Name: Boone County, Iowa — County Distress Index
Creator: American Default
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

American Default Research

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Boone County, IA ranks among the least distressed counties in the country at 23.2 — 3070th nationally out of 3144 counties. The primary driver is Employment & Wages, where the job market is relatively stable with wages that keep pace with costs. Within Iowa, it ranks 89th of 99 counties. Among its 6 neighboring counties, 5 show more distress.

The Numbers Behind the Score

The CDI measures five domains of financial distress. Boone County's primary driver is Employment & Wages at 32.9 — above the national median.

Employment & Wages Primary driver 32.9

Unemployment Rate 13

Wage-to-Rent Ratio 29

Business Formation Rate 57

Housing Cost Burden 29.5

Rent-Burdened (30%+) 25

Severely Rent-Burdened (50%+) 22

Mortgage-Burdened (30%+) 80

Homeownership Rate 14

Rent-to-Income Ratio 6

Debt & Delinquency 27.1

Debt in Collections 13

Medical Debt 26

Student Loan Delinquency 31

Auto Loan Delinquency 20

Credit Card Delinquency 22

Bankruptcy Filing Rate 51

Income & Poverty 13.9

Poverty Rate 8

Income vs. State Median 25

Child Poverty Rate 9

Community Vulnerability 12.6

Uninsured Rate 5

Disability Rate 20

Scores are percentile-based: 50 = national median, higher = more distressed. The median line is shown on each bar.

Neighbors and Peers

How Boone County compares to its 6 neighboring counties and population peers.

Neighboring Counties

County	Score	Zone	vs. Boone County
Boone County, IA	23.2	Healthy	—
Webster County, IA	43.8	Normal	+20.6
Greene County, IA	39.6	Normal	+16.4
Polk County, IA	35.8	Normal	+12.6
Story County, IA	34.7	Healthy	+11.5
Hamilton County, IA	26.0	Healthy	+2.8
Dallas County, IA	19.1	Healthy	-4.1

Population Peers

County	Score	Zone	vs. Boone County
Lincoln County, WY	23.0	Healthy	-0.2
Elbert County, CO	23.4	Healthy	+0.2
Hughes County, SD	23.5	Healthy	+0.3
Dubois County, IN	22.8	Healthy	-0.4
Brookings County, SD	23.6	Healthy	+0.5

Download Data

Export all distress indicators for Boone County as a CSV file.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the distress score for Boone County, Iowa?

Boone County has a County Distress Index score of 23.2 out of 100, placing it in the Healthy zone. It ranks 3,070th nationally out of 3,144 counties and 89th in Iowa out of 99 counties.
What drives financial distress in Boone County?

The primary driver of distress in Boone County is Employment & Wages, where the county scores 32.9 out of 100. This domain is measured by indicators including Unemployment Rate, Wage-to-Rent Ratio, Business Formation Rate.
How does Boone County compare to neighboring counties?

Boone County (23.2) can be compared to its 6 neighboring counties: Webster County, IA (43.8); Greene County, IA (39.6); Polk County, IA (35.8).
How is the County Distress Index calculated?

The County Distress Index uses percentile-rank averaging across five domains: Debt & Delinquency, Income & Poverty, Housing Cost Burden, Employment & Wages, and Community Vulnerability. Each county's indicators are ranked against all 3,144 U.S. counties. A score of 50 means the county is at the national median; higher scores indicate greater distress.
What is the population of Boone County?

Boone County, Iowa has a population of approximately 26,590 (2023 Census estimate), classified as a small county.