Jefferson County, Arkansas

County Distress Index: Serious · 66.6 | 63,661 people · 21st most distressed in Arkansas

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Jefferson County, AR shows significant household financial distress with a score of 66.6 — 400th nationally out of 3144 counties. The primary driver is Debt & Delinquency, where residents carry heavy debt burdens with elevated delinquency and collections rates. Within Arkansas, it ranks 21st of 75 counties. It scores higher than all 6 of its neighboring counties.

The Numbers Behind the Score

The CDI measures five domains of financial distress. Jefferson County's primary driver is Debt & Delinquency at 93.3 — worse than roughly 93% of U.S. counties.

Debt & Delinquency Primary driver 93.3
Debt in Collections 97
Medical Debt 77
Student Loan Delinquency 95
Auto Loan Delinquency 95
Credit Card Delinquency 99
Bankruptcy Filing Rate 96
Income & Poverty 80.8
Poverty Rate 95
Income vs. State Median 55
Child Poverty Rate 93
Housing Cost Burden 58.9
Rent-Burdened (30%+) 68
Severely Rent-Burdened (50%+) 52
Mortgage-Burdened (30%+) 22
Homeownership Rate 88
Rent-to-Income Ratio 65
Community Vulnerability 51.4
Uninsured Rate 24
Disability Rate 79
Employment & Wages 48.6
Unemployment Rate 95
Wage-to-Rent Ratio 19
Business Formation Rate 32

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

Neighbors and Peers

How Jefferson County compares to its 6 neighboring counties and population peers.

Neighboring Counties

County Score Zone vs. Jefferson County
Jefferson County, AR 66.6 Serious
Arkansas County, AR 61.6 Elevated -5.0
Lincoln County, AR 56.7 Elevated -9.9
Cleveland County, AR 55.8 Elevated -10.8
Pulaski County, AR 55.2 Elevated -11.4
Lonoke County, AR 45.1 Normal -21.5
Grant County, AR 40.9 Normal -25.7

Population Peers

County Score Zone vs. Jefferson County
Bulloch County, GA 66.6 Serious -0.0
Pike County, KY 66.8 Serious +0.2
Potter County, TX 66.8 Serious +0.2
Rapides Parish, LA 66.4 Serious -0.2
Troup County, GA 66.3 Serious -0.3

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