Wapello County, Iowa

County Distress Index: Elevated · 58.9 | 35,166 people · 1st most distressed in Iowa

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Wapello County, IA registers elevated household financial distress with a score of 58.9 — 911th nationally out of 3144 counties. The primary driver is Debt & Delinquency, where residents carry heavy debt burdens with elevated delinquency and collections rates. Within Iowa, it ranks 1st of 99 counties. It scores higher than all 7 of its neighboring counties.

The Numbers Behind the Score

The CDI measures five domains of financial distress. Wapello County's primary driver is Debt & Delinquency at 72.2 — above the national median.

Debt & Delinquency Primary driver 72.2
Debt in Collections 68
Medical Debt 77
Student Loan Delinquency 96
Auto Loan Delinquency 75
Credit Card Delinquency 66
Bankruptcy Filing Rate 51
Housing Cost Burden 61.6
Rent-Burdened (30%+) 73
Severely Rent-Burdened (50%+) 89
Mortgage-Burdened (30%+) 20
Homeownership Rate 79
Rent-to-Income Ratio 47
Employment & Wages 57.4
Unemployment Rate 55
Wage-to-Rent Ratio 43
Business Formation Rate 74
Income & Poverty 57.1
Poverty Rate 52
Income vs. State Median 74
Child Poverty Rate 45
Community Vulnerability 46.2
Uninsured Rate 42
Disability Rate 50

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

Neighbors and Peers

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

Neighboring Counties

County Score Zone vs. Wapello County
Wapello County, IA 58.9 Elevated
Appanoose County, IA 58.0 Elevated -0.9
Jefferson County, IA 50.2 Elevated -8.7
Van Buren County, IA 49.7 Normal -9.2
Keokuk County, IA 36.3 Normal -22.6
Monroe County, IA 34.9 Healthy -24.0
Davis County, IA 34.6 Healthy -24.3
Mahaska County, IA 29.4 Healthy -29.5

Population Peers

County Score Zone vs. Wapello County
Dallas County, MO 58.9 Elevated -0.0
Smyth County, VA 58.9 Elevated +0.0
Dyer County, TN 58.8 Elevated -0.1
Baxter County, AR 58.8 Elevated -0.1
Benton County, TN 58.8 Elevated -0.1

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