Perry County, Kentucky

County Distress Index: Elevated · 61.8 | 27,133 people · 32nd most distressed in Kentucky

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Perry County, KY registers elevated household financial distress with a score of 61.8 — 699th 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 32nd of 120 counties. Among its 7 neighboring counties, 5 show more distress.

The Numbers Behind the Score

The CDI measures five domains of financial distress. Perry County's primary driver is Income & Poverty at 96.5 — worse than roughly 97% of U.S. counties.

Income & Poverty Primary driver 96.5
Poverty Rate 98
Income vs. State Median 94
Child Poverty Rate 97
Debt & Delinquency 56.8
Debt in Collections 83
Medical Debt 43
Student Loan Delinquency 1
Auto Loan Delinquency 86
Credit Card Delinquency 28
Bankruptcy Filing Rate 99
Housing Cost Burden 53.0
Rent-Burdened (30%+) 56
Severely Rent-Burdened (50%+) 28
Mortgage-Burdened (30%+) 31
Homeownership Rate 61
Rent-to-Income Ratio 89
Employment & Wages 52.0
Unemployment Rate 45
Wage-to-Rent Ratio 23
Business Formation Rate 88
Community Vulnerability 50.9
Uninsured Rate 2
Disability Rate 99

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

Neighbors and Peers

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

Neighboring Counties

County Score Zone vs. Perry County
Perry County, KY 61.8 Elevated
Harlan County, KY 69.3 Serious +7.4
Owsley County, KY 67.2 Serious +5.3
Clay County, KY 67.0 Serious +5.1
Knott County, KY 64.1 Elevated +2.3
Breathitt County, KY 62.1 Elevated +0.3
Letcher County, KY 60.5 Elevated -1.3
Leslie County, KY 59.7 Elevated -2.1

Population Peers

County Score Zone vs. Perry County
Putnam County, GA 61.8 Elevated 0.0
Peach County, GA 61.9 Elevated +0.0
Pawnee County, OK 61.9 Elevated +0.0
Limestone County, TX 61.9 Elevated +0.0
Gulf County, FL 61.8 Elevated -0.1

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