About one in seven people with a credit file in Rush County, Kansas, has unpaid debt sent to a collector
In Rush County, 15.1% of people with a credit file had unpaid debt sent to a collector. That is lower than in 81% of U.S. counties.
Less distressed than 68% of U.S. counties.
What drives Rush County's score
In Rush County, income and the safety net is the highest-scoring part, at 48.0. Jobs are the lowest part, at 24.9. About one in six adults aged 25 to 54 (16.5%, 2020 to 2024) isn't working, a lower share than in 75% of U.S. counties.
The County Distress Index looks at five parts of household money trouble in Rush 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.
Rush 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.
- 48.0 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 line19.0% · 202460th percentile
- People with a disability14.7% · 2020 to 202437th percentile
- People without health insurance7.2% · 2020 to 202444th percentile
- Median household income (lower income, longer bar)$63,851 · 202458th percentile
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- 44.7 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 score42.4% · second quarter of 202657th percentile
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- 44.2 of 100
Collections and bankruptcy
Credit records, August 2025; bankruptcy filings, 2025
- People with unpaid debt sent to a collector15.1% · August 202519th percentile
- Bankruptcy filings per 100,000 people176.7 · 202569th percentile
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- 34.9 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 rent17.7% · 2020 to 202447th percentile
- Rent on a two-bedroom as a share of the median income18.1% · fiscal year 202722nd percentile
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- 24.9 of 100
Jobs
Unemployment through Sep 2026; adults not working, 2020–24 Census survey
- Unemployment rate, average over the latest year3.3% · Oct 2025 to Sep 202625th percentile
- Adults 25 to 54 not working16.5% · 2020 to 202424th 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 Rush 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 Rush County, 24.8% of residents are 65 or older (Census Bureau, 2024), against 17.2% nationally that year.
Cents of every dollar of income, 2024
Rush County
Kansas
United States
- Pay from work
- Investments and rent
- Benefit checks
In Rush County, benefit checks' share of income has more than doubled since 1969, reaching 25.4% in 2024, but pay from work still brings in more than twice as much as benefit checks
In Rush County, Kansas, benefit checks' share of income more than doubled from 1969 to 2024, reaching 25.4%; pay from work is plotted alongside. Every fifth year and 2024 are shown.
- Benefit checks
- Pay from work
The share of households in Rush County getting SNAP food aid had its largest drop, from 8.1% in 2020 to 6.0% in 2021.
The share of households in Rush County getting SNAP food aid was at its highest on the chart in 2013 and has since fallen to 6.3%
Low on the chart: 4.9% in 2009. Households getting SNAP, every year; each bar is a five-year survey estimate ending that year, so neighboring bars share most of their data, Rush County, Kansas.
How Rush County has changed
Rush County's population fell by about half to 2,810, the lowest on the chart
Biggest drop: 1969 to 1974, reaching 4,524. Residents, yearly estimate, every fifth year and 2024, Rush County, Kansas.
The number of jobs located in Rush County fell most sharply on the way to its 2020 low, from 1,161 in 2015 to 962 in 2020.
The number of jobs located in Rush County was at its highest on the chart in 2000 and is down 14% since
High on the chart: 1,198 in 2000. Yearly average of jobs covered by unemployment insurance, every fifth year and 2025, Rush County, Kansas.
| Measure | Then | Now |
|---|---|---|
| Unemployment rateBLS LAUS | 1990 1.9% | 2025 3.5% |
| People below the poverty lineCensus SAIPE | 1989 11.6% | 2024 12.0% |
| Median household incomeCensus SAIPE | 1989 $18,785 | 2024 $63,851 |
The table uses 3.5% for 2025; the score uses 3.3% 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 Rush County's history
1867
Established February 26, 1867. Wikipedia
1930
The county's largest recorded population was the 1930 Census count of 9,093. The 2020 Census counted 2,956, 33% of the peak. Census Bureau
1999
Hail in May 1999 did $2.48 million in property damage. NOAA Storm Events Database
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Since 1973
21 federal disaster and emergency declarations have covered Rush County, 10 of them for flooding. FEMA
Rush County beside its neighbors
Of the five counties that border Rush County, two score higher. For the share of income from benefit checks, Rush County ranks 4th of the six; Pawnee County is highest, at 28.0%.
| County | Score | Poverty | Benefit checks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barton County, KS | 41 | 13.9% | 25.0% |
| Pawnee County, KS | 32 | 13.6% | 28.0% |
| Rush County, KS | 31 | 12.0% | 25.4% |
| Russell County, KS | 18 | 12.7% | 27.3% |
| Ellis County, KS | 11 | 12.5% | 20.3% |
| Ness County, KS | 4 | 11.3% | 27.4% |
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 Rush County the poorest county in Kansas?
No, Rush 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, Rush County ranks 36th of 105 in the state.
If you're behind on your mortgage in Rush 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 Rush County comes from, 2024.
- History The agencies named in each row and the linked records above.