About one in eight people with a credit file in Boundary County, Idaho, has unpaid debt sent to a collector
In Boundary County, 12.3% 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 75% of U.S. counties.
What drives Boundary County's score
In Boundary County, jobs are the highest-scoring part, at 84.8. Collections and bankruptcy is the lowest part, at 7.1. Bankruptcy filings ran at 29.5 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 Boundary 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, Boundary County is worse off than most counties on adults 25 to 54 not working (28.9%, 2020 to 2024) and people without health insurance (14.0%, 2020 to 2024).
A longer bar means more trouble. See how the county score works.
- 84.8 of 100
Jobs
Biggest factorUnemployment through Sep 2026; adults not working, 2020–24 Census survey
- Unemployment rate, average over the latest year5.1% · Oct 2025 to Sep 202682nd percentile
- Adults 25 to 54 not working28.9% · 2020 to 202487th percentile
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- 56.9 of 100
Income and safety net
Poverty and income, 2024; disability and insurance, 2020–24 Census survey
- People below the poverty line12.3% · 202442nd percentile
- Children below the poverty line18.2% · 202456th percentile
- People with a disability16.8% · 2020 to 202457th percentile
- People without health insurance14.0% · 2020 to 202486th percentile
- Median household income (lower income, longer bar)$69,780 · 202441st percentile
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- 20.0 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 rent12.8% · 2020 to 202421st percentile
- Rent on a two-bedroom as a share of the median income17.6% · fiscal year 202718th percentile
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- 7.9 of 100
Late payments
Credit records, August 2025; credit scores, second quarter of 2026
- People with a credit card behind2.9% · August 20259th percentile
- People with a car or retail loan behind0.8% · August 20255th or lower percentile
- People with a subprime credit score28.3% · second quarter of 20269th percentile
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- 7.1 of 100
Collections and bankruptcy
Credit records, August 2025; bankruptcy filings, 2025
- People with unpaid debt sent to a collector12.3% · August 20259th percentile
- Bankruptcy filings per 100,000 people29.5 · 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 Boundary 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 Boundary County, 23.5% of residents are 65 or older (Census Bureau, 2024), against 17.2% nationally that year.
Cents of every dollar of income, 2024
Boundary County
Idaho
United States
- Pay from work
- Investments and rent
- Benefit checks
Benefit checks' share of income in Boundary County had its largest rise, from 22.7% in 2004 to 27.2% in 2009.
In Boundary County, benefit checks' share of income has tripled since 1969, reaching 28.3% in 2024, but pay from work still brings in nearly twice as much as benefit checks
In Boundary County, Idaho, benefit checks' share of income tripled from 1969 to 2024, reaching 28.3%; pay from work is plotted alongside. Every fifth year and 2024 are shown.
- Benefit checks
- Pay from work
The share of households in Boundary County getting SNAP food aid had its largest rise, from 10.9% in 2015 to 13.5% in 2016.
The share of households in Boundary County getting SNAP food aid was at its highest on the chart in 2016 and has since fallen by about a fifth
Low on the chart: 6.6% in 2011. Households getting SNAP, every year; each bar is a five-year survey estimate ending that year, so neighboring bars share most of their data, Boundary County, Idaho.
How Boundary County has changed
Boundary County's population more than doubled to 14,040, the highest on the chart
Biggest rise: 2019 to 2024, reaching 14,040. Residents, yearly estimate, every fifth year and 2024, Boundary County, Idaho.
The jobs count covers work located in the county; the population count covers residents.
The number of jobs located in Boundary County nearly doubled to 4,167, the highest on the chart
Biggest rise: 1995 to 2000, reaching 3,518. Yearly average of jobs covered by unemployment insurance, every fifth year and 2025, Boundary County, Idaho.
| Measure | Then | Now |
|---|---|---|
| Unemployment rateBLS LAUS | 1990 8.8% | 2025 5.4% |
| People below the poverty lineCensus SAIPE | 1989 18.5% | 2024 12.3% |
| Median household incomeCensus SAIPE | 1989 $21,162 | 2024 $69,780 |
The table uses 5.4% for 2025; the score uses 5.1% 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 Boundary County's history
1863
Gold discovered in East Kootenays of British Columbia in 1863, thousands of prospectors surged northward. Wikipedia
1915
Formed January 23, 1915 from Bonner County, named for lying on the border of Canada, Washington and Montana. Wikipedia
1974
Kootenai Tribe declared war on United States government on September 20, 1974. Wikipedia
2017
A debris flow in March 2017 did $2.5 million in property damage. NOAA Storm Events Database
2020
The county's largest recorded population was the 2020 Census count of 12,056, which is also its most recent census. Census Bureau
2020
A debris flow in January 2020 did $2 million in property damage. NOAA Storm Events Database
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Since 1967
12 federal disaster and emergency declarations have covered Boundary County, 5 of them for flooding. FEMA
Boundary County beside its neighbors
All three counties that border Boundary County, in Idaho, Montana and Washington, score higher than it does. For the share of income from benefit checks, Boundary County ranks 3rd of the four; Lincoln County is highest, at 37.1%.
| County | Score | Poverty | Benefit checks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lincoln County, MT | 58 | 15.1% | 37.1% |
| Pend Oreille County, WA | 43 | 15.1% | 35.4% |
| Bonner County, ID | 39 | 11.0% | 23.8% |
| Boundary County, ID | 24 | 12.3% | 28.3% |
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 Boundary County the poorest county in Idaho?
No, Boundary County's poverty rate was 12.3% in 2024, 19th 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, Boundary County ranks 27th of 44 in the state.
If you're behind on your mortgage in Boundary 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.
Download the CSV for Boundary 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 Boundary County comes from, 2024.
- History The agencies named in each row and the linked records above.