About two in five people with a credit file in Butts County, Georgia, have unpaid debt sent to a collector
In Butts County, 38.0% of people with a credit file had unpaid debt sent to a collector. That is higher than in 90% of U.S. counties.
More distressed than 66% of U.S. counties.
What drives Butts County's score
In Butts County, late payments on loans weigh most: the score for late payments on loans is 89.8. People with a credit card behind: 10.1%, August 2025, higher than in 95% of U.S. counties. Collections and bankruptcy comes next, at 82.1.
The County Distress Index looks at five parts of household money trouble in Butts 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.
Butts County does better than most counties on two measures: rent on a two-bedroom as a share of the median income (16.9%, fiscal year 2027) and unemployment rate, average over the latest year (3.5%, Oct 2025 to Sep 2026).
A longer bar means more trouble. See how the county score works.
- 89.9 of 100
Late payments
Biggest factorCredit records, August 2025; credit scores, second quarter of 2026
- People with a credit card behind10.1% · August 202595th percentile
- People with a car or retail loan behind8.9% · August 202587th percentile
- People with a subprime credit score53.1% · second quarter of 202686th percentile
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- 82.1 of 100
Collections and bankruptcy
Credit records, August 2025; bankruptcy filings, 2025
- People with unpaid debt sent to a collector38.0% · August 202591st percentile
- Bankruptcy filings per 100,000 people193.4 · 202573rd percentile
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- 55.7 of 100
Income and safety net
Poverty and income, 2024; disability and insurance, 2020–24 Census survey
- People below the poverty line13.4% · 202451st percentile
- Children below the poverty line20.0% · 202464th percentile
- People with a disability15.4% · 2020 to 202444th percentile
- People without health insurance12.3% · 2020 to 202480th percentile
- Median household income (lower income, longer bar)$71,262 · 202437th percentile
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- 35.3 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 rent19.5% · 2020 to 202458th percentile
- Rent on a two-bedroom as a share of the median income16.9% · fiscal year 202712th percentile
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- 35.2 of 100
Jobs
Unemployment through Sep 2026; adults not working, 2020–24 Census survey
- Unemployment rate, average over the latest year3.5% · Oct 2025 to Sep 202627th percentile
- Adults 25 to 54 not working19.5% · 2020 to 202442nd 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 Butts 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 Butts County, 15.8% of residents are 65 or older (Census Bureau, 2024), against 17.2% nationally that year.
Cents of every dollar of income, 2024
Butts County
Georgia
United States
- Pay from work
- Investments and rent
- Benefit checks
In Butts County, benefit checks' share of income has more than doubled since 1969, reaching 28.7% in 2024, but pay from work still brings in twice as much as benefit checks
In Butts County, Georgia, benefit checks' share of income more than doubled from 1969 to 2024, reaching 28.7%; pay from work is plotted alongside. Every fifth year and 2024 are shown.
- Benefit checks
- Pay from work
The share of households in Butts County getting SNAP food aid had its largest drop, from 19.2% in 2019 to 15.0% in 2020.
The share of households in Butts County getting SNAP food aid was at its highest on the chart in 2015 and has since fallen by about a third
Low on the chart: 11.2% in 2009. Households getting SNAP, every year; each bar is a five-year survey estimate ending that year, so neighboring bars share most of their data, Butts County, Georgia.
How Butts County has changed
Butts County's population more than doubled to 27,127, the highest on the chart
Biggest rise: 1994 to 1999, reaching 18,927. Residents, yearly estimate, every fifth year and 2024, Butts County, Georgia.
The jobs count covers work located in the county; the population count covers residents.
The number of jobs located in Butts County more than doubled to 8,528, the highest on the chart
Biggest rise: 2020 to 2025, reaching 8,528. Yearly average of jobs covered by unemployment insurance, every fifth year and 2025, Butts County, Georgia.
| Measure | Then | Now |
|---|---|---|
| Unemployment rateBLS LAUS | 1990 6.6% | 2025 3.3% |
| People below the poverty lineCensus SAIPE | 1989 16.8% | 2024 13.4% |
| Median household incomeCensus SAIPE | 1989 $22,099 | 2024 $71,262 |
The table uses 3.3% for 2025; the score uses 3.5% 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 Butts County's history
1825
Formed December 24, 1825, as the sixty-fourth county in Georgia from portions of Henry County and Monroe County. Wikipedia
1882
The railroads crisscrossing the area beginning in 1882 promoted increased industrialization. New Georgia Encyclopedia
1896
An example of this was the Pepperton Cotton Mills, established in 1896. New Georgia Encyclopedia
1908
In 1908 the construction of the Lloyd Shoals Dam on the Ocmulgee River was begun, leading to a steady supply of hydroelectric power in the county by 1910. New Georgia Encyclopedia
1910
Lloyd Shoals dam constructed in 1910 creating Jackson Lake. Wikipedia
1920
Among the large businesses brought to the area were several soft drink bottling plants and the Jackson Ice Corporation (1920). New Georgia Encyclopedia
2011
A thunderstorm in April 2011 killed two people. NOAA Storm Events Database
2020
The county's largest recorded population was the 2020 Census count of 25,434, which is also its most recent census. Census Bureau
2023
A tornado in January 2023 killed one person. NOAA Storm Events Database
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Since 1977
19 federal disaster and emergency declarations have covered Butts County, 3 of them for flooding. FEMA
Butts County beside its neighbors
Of the six counties that border Butts County, four score higher. For the share of income from benefit checks, Butts County ranks 2nd of the seven; Spalding County is highest, at 31.6%.
| County | Score | Poverty | Benefit checks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spalding County, GA | 95 | 16.4% | 31.6% |
| Newton County, GA | 90 | 11.9% | 25.2% |
| Henry County, GA | 78 | 8.2% | 21.0% |
| Jasper County, GA | 74 | 13.2% | 24.7% |
| Butts County, GA | 66 | 13.4% | 28.7% |
| Lamar County, GA | 66 | 12.6% | 27.8% |
| Monroe County, GA | 46 | 10.5% | 20.0% |
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 Butts County the poorest county in Georgia?
No, Butts County's poverty rate was 13.4% in 2024, 111th highest of 159 in Georgia (U.S. Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates). By that measure the poorest county in the state is Calhoun County, at 36.8%. On our distress index, which counts more than poverty, Butts County ranks 114th of 159 in the state.
If you're behind on your mortgage in Butts 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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Georgia Legal Services Program
Legal aid
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Georgia Legal Aid
Legal help website
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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.
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 Butts County comes from, 2024.
- History The agencies named in each row and the linked records above.