Owsley County, Kentucky

County Distress Index: Serious · 67.2 | 4,001 people · 18th most distressed in Kentucky

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Owsley County, KY shows significant household financial distress with a score of 67.2 — 366th 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 18th of 120 counties. Among its 5 neighboring counties, 3 show less distress.

The Numbers Behind the Score

The CDI measures five domains of financial distress. Owsley County's primary driver is Income & Poverty at 95.0 — worse than roughly 95% of U.S. counties.

Income & Poverty Primary driver 95.0
Poverty Rate 95
Income vs. State Median 95
Child Poverty Rate 95
Employment & Wages 68.7
Unemployment Rate 55
Wage-to-Rent Ratio 56
Business Formation Rate 95
Community Vulnerability 63.6
Uninsured Rate 32
Disability Rate 95
Debt & Delinquency 57.9
Debt in Collections 78
Medical Debt 72
Student Loan Delinquency 7
Auto Loan Delinquency 94
Credit Card Delinquency 5
Bankruptcy Filing Rate 91
Housing Cost Burden 50.6
Rent-Burdened (30%+) 9
Severely Rent-Burdened (50%+) 46
Mortgage-Burdened (30%+) 26
Homeownership Rate 77
Rent-to-Income Ratio 95

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

Neighbors and Peers

How Owsley County compares to its 5 neighboring counties and population peers.

Neighboring Counties

County Score Zone vs. Owsley County
Owsley County, KY 67.2 Serious
Lee County, KY 70.7 Serious +3.5
Jackson County, KY 69.0 Serious +1.9
Clay County, KY 67.0 Serious -0.2
Breathitt County, KY 62.1 Elevated -5.0
Perry County, KY 61.8 Elevated -5.3

Population Peers

County Score Zone vs. Owsley County
Perry County, AL 67.1 Serious -0.0
Atkinson County, GA 67.2 Serious +0.0
Twiggs County, GA 67.2 Serious +0.0
Haskell County, TX 67.3 Serious +0.1
Hudspeth County, TX 67.3 Serious +0.1

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