Shelby County, Iowa

County Distress Index: Healthy · 28.4 | 11,806 people · 69th most distressed in Iowa

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Shelby County, IA ranks among the least distressed counties in the country at 28.4 — 2943rd nationally out of 3144 counties. The primary driver is Debt & Delinquency, where debt and delinquency rates remain below the national norm. Within Iowa, it ranks 69th 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. Shelby County's primary driver is Debt & Delinquency at 43.5 — above the national median.

Debt & Delinquency Primary driver 43.5
Debt in Collections 32
Medical Debt 34
Student Loan Delinquency 89
Auto Loan Delinquency 63
Credit Card Delinquency 20
Bankruptcy Filing Rate 23
Housing Cost Burden 38.0
Rent-Burdened (30%+) 47
Severely Rent-Burdened (50%+) 34
Mortgage-Burdened (30%+) 59
Homeownership Rate 43
Rent-to-Income Ratio 6
Employment & Wages 31.6
Unemployment Rate 19
Wage-to-Rent Ratio 17
Business Formation Rate 59
Income & Poverty 23.9
Poverty Rate 12
Income vs. State Median 49
Child Poverty Rate 11
Community Vulnerability 5.0
Uninsured Rate 5
Disability Rate 5

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

Neighbors and Peers

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

Neighboring Counties

County Score Zone vs. Shelby County
Shelby County, IA 28.4 Healthy
Pottawattamie County, IA 50.0 Elevated +21.6
Cass County, IA 46.0 Normal +17.6
Crawford County, IA 43.2 Normal +14.8
Harrison County, IA 36.1 Normal +7.7
Audubon County, IA 33.7 Healthy +5.3
Carroll County, IA 26.6 Healthy -1.8

Population Peers

County Score Zone vs. Shelby County
Piatt County, IL 28.5 Healthy +0.1
Dickinson County, IA 28.3 Healthy -0.1
Lake County, SD 28.3 Healthy -0.1
Kossuth County, IA 28.3 Healthy -0.1
McKenzie County, ND 28.3 Healthy -0.1

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