About one in three people with a credit file in Grant County, Kentucky, has unpaid debt sent to a collector
In Grant County, 32.0% of people with a credit file had unpaid debt sent to a collector. That is higher than in 79% of U.S. counties.
More distressed than 61% of U.S. counties.
What drives Grant County's score
In Grant County, collections and bankruptcy weighs most: the score for collections and bankruptcy is 87.9. Bankruptcy filings ran at 417.7 per 100,000 people (2025), higher than in 96% of U.S. counties. Late payments on loans come next, at 67.1.
The County Distress Index looks at five parts of household money trouble in Grant 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.
Grant County does better than most counties on two measures: renters paying half their income or more in rent (12.3%, 2020 to 2024) and people without health insurance (6.1%, 2020 to 2024).
A longer bar means more trouble. See how the county score works.
- 87.9 of 100
Collections and bankruptcy
Biggest factorCredit records, August 2025; bankruptcy filings, 2025
- People with unpaid debt sent to a collector32.0% · August 202579th percentile
- Bankruptcy filings per 100,000 people417.7 · 202596th percentile
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- 67.1 of 100
Late payments
Credit records, August 2025; credit scores, second quarter of 2026
- People with a credit card behind5.7% · August 202553rd percentile
- People with a car or retail loan behind7.6% · August 202579th percentile
- People with a subprime credit score45.5% · second quarter of 202668th percentile
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- 49.4 of 100
Jobs
Unemployment through Sep 2026; adults not working, 2020–24 Census survey
- Unemployment rate, average over the latest year4.3% · Oct 2025 to Sep 202660th percentile
- Adults 25 to 54 not working18.9% · 2020 to 202438th percentile
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- 48.7 of 100
Income and safety net
Poverty and income, 2024; disability and insurance, 2020–24 Census survey
- People below the poverty line13.5% · 202452nd percentile
- Children below the poverty line17.9% · 202454th percentile
- People with a disability16.8% · 2020 to 202457th percentile
- People without health insurance6.1% · 2020 to 202432nd percentile
- Median household income (lower income, longer bar)$67,881 · 202446th percentile
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- 32.8 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 rent12.3% · 2020 to 202419th percentile
- Rent on a two-bedroom as a share of the median income20.3% · fiscal year 202745th 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 Grant 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 Grant County, 14.5% of residents are 65 or older (Census Bureau, 2024), against 17.2% nationally that year.
Cents of every dollar of income, 2024
Grant County
Kentucky
United States
- Pay from work
- Investments and rent
- Benefit checks
In Grant County, benefit checks' share of income has more than doubled since 1969, reaching 29.6% in 2024, but pay from work still brings in twice as much as benefit checks
In Grant County, Kentucky, benefit checks' share of income more than doubled from 1969 to 2024, reaching 29.6%; pay from work is plotted alongside. Every fifth year and 2024 are shown.
- Benefit checks
- Pay from work
The share of households in Grant County getting SNAP food aid had its largest drop, from 16.3% in 2018 to 13.5% in 2019.
The share of households in Grant County getting SNAP food aid was at its highest on the chart in 2014 and has since fallen to 12.2%
Low on the chart: 12.2% in 2020. Households getting SNAP, every year; each bar is a five-year survey estimate ending that year, so neighboring bars share most of their data, Grant County, Kentucky.
How Grant County has changed
Grant County's population more than doubled to 25,722, the highest on the chart
Biggest rise: 1994 to 1999, reaching 21,804. Residents, yearly estimate, every fifth year and 2024, Grant County, Kentucky.
The jobs count covers work located in the county; the population count covers residents.
The number of jobs located in Grant County rose by more than half from 1990 to 2025, reaching 5,430, with most of the change between 1995 and 2000
High on the chart: 5,566 in 2000. Yearly average of jobs covered by unemployment insurance, every fifth year and 2025, Grant County, Kentucky.
| Measure | Then | Now |
|---|---|---|
| Unemployment rateBLS LAUS | 1990 4.5% | 2025 4.4% |
| People below the poverty lineCensus SAIPE | 1989 11.9% | 2024 13.5% |
| Median household incomeCensus SAIPE | 1989 $23,696 | 2024 $67,881 |
The table uses 4.4% for 2025; the score uses 4.3% 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 Grant County's history
1820
Established in 1820 from land taken from Pendleton County. Wikipedia
1976
A tornado in September 1976 killed one person. NOAA Storm Events Database
1997
A flash flood in March 1997 did $1 million in property damage. NOAA Storm Events Database
2020
The county's largest recorded population was the 2020 Census count of 24,941, which is also its most recent census. Census Bureau
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Since 1996
18 federal disaster and emergency declarations have covered Grant County, 11 of them for flooding. FEMA
Grant County beside its neighbors
Of the seven counties that border Grant County, three score higher. For the share of income from benefit checks, Grant County ranks 3rd of the eight; Owen County is highest, at 33.3%.
| County | Score | Poverty | Benefit checks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gallatin County, KY | 76 | 12.6% | 27.8% |
| Pendleton County, KY | 72 | 13.7% | 27.8% |
| Harrison County, KY | 65 | 15.5% | 30.7% |
| Grant County, KY | 61 | 13.5% | 29.6% |
| Owen County, KY | 58 | 13.9% | 33.3% |
| Kenton County, KY | 40 | 9.8% | 15.6% |
| Scott County, KY | 27 | 8.8% | 16.3% |
| Boone County, KY | 23 | 7.5% | 16.0% |
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 Grant County the poorest county in Kentucky?
No, Grant County's poverty rate was 13.5% in 2024, 98th 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, Grant County ranks 93rd of 120 in the state.
If you're behind on your mortgage in Grant 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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Legal Aid of the Bluegrass
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 Grant County comes from, 2024.
- History The agencies named in each row and the linked records above.