About three in ten people with a credit file in Carlisle County, Kentucky, have unpaid debt sent to a collector
In Carlisle County, 27.6% of people with a credit file had unpaid debt sent to a collector. That is higher than in 66% of U.S. counties.
More distressed than 54% of U.S. counties.
What drives Carlisle County's score
In Carlisle County, late payments on loans weigh most: the score for late payments on loans is 77.3. People with a credit card behind: 8.6%, August 2025, higher than in 88% of U.S. counties. Collections and bankruptcy comes next, at 63.0.
The County Distress Index looks at five parts of household money trouble in Carlisle 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.
Carlisle County does better than most counties on two measures: renters paying half their income or more in rent (6.6%, 2020 to 2024) and rent on a two-bedroom as a share of the median income (18.2%, fiscal year 2027).
A longer bar means more trouble. See how the county score works.
- 77.3 of 100
Late payments
Biggest factorCredit records, August 2025; credit scores, second quarter of 2026
- People with a credit card behind8.6% · August 202588th percentile
- People with a car or retail loan behindnot published for this county; scored at the state median · August 202563rd percentile
- People with a subprime credit score50.0% · second quarter of 202679th percentile
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- 63.0 of 100
Collections and bankruptcy
Credit records, August 2025; bankruptcy filings, 2025
- People with unpaid debt sent to a collector27.6% · August 202566th percentile
- Bankruptcy filings per 100,000 people148.8 · 202559th percentile
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- 55.1 of 100
Income and safety net
Poverty and income, 2024; disability and insurance, 2020–24 Census survey
- People below the poverty line13.9% · 202455th percentile
- Children below the poverty line19.2% · 202461st percentile
- People with a disability16.9% · 2020 to 202458th percentile
- People without health insurance6.1% · 2020 to 202432nd percentile
- Median household income (lower income, longer bar)$61,317 · 202466th percentile
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- 54.3 of 100
Jobs
Unemployment through Sep 2026; adults not working, 2020–24 Census survey
- Unemployment rate, average over the latest year4.4% · Oct 2025 to Sep 202663rd percentile
- Adults 25 to 54 not working19.9% · 2020 to 202445th percentile
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- 14.9 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 rent6.6% · 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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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 Carlisle 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 Carlisle County, 20.1% of residents are 65 or older (Census Bureau, 2024), against 17.2% nationally that year.
Cents of every dollar of income, 2024
Carlisle County
Kentucky
United States
- Pay from work
- Investments and rent
- Benefit checks
Benefit checks' share of income in Carlisle County had its largest rise, from 23.2% in 2004 to 26.3% in 2009.
In Carlisle County, benefit checks' share of income has risen by about half since 1969, reaching 26.1% in 2024, but pay from work still brings in more than twice as much as benefit checks
In Carlisle County, Kentucky, benefit checks' share of income rose by about half from 1969 to 2024, reaching 26.1%; pay from work is plotted alongside. Every fifth year and 2024 are shown.
- Benefit checks
- Pay from work
The share of households in Carlisle County getting SNAP food aid had its largest rise, from 13.1% in 2012 to 16.5% in 2013.
The share of households in Carlisle County getting SNAP food aid was at its highest on the chart in 2013 and has since fallen by about a quarter
Low on the chart: 10.4% 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, Carlisle County, Kentucky.
How Carlisle County has changed
Carlisle County's population made its largest gain on the way to its 1979 high, from 5,219 in 1974 to 5,596 in 1979.
Carlisle County's population fell 11% from 1969 to 2024, reaching its lowest on the chart
High on the chart: 5,596 in 1979. Residents, yearly estimate, every fifth year and 2024, Carlisle County, Kentucky.
The jobs count covers work located in the county; the population count covers residents.
The number of jobs located in Carlisle County rose by more than half to 1,054, the highest on the chart, with most of the change between 2010 and 2015
Biggest rise: 2010 to 2015, reaching 988. Yearly average of jobs covered by unemployment insurance, every fifth year and 2025, Carlisle County, Kentucky.
| Measure | Then | Now |
|---|---|---|
| Unemployment rateBLS LAUS | 1990 8.2% | 2025 4.6% |
| People below the poverty lineCensus SAIPE | 1989 14.6% | 2024 13.9% |
| Median household incomeCensus SAIPE | 1989 $20,433 | 2024 $61,317 |
The table uses 4.6% for 2025; the score uses 4.4% 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 Carlisle County's history
1886
Founded 1886. Wikipedia
1900
The county's largest recorded population was the 1900 Census count of 10,195. The 2020 Census counted 4,826, 47% of the peak. Census Bureau
2011
A tornado in April 2011 did $2 million in property damage. NOAA Storm Events Database
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Since 1973
27 federal disaster and emergency declarations have covered Carlisle County, 16 of them for flooding. FEMA
Carlisle County beside its neighbors
All five counties that border Carlisle County, in Kentucky and Missouri, score higher than it does. For the share of income from benefit checks, Carlisle County ranks 5th of the six; Mississippi County is highest, at 40.7%.
| County | Score | Poverty | Benefit checks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mississippi County, MO | 98 | 21.0% | 40.7% |
| Graves County, KY | 68 | 16.6% | 32.3% |
| McCracken County, KY | 66 | 13.9% | 23.7% |
| Ballard County, KY | 64 | 15.9% | 29.1% |
| Hickman County, KY | 59 | 18.9% | 35.3% |
| Carlisle County, KY | 54 | 13.9% | 26.1% |
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 Carlisle County the poorest county in Kentucky?
No, Carlisle County's poverty rate was 13.9% in 2024, 91st highest of 120 in Kentucky (U.S. Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates). By that measure the poorest county in the state is McCreary County, at 36.4%. On our distress index, which counts more than poverty, Carlisle County ranks 101st of 120 in the state.
If you're behind on your mortgage in Carlisle 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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Kentucky Legal Aid
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.
Download the CSV for Carlisle County · Every U.S. county (CSV)
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 Carlisle County comes from, 2024.
- History The agencies named in each row and the linked records above.