In Edgar County, Illinois, rent on a two-bedroom takes about one in six dollars of the typical household's income
In Edgar County, 16.7% of the typical household's income would go to rent on a two-bedroom. That is lower than in 88% of U.S. counties.
Less distressed than 59% of U.S. counties.
What drives Edgar County's score
In Edgar County, collections and bankruptcy is the highest-scoring part, at 58.0. Housing costs are the lowest part, at 9.0. About one in 14 renters (7.1%, 2020 to 2024) pays half their income or more in rent, a lower share than in 93% of U.S. counties.
The County Distress Index looks at five parts of household money trouble in Edgar 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.
Edgar County isn't among the worst-off quarter of U.S. counties on any measure.
A longer bar means more trouble. See how the county score works.
- 58.0 of 100
Collections and bankruptcy
Biggest factorCredit records, August 2025; bankruptcy filings, 2025
- People with unpaid debt sent to a collector25.1% · August 202557th percentile
- Bankruptcy filings per 100,000 people146.9 · 202558th percentile
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- 53.9 of 100
Late payments
Credit records, August 2025; credit scores, second quarter of 2026
- People with a credit card behind6.2% · August 202562nd percentile
- People with a car or retail loan behind4.3% · August 202536th percentile
- People with a subprime credit score43.8% · second quarter of 202662nd percentile
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- 53.9 of 100
Jobs
Unemployment through Sep 2026; adults not working, 2020–24 Census survey
- Unemployment rate, average over the latest year4.4% · Oct 2025 to Sep 202666th percentile
- Adults 25 to 54 not working19.3% · 2020 to 202441st percentile
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- 47.5 of 100
Income and safety net
Poverty and income, 2024; disability and insurance, 2020–24 Census survey
- People below the poverty line13.0% · 202448th percentile
- Children below the poverty line16.5% · 202446th percentile
- People with a disability18.0% · 2020 to 202467th percentile
- People without health insurance5.4% · 2020 to 202424th percentile
- Median household income (lower income, longer bar)$66,725 · 202450th percentile
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- 9.0 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 rent7.1% · 2020 to 20246th percentile
- Rent on a two-bedroom as a share of the median income16.7% · fiscal year 202711th 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 Edgar 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 Edgar County, 24.7% of residents are 65 or older (Census Bureau, 2024), against 17.2% nationally that year.
Cents of every dollar of income, 2024
Edgar County
Illinois
United States
- Pay from work
- Investments and rent
- Benefit checks
In Edgar County, benefit checks' share of income has more than tripled since 1969, reaching 30.1% in 2024, but pay from work still brings in twice as much as benefit checks
In Edgar County, Illinois, benefit checks' share of income more than tripled from 1969 to 2024, reaching 30.1%; pay from work is plotted alongside. Every fifth year and 2024 are shown.
- Benefit checks
- Pay from work
SNAP food aid is one of the benefit checks counted in the income totals above.
The share of households in Edgar County getting SNAP food aid nearly doubled to 19.3%, the highest on the chart, with most of the change between 2011 and 2012
Biggest rise: 2011 to 2012, reaching 16.7%. Households getting SNAP, every year; each bar is a five-year survey estimate ending that year, so neighboring bars share most of their data, Edgar County, Illinois.
How Edgar County has changed
Edgar County's population had its largest drop, from 21,251 in 1984 to 19,810 in 1989.
Edgar County's population fell by about a quarter to 16,398, the lowest on the chart
High on the chart: 21,775 in 1979. Residents, yearly estimate, every fifth year and 2024, Edgar County, Illinois.
The jobs count covers work located in the county; the population count covers residents.
The number of jobs located in Edgar County rose by more than half to 7,158, the highest on the chart
Biggest rise: 1995 to 2000, reaching 6,062. Yearly average of jobs covered by unemployment insurance, every fifth year and 2025, Edgar County, Illinois.
| Measure | Then | Now |
|---|---|---|
| Unemployment rateBLS LAUS | 1990 7.7% | 2025 4.1% |
| People below the poverty lineCensus SAIPE | 1989 12.8% | 2024 13.0% |
| Median household incomeCensus SAIPE | 1989 $22,370 | 2024 $66,725 |
The table uses 4.1% for 2025; the score uses 4.4% 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 Edgar County's history
1823
Formed out of Clark County in 1823. Wikipedia
1872
Railroad bypass caused business relocation and Bloomfield's decline. Wikipedia
1900
The county's largest recorded population was the 1900 Census count of 28,273. The 2020 Census counted 16,866, 60% of the peak. Census Bureau
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Since 1974
9 federal disaster and emergency declarations have covered Edgar County, 4 of them for flooding. FEMA
Edgar County beside its neighbors
Of the six counties that border Edgar County, in Illinois and Indiana, four score higher. For the share of income from benefit checks, Edgar County ranks 4th of the seven; Vermillion County is highest, at 33.1%.
| County | Score | Poverty | Benefit checks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vigo County, IN | 82 | 18.3% | 30.7% |
| Vermilion County, IL | 73 | 17.3% | 30.9% |
| Vermillion County, IN | 62 | 13.3% | 33.1% |
| Coles County, IL | 52 | 14.5% | 25.1% |
| Edgar County, IL | 40 | 13.0% | 30.1% |
| Clark County, IL | 27 | 11.0% | 28.8% |
| Douglas County, IL | 14 | 7.8% | 18.0% |
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 Edgar County the poorest county in Illinois?
No, Edgar County's poverty rate was 13.0% in 2024, 45th highest of 102 in Illinois (U.S. Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates). By that measure the poorest county in the state is Alexander County, at 24.8%. On our distress index, which counts more than poverty, Edgar County ranks 43rd of 102 in the state.
If you're behind on your mortgage in Edgar 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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Erba Edgar County Outreach Office
HUD-approved housing counselor
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Land of Lincoln Legal Aid
Legal aid
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Illinois Legal Aid Online (ILAO)
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 Edgar County comes from, 2024.
- History The agencies named in each row and the linked records above.