About one in eight people with a credit file in Adams County, Idaho, has unpaid debt sent to a collector
In Adams County, 12.4% of people with a credit file had unpaid debt sent to a collector. That is lower than in 90% of U.S. counties.
Less distressed than 60% of U.S. counties.
What drives Adams County's score
In Adams County, jobs are the highest-scoring part, at 88.5. Collections and bankruptcy is the lowest part, at 7.2. Bankruptcy filings ran at 20.4 per 100,000 people (2025), lower than in 95% of U.S. counties.
The County Distress Index looks at five parts of household money trouble in Adams 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.
Even so, Adams County is worse off than most counties on unemployment rate, average over the latest year (6.8%, Oct 2025 to Sep 2026) and adults 25 to 54 not working (27.2%, 2020 to 2024).
A longer bar means more trouble. See how the county score works.
- 88.5 of 100
Jobs
Biggest factorUnemployment through Sep 2026; adults not working, 2020–24 Census survey
- Unemployment rate, average over the latest year6.8% · Oct 2025 to Sep 2026top 5%
- Adults 25 to 54 not working27.2% · 2020 to 202482nd percentile
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- 58.2 of 100
Income and safety net
Poverty and income, 2024; disability and insurance, 2020–24 Census survey
- People below the poverty line12.4% · 202443rd percentile
- Children below the poverty line17.5% · 202451st percentile
- People with a disability17.3% · 2020 to 202461st percentile
- People without health insurance11.9% · 2020 to 202477th percentile
- Median household income (lower income, longer bar)$64,610 · 202456th percentile
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- 32.2 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 rent15.5% · 2020 to 202434th percentile
- Rent on a two-bedroom as a share of the median income18.8% · fiscal year 202729th percentile
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- 31.7 of 100
Late payments
Credit records, August 2025; credit scores, second quarter of 2026
- People with a credit card behind1.9% · August 20255th or lower percentile
- People with a car or retail loan behind5.9% · August 202559th percentile
- People with a subprime credit score35.2% · second quarter of 202630th percentile
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- 7.2 of 100
Collections and bankruptcy
Credit records, August 2025; bankruptcy filings, 2025
- People with unpaid debt sent to a collector12.4% · August 20259th percentile
- Bankruptcy filings per 100,000 people20.4 · 20255th or lower 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 Adams 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 Adams County, 30.1% of residents are 65 or older (Census Bureau, 2024), against 17.2% nationally that year.
Cents of every dollar of income, 2024
Adams County
Idaho
United States
- Pay from work
- Investments and rent
- Benefit checks
In Adams County, benefit checks' share of income has grown to about four times its 1969 level, reaching 29.2% in 2024, but pay from work still brings in about one and a half times as much as benefit checks
In Adams County, Idaho, benefit checks' share of income grew to about four times its 1969 level by 2024, reaching 29.2%; pay from work is plotted alongside. Every fifth year and 2024 are shown.
- Benefit checks
- Pay from work
The share of households in Adams County getting SNAP food aid had its largest rise, from 6.5% in 2014 to 9.2% in 2015.
The share of households in Adams County getting SNAP food aid was at its highest on the chart in 2015 and has since fallen by about half
Low on the chart: 2.1% in 2022. Households getting SNAP, every year; each bar is a five-year survey estimate ending that year, so neighboring bars share most of their data, Adams County, Idaho.
How Adams County has changed
Adams County's population nearly doubled to 4,998, the highest on the chart
Biggest rise: 2019 to 2024, reaching 4,998. Residents, yearly estimate, every fifth year and 2024, Adams County, Idaho.
The number of jobs located in Adams County moved most in two steps: 970 in 2005 to 1,032 in 2010; 1,039 in 2015 to 977 in 2020.
The number of jobs located in Adams County rose 12% from 1990 to 2025, with most of the change between 2005 and 2010
High on the chart: 1,039 in 2015. Yearly average of jobs covered by unemployment insurance, every fifth year and 2025, Adams County, Idaho.
| Measure | Then | Now |
|---|---|---|
| Unemployment rateBLS LAUS | 1990 12.0% | 2025 7.2% |
| People below the poverty lineCensus SAIPE | 1989 15.2% | 2024 12.4% |
| Median household incomeCensus SAIPE | 1989 $22,902 | 2024 $64,610 |
The table uses 7.2% for 2025; the score uses 6.8% 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 Adams County's history
2020
The county's largest recorded population was the 2020 Census count of 4,379, which is also its most recent census. Census Bureau
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Since 1974
8 federal disaster and emergency declarations have covered Adams County, 4 of them for flooding. FEMA
Adams County beside its neighbors
Of the six counties that border Adams County, in Idaho and Oregon, two score higher. For the share of income from benefit checks, Adams County ranks 4th of the seven; Baker County is highest, at 34.4%.
| County | Score | Poverty | Benefit checks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Washington County, ID | 60 | 12.6% | 31.3% |
| Baker County, OR | 51 | 13.6% | 34.4% |
| Adams County, ID | 39 | 12.4% | 29.2% |
| Wallowa County, OR | 34 | 11.7% | 29.0% |
| Idaho County, ID | 26 | 14.0% | 32.3% |
| Gem County, ID | 24 | 12.3% | 28.1% |
| Valley County, ID | 13 | 8.8% | 18.6% |
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 Adams County the poorest county in Idaho?
No, Adams County's poverty rate was 12.4% in 2024, 18th highest of 44 in Idaho (U.S. Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates). By that measure the poorest county in the state is Madison County, at 24.3%. On our distress index, which counts more than poverty, Adams County ranks 12th of 44 in the state.
If you're behind on your mortgage in Adams 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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Idaho Legal Aid Services, Inc.
Legal aid
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Idaho Volunteer Lawyers Program
Legal aid
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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 Adams County comes from, 2024.
- History The agencies named in each row and the linked records above.