California County Distress Index
Financial distress scores for all 58 counties in California, scored 0–100 across five domains. A county's score is the share of U.S. counties it is more distressed than; the average California county scores 55.9. 19 counties score high, very high, or extreme.
Data: U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Urban Institute, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts | Scores as of Aug 2026
California Snapshot
California County Map
Lake County is the most distressed of California's 58 counties
County Distress Index score for California's 58 counties, from green (least distressed, 0–29) to red (most distressed, 80–100). Data from 2024 to Aug 2026.
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County Distress Index score · data from 2024 to Aug 2026
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Most & Least Distressed
Most Distressed
Least Distressed
Score Distribution
How California's 58 county scores are distributed across the 0–100 scale.
All California Counties
58 counties ranked by distress score. Click column headers to sort.
| State Rank | Nat'l Rank | County | Score | Score Label | Primary Driver |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | — | Lake County | 93 | extreme county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 2 | — | Imperial County | 89 | very high county distress | Labor |
| 3 | — | Kern County | 88 | very high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 4 | — | Merced County | 86 | very high county distress | Labor |
| 5 | — | Tehama County | 85 | very high county distress | Labor |
| 6 | — | Tulare County | 85 | very high county distress | Labor |
| 7 | — | Fresno County | 83 | very high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 8 | — | San Bernardino County | 81 | very high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 9 | — | Stanislaus County | 81 | very high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 10 | — | Madera County | 81 | very high county distress | Labor |
| 11 | — | Butte County | 81 | very high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 12 | — | Del Norte County | 78 | high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 13 | — | Kings County | 78 | high county distress | Labor |
| 14 | — | Yuba County | 75 | high county distress | Labor |
| 15 | — | Glenn County | 74 | high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 16 | — | Siskiyou County | 71 | high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 17 | — | San Joaquin County | 71 | high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 18 | — | Riverside County | 70 | high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 19 | — | Shasta County | 70 | high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 20 | — | Sutter County | 69 | moderate-high county distress | Labor |
| 21 | — | Los Angeles County | 66 | moderate-high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 22 | — | Humboldt County | 64 | moderate-high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 23 | — | Tuolumne County | 63 | moderate-high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 24 | — | Calaveras County | 63 | moderate-high county distress | Labor |
| 25 | — | Mendocino County | 63 | moderate-high county distress | Labor |
| 26 | — | Solano County | 61 | moderate-high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 27 | — | Modoc County | 59 | moderate county distress | Labor |
| 28 | — | Sacramento County | 59 | moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 29 | — | Trinity County | 59 | moderate county distress | Labor |
| 30 | — | Monterey County | 59 | moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 31 | — | Colusa County | 58 | moderate county distress | Labor |
| 32 | — | Mariposa County | 58 | moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 33 | — | Lassen County | 53 | moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 34 | — | Plumas County | 53 | moderate county distress | Labor |
| 35 | — | Santa Barbara County | 49 | moderate-low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 36 | — | Sierra County | 48 | moderate-low county distress | Labor |
| 37 | — | Yolo County | 46 | moderate-low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 38 | — | San Benito County | 45 | moderate-low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 39 | — | San Diego County | 44 | moderate-low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 40 | — | Ventura County | 42 | moderate-low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 41 | — | Alpine County | 41 | moderate-low county distress | Labor |
| 42 | — | Amador County | 40 | moderate-low county distress | Labor |
| 43 | — | Nevada County | 39 | low-moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 44 | — | Santa Cruz County | 39 | low-moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 45 | — | Contra Costa County | 37 | low-moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 46 | — | Orange County | 36 | low-moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 47 | — | San Luis Obispo County | 35 | low-moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 48 | — | El Dorado County | 31 | low-moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 49 | — | Napa County | 30 | low-moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 50 | — | Inyo County | 29 | low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 51 | — | Sonoma County | 29 | low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 52 | — | Alameda County | 26 | low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 53 | — | Placer County | 25 | low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 54 | — | Marin County | 19 | very low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 55 | — | San Francisco County | 15 | very low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 56 | — | San Mateo County | 14 | very low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 57 | — | Santa Clara County | 12 | very low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 58 | — | Mono County | 11 | very low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
How County Scores Work
Each county is scored 0–100 using five equal-weighted domains. Each domain averages its member indicators' county ranks, the domains are averaged, and that average is ranked against every U.S. county. So a county's score is the share of U.S. counties it is more distressed than. National ranks are shown only for the 100 most and 100 least distressed counties, because ranks in between move between updates. Counties with identical composite scores share a rank, marked T- for tied.
Urban Institute data: 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. The County Distress Index is American Default Research's own calculation; the Urban Institute does not produce or endorse it.