About one in six people with a credit file in Clay County, Kansas, has unpaid debt sent to a collector
In Clay County, 15.8% of people with a credit file had unpaid debt sent to a collector. That is lower than in 78% of U.S. counties.
Less distressed than 73% of U.S. counties.
What drives Clay County's score
In Clay County, collections and bankruptcy is the highest-scoring part, at 40.9. Late payments on loans are the lowest part, at 29.6. People with a credit card behind: 4.1%, August 2025, lower than in 73% of U.S. counties.
The County Distress Index looks at five parts of household money trouble in Clay County: jobs, late payments on loans, income and the safety net, collections and bankruptcy, and housing costs. Each part is scored from 0 to 100, and a higher score means worse off than other counties.
Clay County isn't among the worst-off quarter of U.S. counties on any measure.
A longer bar means more trouble. See how the county score works.
- 40.9 of 100
Collections and bankruptcy
Biggest factorCredit records, August 2025; bankruptcy filings, 2025
- People with unpaid debt sent to a collector15.8% · August 202521st percentile
- Bankruptcy filings per 100,000 people149.9 · 202559th percentile
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- 39.5 of 100
Jobs
Unemployment through Sep 2026; adults not working, 2020–24 Census survey
- Unemployment rate, average over the latest year3.8% · Oct 2025 to Sep 202639th percentile
- Adults 25 to 54 not working19.0% · 2020 to 202439th percentile
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- 36.3 of 100
Housing costs
Renters, 2020–24 Census survey; HUD's fair market rents, fiscal year 2027
- Renters paying half their income or more in rent16.8% · 2020 to 202442nd percentile
- Rent on a two-bedroom as a share of the median income18.9% · fiscal year 202730th percentile
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- 35.4 of 100
Income and safety net
Poverty and income, 2024; disability and insurance, 2020–24 Census survey
- People below the poverty line10.2% · 202423rd percentile
- Children below the poverty line11.9% · 202422nd percentile
- People with a disability16.8% · 2020 to 202457th percentile
- People without health insurance5.7% · 2020 to 202427th percentile
- Median household income (lower income, longer bar)$68,231 · 202445th percentile
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- 29.6 of 100
Late payments
Credit records, August 2025; credit scores, second quarter of 2026
- People with a credit card behind4.1% · August 202526th percentile
- People with a car or retail loan behind4.0% · August 202533rd percentile
- People with a subprime credit score34.9% · second quarter of 202629th percentile
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Sources: Urban Institute, Debt in America; Equifax via the St. Louis Fed; Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, Table F-5A; U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey; U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Fair Market Rents and Census income; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics; Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates. County Distress Index by American Default Research, from data through Sep 2026.
Where the money in Clay County comes from
Benefit checks are Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid paid on people's behalf, veterans' benefits, and food and income support, so a high share usually means an older population, low pay, or both. In Clay County, 24.2% of residents are 65 or older (Census Bureau, 2024), against 17.2% nationally that year.
Cents of every dollar of income, 2024
Clay County
Kansas
United States
- Pay from work
- Investments and rent
- Benefit checks
In Clay County, benefit checks' share of income has more than doubled since 1969, reaching 28.0% in 2024, but pay from work still brings in twice as much as benefit checks
In Clay County, Kansas, benefit checks' share of income more than doubled from 1969 to 2024, reaching 28.0%; pay from work is plotted alongside. Every fifth year and 2024 are shown.
- Benefit checks
- Pay from work
The share of households in Clay County getting SNAP food aid rose most sharply after its 2022 low, from 3.6% in 2022 to 6.1% in 2023.
The share of households in Clay County getting SNAP food aid was at its highest on the chart in 2017 and has since fallen to 7.2%
Low on the chart: 3.6% in 2022. Households getting SNAP, every year; each bar is a five-year survey estimate ending that year, so neighboring bars share most of their data, Clay County, Kansas.
How Clay County has changed
Clay County's population fell by about a fifth to 7,969, the lowest on the chart
Biggest drop: 1999 to 2004, reaching 8,447. Residents, yearly estimate, every fifth year and 2024, Clay County, Kansas.
