 are shown.
- Benefit checks
- Pay from work
SNAP food aid is one of the benefit checks counted in the income totals above.
The share of households in Crittenden County getting SNAP food aid was at its highest on the chart in 2016 and has since fallen by about a third
Biggest drop: 2016 to 2017, reaching 21.0%. Households getting SNAP, every year; each bar is a five-year survey estimate ending that year, so neighboring bars share most of their data, Crittenden County, Arkansas.
How Crittenden County has changed
Crittenden County's population fell 3% from 1969 to 2024, reaching its lowest on the chart, with most of the change between 2019 and 2024
High on the chart: 50,929 in 2009. Residents, yearly estimate, every fifth year and 2024, Crittenden County, Arkansas.
The jobs count covers work located in the county; the population count covers residents.
The number of jobs located in Crittenden County rose by about a quarter to 17,907, the highest on the chart, with most of the change between 2020 and 2025
Biggest rise: 2020 to 2025, reaching 17,907. Yearly average of jobs covered by unemployment insurance, every fifth year and 2025, Crittenden County, Arkansas.
| Measure | Then | Now |
|---|---|---|
| Unemployment rateBLS LAUS | 1990 7.4% | 2025 5.6% |
| People below the poverty lineCensus SAIPE | 1989 28.6% | 2024 22.5% |
| Median household incomeCensus SAIPE | 1989 $18,787 | 2024 $51,600 |
The table uses 5.6% for 2025; the score uses 5.5% for the latest year (Oct 2025 to Sep 2026), both from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Figures are as each agency published them, not adjusted for prices.
Dated events in Crittenden County's history
1825
Formed October 22, 1825. Wikipedia
1987
A tornado in December 1987 did $25 million in property damage and killed six people. NOAA Storm Events Database
1994
A tornado in November 1994 did $5 million in property damage. NOAA Storm Events Database
2008
A tornado in May 2008 did $2 million in property damage. NOAA Storm Events Database
2010
The county's largest recorded population was the 2010 Census count of 50,902. The 2020 Census counted 48,163, 95% of the peak. Census Bureau
2010
A flash flood in May 2010 did $7.5 million in property damage. NOAA Storm Events Database
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Since 1973
21 federal disaster and emergency declarations have covered Crittenden County, 9 of them for flooding. FEMA
Crittenden County beside its neighbors
Crittenden County scores higher than all nine counties that border it, in Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee. For the share of income from benefit checks, Crittenden County ranks 6th of the 10; St. Francis County is highest, at 43.7%.
| County | Score | Poverty | Benefit checks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crittenden County, AR | 99 | 22.5% | 31.3% |
| St. Francis County, AR | 99 | 30.6% | 43.7% |
| Tunica County, MS | 99 | 25.0% | 33.1% |
| Lee County, AR | 98 | 41.3% | 39.1% |
| Mississippi County, AR | 97 | 20.0% | 28.6% |
| Shelby County, TN | 95 | 19.0% | 19.5% |
| Poinsett County, AR | 92 | 22.1% | 34.8% |
| Cross County, AR | 85 | 18.4% | 33.7% |
| Tipton County, TN | 62 | 13.6% | 24.0% |
| DeSoto County, MS | 59 | 9.6% | 16.6% |
Distress score: American Default Research, County Distress Index, data through Sep 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 Crittenden County the poorest county in Arkansas?
No, Crittenden County's poverty rate was 22.5% in 2024, 10th highest of 75 in Arkansas (U.S. Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates). By that measure the poorest county in the state is Lee County, at 41.3%. On our distress index, which counts more than poverty, Crittenden County ranks 2nd of 75 in the state.
If you're behind on your mortgage in Crittenden County
Housing counselors approved by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development work at nonprofit agencies. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau describes free foreclosure-avoidance counseling, including help with mortgage-company conversations and available options Source CFPB.
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Legal Aid of Arkansas
Legal aid
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HUD-approved housing counselors
Our help directory lists 1,010 agencies approved for foreclosure counseling, 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 Crittenden County · Every U.S. county (CSV)
Sources and method
- American Default Research · County Distress Index Data through Sep 2026, built from Urban Institute, Debt in America; Equifax via the St. Louis Fed; U.S. Courts, Table F-5A; Census Bureau, American Community Survey; HUD Fair Market Rents and Census income; Bureau of Labor Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics; Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates. The County Distress Index is American Default Research's own calculation; the Urban Institute does not produce or endorse it. Our methodology
- Urban Institute · Debt in America Breno Braga, Signe-Mary McKernan, Samantha Atherton, and Kassandra Martinchek, "Debt in America," last updated November 20, 2025, https://datacatalog.urban.org/dataset/debt-america-2025. Licensed under ODC-By 1.0.
- Rent on a two-bedroom and household income The rent share compares HUD fair market rent for fiscal year 2027 with Census Bureau median household income for 2024. The page calls this the typical household's income.
- U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Economic Accounts (CAINC4) · income shares Where the money in Crittenden County comes from, 2024.
- History The agencies named in each row and the linked records above.