Polk County, Arkansas

County Distress Index: Elevated · 62.8 | 19,436 people · 36th most distressed in Arkansas

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Polk County, AR registers elevated household financial distress with a score of 62.8 — 631st 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 Arkansas, it ranks 36th of 75 counties. Among its 7 neighboring counties, 6 show more distress.

The Numbers Behind the Score

The CDI measures five domains of financial distress. Polk County's primary driver is Income & Poverty at 75.8 — worse than roughly 76% of U.S. counties.

Income & Poverty Primary driver 75.8
Poverty Rate 81
Income vs. State Median 64
Child Poverty Rate 83
Community Vulnerability 75.0
Uninsured Rate 63
Disability Rate 87
Employment & Wages 65.3
Unemployment Rate 78
Wage-to-Rent Ratio 51
Business Formation Rate 66
Debt & Delinquency 61.5
Debt in Collections 62
Medical Debt 82
Student Loan Delinquency 74
Auto Loan Delinquency 37
Credit Card Delinquency 84
Bankruptcy Filing Rate 30
Housing Cost Burden 36.2
Rent-Burdened (30%+) 26
Severely Rent-Burdened (50%+) 60
Mortgage-Burdened (30%+) 22
Homeownership Rate 10
Rent-to-Income Ratio 63

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

Neighbors and Peers

How Polk County compares to its 7 neighboring counties and population peers.

Neighboring Counties

County Score Zone vs. Polk County
Polk County, AR 62.8 Elevated
Le Flore County, OK 72.5 Serious +9.8
Scott County, AR 70.9 Serious +8.1
Montgomery County, AR 70.5 Serious +7.8
Howard County, AR 69.9 Serious +7.2
McCurtain County, OK 69.6 Serious +6.9
Pike County, AR 63.8 Elevated +1.1
Sevier County, AR 61.7 Elevated -1.0

Population Peers

County Score Zone vs. Polk County
Saline County, IL 62.7 Elevated -0.0
Fentress County, TN 62.8 Elevated +0.0
Greene County, MS 62.8 Elevated +0.0
Monroe County, TN 62.7 Elevated -0.0
Freestone County, TX 62.7 Elevated -0.0

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