Dickinson County, Iowa

County Distress Index: Healthy · 28.3 | 18,056 people · 70th most distressed in Iowa

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Dickinson County, IA ranks among the least distressed counties in the country at 28.3 — 2946th nationally out of 3144 counties. The primary driver is Employment & Wages, where employment and wage conditions show moderate stress. Within Iowa, it ranks 70th 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. Dickinson County's primary driver is Employment & Wages at 47.2 — above the national median.

Employment & Wages Primary driver 47.2
Unemployment Rate 41
Wage-to-Rent Ratio 71
Business Formation Rate 29
Housing Cost Burden 37.4
Rent-Burdened (30%+) 42
Severely Rent-Burdened (50%+) 35
Mortgage-Burdened (30%+) 66
Homeownership Rate 37
Rent-to-Income Ratio 7
Debt & Delinquency 24.4
Debt in Collections 7
Medical Debt 24
Student Loan Delinquency 51
Auto Loan Delinquency 9
Credit Card Delinquency 5
Bankruptcy Filing Rate 51
Community Vulnerability 21.7
Uninsured Rate 5
Disability Rate 38
Income & Poverty 10.8
Poverty Rate 7
Income vs. State Median 19
Child Poverty Rate 7

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

Neighbors and Peers

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

Neighboring Counties

County Score Zone vs. Dickinson County
Dickinson County, IA 28.3 Healthy
Emmet County, IA 39.7 Normal +11.4
Osceola County, IA 33.2 Healthy +4.9
Clay County, IA 31.7 Healthy +3.4
Palo Alto County, IA 30.7 Healthy +2.3
Jackson County, MN 29.9 Healthy +1.5
O'Brien County, IA 27.3 Healthy -1.0

Population Peers

County Score Zone vs. Dickinson County
Lake County, SD 28.3 Healthy -0.1
Kossuth County, IA 28.3 Healthy -0.1
McKenzie County, ND 28.3 Healthy -0.1
Shelby County, IA 28.4 Healthy +0.1
Morton County, ND 28.2 Healthy -0.1

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