The number of jobs located in Clay County rose most sharply from its first year (2,639 in 1990) to 3,042 in 1995.
The number of jobs located in Clay County was at its highest on the chart in 2010 and is down 17% since
High on the chart: 3,424 in 2010. Yearly average of jobs covered by unemployment insurance, every fifth year and 2025, Clay County, Kansas.
| Measure | Then | Now |
|---|---|---|
| Unemployment rateBLS LAUS | 1990 3.4% | 2025 3.5% |
| People below the poverty lineCensus SAIPE | 1989 12.3% | 2024 10.2% |
| Median household incomeCensus SAIPE | 1989 $22,096 | 2024 $68,231 |
The table uses 3.5% for 2025; the score uses 3.8% for the latest year (Oct 2025 to Sep 2026), both from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Figures are as each agency published them, not adjusted for prices.
Dated events in Clay County's history
1900
The county's largest recorded population was the 1900 Census count of 15,833. The 2020 Census counted 8,117, 51% of the peak. Census Bureau
1951
A tornado in May 1951 killed one person. NOAA Storm Events Database
1973
A tornado in September 1973 did $25 million in property damage. NOAA Storm Events Database
1973
A tornado in September 1973 did $25 million in property damage. NOAA Storm Events Database
1979
A tornado in October 1979 did $2.5 million in property damage. NOAA Storm Events Database
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Since 1973
17 federal disaster and emergency declarations have covered Clay County, 10 of them for flooding. FEMA
Clay County beside its neighbors
Of the six counties that border Clay County, four score higher. For the share of income from benefit checks, Clay County ranks 3rd of the seven; Cloud County is highest, at 29.9%.
| County | Score | Poverty | Benefit checks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Geary County, KS | 69 | 12.4% | 19.8% |
| Riley County, KS | 31 | 18.1% | 15.8% |
| Dickinson County, KS | 29 | 8.5% | 29.5% |
| Ottawa County, KS | 28 | 8.9% | 25.6% |
| Clay County, KS | 26 | 10.2% | 28.0% |
| Cloud County, KS | 21 | 13.2% | 29.9% |
| Washington County, KS | 3 | 11.1% | 26.3% |
Distress score: American Default Research, County Distress Index, data through Sep 2026; each county scored against all 3,144. Poverty rate: Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates, 2024. Benefit checks: Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2024. Neighbors share a border, from Census county maps.
Is Clay County the poorest county in Kansas?
No, Clay County's poverty rate was 10.2% in 2024, 76th highest of 105 in Kansas (U.S. Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates). By that measure the poorest county in the state is Riley County, at 18.1%. On our distress index, which counts more than poverty, Clay County ranks 50th of 105 in the state.
If you're behind on your mortgage in Clay County
Housing counselors approved by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development work at nonprofit agencies. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau describes free foreclosure-avoidance counseling, including help with mortgage-company conversations and available options Source CFPB.
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Kansas Legal Services
Legal aid
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HUD-approved housing counselors
Our help directory lists 1,010 agencies approved for foreclosure counseling, by state.
The score, its 14 measures and their sources, in one file. Free to use with credit to American Default Research.
Sources and method
- American Default Research · County Distress Index Data through Sep 2026, built from Urban Institute, Debt in America; Equifax via the St. Louis Fed; U.S. Courts, Table F-5A; Census Bureau, American Community Survey; HUD Fair Market Rents and Census income; Bureau of Labor Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics; Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates. The County Distress Index is American Default Research's own calculation; the Urban Institute does not produce or endorse it. Our methodology
- Urban Institute · Debt in America Breno Braga, Signe-Mary McKernan, Samantha Atherton, and Kassandra Martinchek, "Debt in America," last updated November 20, 2025, https://datacatalog.urban.org/dataset/debt-america-2025. Licensed under ODC-By 1.0.
- Rent on a two-bedroom and household income The rent share compares HUD fair market rent for fiscal year 2027 with Census Bureau median household income for 2024. The page calls this the typical household's income.
- U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Economic Accounts (CAINC4) · income shares Where the money in Clay County comes from, 2024.
- History The agencies named in each row and the linked records above.