About one in two people with a credit file in Talbot County, Georgia, has unpaid debt sent to a collector
In Talbot County, 45.1% of people with a credit file had unpaid debt sent to a collector. That is higher than in 98% of U.S. counties.
More distressed than 99% of U.S. counties.
What drives Talbot County's score
In Talbot County, collections and bankruptcy weighs most: the score for collections and bankruptcy is 95.0. Late payments on loans come next, at 92.4.
The County Distress Index looks at five parts of household money trouble in Talbot 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.
Talbot County is worse off than the typical U.S. county on every measure in the score.
A longer bar means more trouble. See how the county score works.
- 95.0 of 100
Collections and bankruptcy
Biggest factorCredit records, August 2025; bankruptcy filings, 2025
- People with unpaid debt sent to a collector45.1% · August 2025top 5%
- Bankruptcy filings per 100,000 people454.7 · 2025top 5%
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- 92.4 of 100
Late payments
Credit records, August 2025; credit scores, second quarter of 2026
- People with a credit card behind12.9% · August 2025top 5%
- People with a car or retail loan behind9.8% · August 202591st percentile
- People with a subprime credit score56.0% · second quarter of 202690th percentile
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- 90.7 of 100
Income and safety net
Poverty and income, 2024; disability and insurance, 2020–24 Census survey
- People below the poverty line22.0% · 202491st percentile
- Children below the poverty line32.3% · 202494th percentile
- People with a disability27.0% · 2020 to 2024top 5%
- People without health insurance11.8% · 2020 to 202477th percentile
- Median household income (lower income, longer bar)$44,778 · 2024top 5%
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- 87.1 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 rent24.2% · 2020 to 202483rd percentile
- Rent on a two-bedroom as a share of the median income26.9% · fiscal year 202790th percentile
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- 78.2 of 100
Jobs
Unemployment through Sep 2026; adults not working, 2020–24 Census survey
- Unemployment rate, average over the latest year4.3% · Oct 2025 to Sep 202661st percentile
- Adults 25 to 54 not working33.6% · 2020 to 202494th 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 Talbot 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 Talbot County, 27.4% of residents are 65 or older (Census Bureau, 2024), against 17.2% nationally that year.
Cents of every dollar of income, 2024
Talbot County
Georgia
United States
- Pay from work
- Investments and rent
- Benefit checks
In Talbot County, benefit checks' share of income has tripled since 1969, reaching 39.7% in 2024, but pay from work still brings in about a fifth more than benefit checks
In Talbot County, Georgia, benefit checks' share of income tripled from 1969 to 2024, reaching 39.7%; pay from work is plotted alongside. Every fifth year and 2024 are shown.
- Benefit checks
- Pay from work
The share of households in Talbot County getting SNAP food aid moved most in two steps: 17.4% in 2011 to 21.4% in 2012; 21.1% in 2016 to 17.1% in 2017.
The share of households in Talbot County getting SNAP food aid rose by more than half to 23.1%, the highest on the chart
Biggest rise: 2011 to 2012, reaching 21.4%. Households getting SNAP, every year; each bar is a five-year survey estimate ending that year, so neighboring bars share most of their data, Talbot County, Georgia.
How Talbot County has changed
Talbot County's population fell 14% from 1969 to 2024, reaching its lowest on the chart, with most of the change between 2014 and 2019
High on the chart: 6,873 in 2009. Residents, yearly estimate, every fifth year and 2024, Talbot County, Georgia.
The number of jobs located in Talbot County had its largest rise in the last span, from 733 in 2020 to 984 in 2025.
The number of jobs located in Talbot County fell to its lowest on the chart in 1995, then climbed past the 1990 level
Low on the chart: 701 in 1995. Yearly average of jobs covered by unemployment insurance, every fifth year and 2025, Talbot County, Georgia.
| Measure | Then | Now |
|---|---|---|
| Unemployment rateBLS LAUS | 1990 6.8% | 2025 4.5% |
| People below the poverty lineCensus SAIPE | 1989 20.3% | 2024 22.0% |
| Median household incomeCensus SAIPE | 1989 $17,362 | 2024 $44,778 |
The table uses 4.5% for 2025; the score uses 4.3% 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 Talbot County's history
1827
Created December 14, 1827 from a portion of Muscogee County. Wikipedia
1900
The county's largest recorded population was the 1900 Census count of 12,197. The 2020 Census counted 5,733, 47% of the peak. Census Bureau
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Since 1977
16 federal disaster and emergency declarations have covered Talbot County, 4 of them for flooding. FEMA
Talbot County beside its neighbors
Talbot County scores higher than all seven counties that border it. Of the group, Talbot County gets the largest share of its income from benefit checks (39.7%).
| County | Score | Poverty | Benefit checks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Talbot County, GA | 99 | 22.0% | 39.7% |
| Muscogee County, GA | 95 | 17.3% | 27.2% |
| Taylor County, GA | 94 | 25.1% | 36.3% |
| Upson County, GA | 92 | 16.3% | 31.5% |
| Marion County, GA | 89 | 22.1% | 36.1% |
| Meriwether County, GA | 87 | 17.8% | 32.8% |
| Chattahoochee County, GA | 67 | 17.8% | 15.5% |
| Harris County, GA | 31 | 8.8% | 21.0% |
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 Talbot County the poorest county in Georgia?
No, Talbot County's poverty rate was 22.0% in 2024, 43rd 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, Talbot County ranks 3rd of 159 in the state.
If you're behind on your mortgage in Talbot 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.
Download the CSV for Talbot County · Every U.S. county (CSV)
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 Talbot County comes from, 2024.
- History The agencies named in each row and the linked records above.