About nine in ten adults aged 25 to 54 in Kiowa County, Kansas, have a job
In Kiowa County, 12.0% of adults aged 25 to 54 were not working. That is lower than in 94% of U.S. counties.
Less distressed than 87% of U.S. counties.
What drives Kiowa County's score
In Kiowa County, income and the safety net is the highest-scoring part, at 46.8. Collections and bankruptcy is the lowest part, at 10.6. Bankruptcy filings ran at 42.1 per 100,000 people (2025), lower than in 93% of U.S. counties.
The County Distress Index looks at five parts of household money trouble in Kiowa 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.
Kiowa 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.
- 46.8 of 100
Income and safety net
Biggest factorPoverty and income, 2024; disability and insurance, 2020–24 Census survey
- People below the poverty line12.0% · 202440th percentile
- Children below the poverty line12.8% · 202426th percentile
- People with a disability16.2% · 2020 to 202452nd percentile
- People without health insurance8.4% · 2020 to 202454th percentile
- Median household income (lower income, longer bar)$63,239 · 202460th percentile
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- 43.6 of 100
Late payments
Credit records, August 2025; credit scores, second quarter of 2026
- People with a credit card behindnot published for this county; scored at the state median · August 202537th percentile
- People with a car or retail loan behindnot published for this county; scored at the state median · August 202538th percentile
- People with a subprime credit score41.5% · second quarter of 202654th percentile
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- 18.3 of 100
Jobs
Unemployment through Sep 2026; adults not working, 2020–24 Census survey
- Unemployment rate, average over the latest year3.5% · Oct 2025 to Sep 202630th percentile
- Adults 25 to 54 not working12.0% · 2020 to 20246th percentile
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- 14.7 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 rent6.2% · 2020 to 20245th percentile
- Rent on a two-bedroom as a share of the median income18.2% · fiscal year 202724th percentile
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- 10.6 of 100
Collections and bankruptcy
Credit records, August 2025; bankruptcy filings, 2025
- People with unpaid debt sent to a collector13.9% · August 202514th percentile
- Bankruptcy filings per 100,000 people42.1 · 20256th 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 Kiowa 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 Kiowa County, 22.6% of residents are 65 or older (Census Bureau, 2024), against 17.2% nationally that year.
Cents of every dollar of income, 2024
Kiowa County
Kansas
United States
- Pay from work
- Investments and rent
- Benefit checks
In Kiowa County, benefit checks' share of income has tripled since 1969, reaching 30.2% in 2024, but pay from work still brings in nearly twice as much as benefit checks
In Kiowa County, Kansas, benefit checks' share of income tripled from 1969 to 2024, reaching 30.2%; pay from work is plotted alongside. Every fifth year and 2024 are shown.
- Benefit checks
- Pay from work
SNAP food aid is one of the benefit checks counted in the income totals above.
The share of households in Kiowa County getting SNAP food aid was at its highest on the chart in 2015 and has since fallen to 4.3%
Biggest drop: 2022 to 2023, reaching 5.6%. Households getting SNAP, every year; each bar is a five-year survey estimate ending that year, so neighboring bars share most of their data, Kiowa County, Kansas.
How Kiowa County has changed
Kiowa County's population fell 41% from 1969 to 2024, reaching its lowest on the chart
Biggest drop: 2004 to 2009, reaching 2,490. Residents, yearly estimate, every fifth year and 2024, Kiowa County, Kansas.
The jobs count covers work located in the county; the population count covers residents.
The number of jobs located in Kiowa County fell 8% from 1990 to 2025, with most of the change between 2015 and 2020
High on the chart: 1,250 in 2015. Yearly average of jobs covered by unemployment insurance, every fifth year and 2025, Kiowa County, Kansas.
| Measure | Then | Now |
|---|---|---|
| Unemployment rateBLS LAUS | 1990 1.6% | 2025 3.3% |
| People below the poverty lineCensus SAIPE | 1989 10.6% | 2024 12.0% |
| Median household incomeCensus SAIPE | 1989 $24,504 | 2024 $63,239 |
The table uses 3.3% for 2025; the score uses 3.5% 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 Kiowa County's history
1910
The county's largest recorded population was the 1910 Census count of 6,174. The 2020 Census counted 2,460, 40% of the peak. Census Bureau
1996
A thunderstorm in June 1996 did $1.5 million in property damage. NOAA Storm Events Database
1996
A thunderstorm in August 1996 did $2 million in property damage. NOAA Storm Events Database
2007
EF5 tornado on May 4, 2007 destroyed 95% of Greensburg, killing 11 people and injuring 63. Wikipedia
2007
A tornado in May 2007 did $250 million in property damage and killed 11 people. NOAA Storm Events Database
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Since 1973
20 federal disaster and emergency declarations have covered Kiowa County, 10 of them for flooding. FEMA
Kiowa County beside its neighbors
Of the six counties that border Kiowa County, five score higher. For the share of income from benefit checks, Kiowa County ranks 2nd of the seven; Barber County is highest, at 30.3%.
| County | Score | Poverty | Benefit checks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ford County, KS | 37 | 14.8% | 17.4% |
| Edwards County, KS | 36 | 11.8% | 21.4% |
| Comanche County, KS | 32 | 11.8% | 30.1% |
| Clark County, KS | 20 | 12.5% | 24.7% |
| Pratt County, KS | 19 | 13.2% | 22.6% |
| Kiowa County, KS | 12 | 12.0% | 30.2% |
| Barber County, KS | 7 | 10.0% | 30.3% |
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 Kiowa County the poorest county in Kansas?
No, Kiowa County's poverty rate was 12.0% in 2024, 42nd 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, Kiowa County ranks 84th of 105 in the state.
If you're behind on your mortgage in Kiowa 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 Kiowa County comes from, 2024.
- History The agencies named in each row and the linked records above.