Decatur County, Iowa

County Distress Index: Elevated · 51.8 | 7,665 people · 4th most distressed in Iowa

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Decatur County, IA registers elevated household financial distress with a score of 51.8 — 1463rd nationally out of 3144 counties. The primary driver is Income & Poverty, where poverty rates are high and household incomes lag well behind state and national medians. Within Iowa, it ranks 4th of 99 counties. Among its 7 neighboring counties, 6 show less distress.

The Numbers Behind the Score

The CDI measures five domains of financial distress. Decatur County's primary driver is Income & Poverty at 84.1 — worse than roughly 84% of U.S. counties.

Income & Poverty Primary driver 84.1
Poverty Rate 79
Income vs. State Median 92
Child Poverty Rate 81
Housing Cost Burden 47.6
Rent-Burdened (30%+) 20
Severely Rent-Burdened (50%+) 15
Mortgage-Burdened (30%+) 83
Homeownership Rate 77
Rent-to-Income Ratio 42
Community Vulnerability 46.9
Uninsured Rate 48
Disability Rate 45
Employment & Wages 43.1
Unemployment Rate 10
Wage-to-Rent Ratio 56
Business Formation Rate 63
Debt & Delinquency 37.2
Debt in Collections 45
Medical Debt 74
Student Loan Delinquency 32
Auto Loan Delinquency 13
Credit Card Delinquency 14
Bankruptcy Filing Rate 45

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

Neighbors and Peers

How Decatur County compares to its 7 neighboring counties and population peers.

Neighboring Counties

County Score Zone vs. Decatur County
Decatur County, IA 51.8 Elevated
Harrison County, MO 54.1 Elevated +2.3
Lucas County, IA 49.3 Normal -2.5
Union County, IA 45.0 Normal -6.8
Wayne County, IA 43.7 Normal -8.1
Clarke County, IA 40.9 Normal -10.9
Mercer County, MO 40.0 Normal -11.8
Ringgold County, IA 39.7 Normal -12.1

Population Peers

County Score Zone vs. Decatur County
Thurston County, NE 51.8 Elevated +0.0
Worth County, MO 51.7 Elevated -0.1
Sherman County, OR 51.7 Elevated -0.1
Livingston County, KY 51.6 Elevated -0.1
Boyd County, NE 51.9 Elevated +0.1

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