Santa Clara County, California
Below the national median for homeownership rate.
Main Findings
Santa Clara County, California ranks 2,875th most distressed in the United States on the County Distress Index. The driver: 55% of occupied housing is owner-occupied (bottom percentile nationally) — below the national median of 74%.
- 2,875th of 3,144 counties on the County Distress Index — Healthy zone, 57th in California.
- 55% of occupied housing is owner-occupied (bottom percentile nationally) (U.S. median 74%). Homeownership rate at the 4th percentile nationally.
- House price change (yoy) at -1% — national median 4%, ranked at the 10th percentile.
- Legal Distress domain score 16 — weight 7.4% of the CDI composite.
- Consumer Credit Distress domain score 9 — weight 47.5% of the CDI composite.
Neighbors span four CDI zones. The 38-point drop to San Mateo County marks where the Bay Area distress corridor ends.
"Santa Clara County is one of the steadier counties on the index — durable fundamentals, but the risk here is a single asymmetric shock."
"Healthy-zone counties cluster in high-income metros and college towns. The risk here is thin: what breaks these places is an asymmetric shock, not structural distress."
Reporter's Notes
Two data points in the indicator table worth a follow-up call.
Santa Clara County's wage-to-rent ratio indicator is at the 15th percentile — while every other indicator in the Economic Vitality domain is above the 57th. The gap stands out against rent-to-income ratio and house price change (YoY). Worth a call to Urban Institute or a local credit counselor in Santa Clara County.
The Indicators Behind Santa Clara County's CDI Score
Every number traces to a public source. Santa Clara County's value shown alongside CA's median and the U.S. median. Full CSV available for download.
| Indicator | Santa Clara | CA median | U.S. median | Pctile | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Consumer Credit Distress — domain score 9 · Rank 3,089 of 3,144 | |||||
| Debt in collections Share of residents with a credit file who have debt in collections | 10% | 18% | 23% | 3rd | Urban Institute (2024) |
| Medical debt in collections Share of residents with a credit file who have medical debt in collections | 0% | 0% | 4% | 7th | Urban Institute (2024) |
| Auto loan delinquency Share of auto loan accounts 60+ days past due | 3% | 4% | 5% | 24th | Urban Institute (2024) |
| Credit card delinquency Share of credit card accounts 60+ days past due | 3% | 5% | 5% | 8th | Urban Institute (2024) |
| Uninsured rate Share of residents without health insurance coverage | 4% | 6% | 8% | 8th | Census ACS 5-yr (2023) |
| Subprime credit share Share of residents with a credit score below 660 | 13% | 20% | 23% | 6th | Urban Institute (2024) |
| Housing Cost Burden — domain score 75 · Rank 568 of 3,144 | |||||
| Rent burden (30%+) Share of renter households paying 30%+ of income on rent | 43% | 49% | 38% | 71st | Census ACS 5-yr (2023) |
| Severe rent burden (50%+) Share of renter households paying 50%+ of income on rent | 20% | 25% | 18% | 66th | Census ACS 5-yr (2023) |
| Owner housing burden Share of owner households paying 30%+ of income on housing | 30% | 31% | 24% | 90th | Census ACS 5-yr (2023) |
| Homeownership rate Share of occupied housing units that are owner-occupied | 55% | 63% | 74% | 4th | Census ACS 5-yr (2023) |
| Structural Poverty — domain score 7 · Rank 3,073 of 3,144 | |||||
| Unemployment Share of labor force unemployed | 4% | 6% | 4% | 43rd | BLS LAUS (Dec 2025) |
| Poverty rate Share of population below the federal poverty line | 8% | 13% | 14% | 5th | Census SAIPE (2023) |
| Household income relative to state Median household income as share of state median | 1.90× | 1.00× | 1.00× | 99th | Census SAIPE (2023) |
| Child poverty rate Share of children under 18 below the federal poverty line | 7% | 16% | 18% | 3rd | Census SAIPE (2023) |
| Disability rate Share of residents reporting a disability | 9% | 13% | 16% | 1st | Census ACS 5-yr (2023) |
| Transfer-income dependency Share of personal income from government transfers | 7% | 24% | 27% | 1st | BEA Regional Personal Income (2023) |
| Legal Distress — domain score 16 · Rank 2,631 of 3,144 | |||||
| Bankruptcy filing rate Personal bankruptcy filings per 100,000 residents | 63 | 119 | 126 | 16th | US Courts F-5A (2025) |
| Economic Vitality — domain score 45 · Rank 1,838 of 3,144 | |||||
| Wage-to-rent ratio Ratio of average weekly wage to fair-market rent | 4.7× | 3.0× | 4.0× | 85th | BLS QCEW × HUD FMR (2024) |
| Rent-to-income ratio Fair Market Rent (2BR) as share of median household income | 27% | 27% | 21% | 89th | HUD FMR × Census ACS (2024) |
| Business formation rate New business applications per 1,000 residents | 11.8 | 8.5 | 10.0 | 67th | Census Business Formation Statistics (2024) |
| House price change (yoy) House price index year-over-year change | -1% | 1% | 4% | 10th | FHFA HPI (2024) |
Five-Domain Breakdown
The CDI is a PCA-weighted composite of five statistically derived factors. Weights are proportional to each factor's share of explained variance across 3,144 counties.
Methodology
The County Distress Index is a 0–100 composite score of household financial distress, computed for all 3,144 U.S. counties. A score of 50 represents the national county median; higher scores indicate greater distress. The index is built from 21 indicators grouped into five statistically derived factors via principal component analysis (PCA); factor weights are proportional to each factor's share of explained variance (shown in the Five-Domain Breakdown above).
Data sources include the Urban Institute Debt in America (Equifax consumer credit panel), U.S. Census Bureau (American Community Survey 5-year, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates, Business Formation Statistics), Bureau of Labor Statistics (Local Area Unemployment Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages), U.S. Courts Administrative Office (F-5A bankruptcy filings), and HUD Fair Market Rents. Data vintages range from 2023 to 2025 depending on source; full indicator-level vintage detail is in the methodology document.
For Press & Research
Everything you need to cite Santa Clara County data — in under 60 seconds.
Draft wire copy 158-word AP-style article — use freely with attribution
SANTA CLARA, Calif.. — Santa Clara County ranks 2,875th among the nation's most financially distressed counties, according to the County Distress Index released this month by American Default Research.
The composite score of 27 out of 100 places Santa Clara in the "Healthy" zone, the highest-distress category on the index. Among 3,144 U.S. counties scored, only 2874 rank worse. Within California, Santa Clara ranks 57th of 58 counties.
The index, which draws on 21 indicators from the U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Urban Institute and federal court filings, identifies housing cost burden as the primary driver in Santa Clara. 55% of occupied housing is owner-occupied (bottom percentile nationally) — below the national median of 74%.
"Santa Clara County is one of the steadier counties on the index — durable fundamentals, but the risk here is a single asymmetric shock." said Ross Kilburn, founder of American Default Research.
Full methodology and county-by-county data are available at americandefault.org/methodology/cdi.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Santa Clara County's CDI score, and what does it mean?
What drives Santa Clara County's distress score?
How does Santa Clara County compare to its neighbors?
How is the County Distress Index calculated?
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