Jackson County, Kentucky

County Distress Index: Serious · 69.0 | 13,104 people · 11th most distressed in Kentucky

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Jackson County, KY shows significant household financial distress with a score of 69.0 — 257th nationally out of 3144 counties. The primary driver is Income & Poverty, where poverty rates are high and household incomes lag well behind state and national medians. Within Kentucky, it ranks 11th of 120 counties. Among its 7 neighboring counties, 6 show less distress.

The Numbers Behind the Score

The CDI measures five domains of financial distress. Jackson County's primary driver is Income & Poverty at 90.8 — worse than roughly 91% of U.S. counties.

Income & Poverty Primary driver 90.8
Poverty Rate 94
Income vs. State Median 90
Child Poverty Rate 88
Debt & Delinquency 85.4
Debt in Collections 81
Medical Debt 80
Student Loan Delinquency 83
Auto Loan Delinquency 89
Credit Card Delinquency 95
Bankruptcy Filing Rate 86
Employment & Wages 73.4
Unemployment Rate 88
Wage-to-Rent Ratio 57
Business Formation Rate 75
Community Vulnerability 56.6
Uninsured Rate 20
Disability Rate 93
Housing Cost Burden 38.9
Rent-Burdened (30%+) 15
Severely Rent-Burdened (50%+) 38
Mortgage-Burdened (30%+) 53
Homeownership Rate 20
Rent-to-Income Ratio 69

Scores are percentile-based: 50 = national median, higher = more distressed. The median line is shown on each bar.

Neighbors and Peers

How Jackson County compares to its 7 neighboring counties and population peers.

Neighboring Counties

County Score Zone vs. Jackson County
Jackson County, KY 69.0 Serious
Lee County, KY 70.7 Serious +1.7
Owsley County, KY 67.2 Serious -1.9
Estill County, KY 67.0 Serious -2.0
Clay County, KY 67.0 Serious -2.1
Rockcastle County, KY 62.3 Elevated -6.7
Laurel County, KY 60.8 Elevated -8.2
Madison County, KY 43.1 Normal -25.9

Population Peers

County Score Zone vs. Jackson County
Lee County, SC 69.1 Serious +0.0
Johnson County, KY 69.1 Serious +0.1
Heard County, GA 68.9 Serious -0.1
Adams County, OH 68.9 Serious -0.1
Hughes County, OK 69.1 Serious +0.1

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