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

American Default Research

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Lyon County, IA ranks among the least distressed counties in the country at 16.9 — 3136th 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 99th of 99 counties. Among its 7 neighboring counties, 6 show more distress.

The Numbers Behind the Score

The CDI measures five domains of financial distress. Lyon County's primary driver is Employment & Wages at 30.2 — above the national median.

Employment & Wages Primary driver 30.2

Unemployment Rate 6

Wage-to-Rent Ratio 23

Business Formation Rate 62

Housing Cost Burden 20.4

Rent-Burdened (30%+) 10

Severely Rent-Burdened (50%+) 9

Mortgage-Burdened (30%+) 72

Homeownership Rate 6

Rent-to-Income Ratio 5

Income & Poverty 14.5

Poverty Rate 6

Income vs. State Median 30

Child Poverty Rate 7

Community Vulnerability 13.6

Uninsured Rate 11

Disability Rate 16

Debt & Delinquency 6.0

Debt in Collections 5

Medical Debt 7

Student Loan Delinquency 5

Auto Loan Delinquency 5

Credit Card Delinquency 5

Bankruptcy Filing Rate 9

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

Neighbors and Peers

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

Neighboring Counties

County	Score	Zone	vs. Lyon County
Lyon County, IA	16.9	Healthy	—
Nobles County, MN	43.2	Normal	+26.2
Osceola County, IA	33.2	Healthy	+16.3
Minnehaha County, SD	29.7	Healthy	+12.8
O'Brien County, IA	27.3	Healthy	+10.4
Rock County, MN	24.8	Healthy	+7.9
Sioux County, IA	21.0	Healthy	+4.1
Lincoln County, SD	15.2	Healthy	-1.7

Population Peers

County	Score	Zone	vs. Lyon County
Oconee County, GA	18.3	Healthy	+1.4
Nemaha County, KS	18.3	Healthy	+1.4
Grundy County, IA	18.4	Healthy	+1.5
Plymouth County, IA	18.5	Healthy	+1.6
Morgan County, UT	19.0	Healthy	+2.1

Download Data

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

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the distress score for Lyon County, Iowa?

Lyon County has a County Distress Index score of 16.9 out of 100, placing it in the Healthy zone. It ranks 3,136th nationally out of 3,144 counties and 99th in Iowa out of 99 counties.
What drives financial distress in Lyon County?

The primary driver of distress in Lyon County is Employment & Wages, where the county scores 30.2 out of 100. This domain is measured by indicators including Unemployment Rate, Wage-to-Rent Ratio, Business Formation Rate.
How does Lyon County compare to neighboring counties?

Lyon County (16.9) can be compared to its 7 neighboring counties: Nobles County, MN (43.2); Osceola County, IA (33.2); Minnehaha County, SD (29.7).
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 Lyon County?

Lyon County, Iowa has a population of approximately 12,324 (2023 Census estimate), classified as a small county.