About one in three people with a credit file in Rapides Parish, Louisiana, has unpaid debt sent to a collector
In Rapides Parish, 35.8% of people with a credit file had unpaid debt sent to a collector. That is higher than in 87% of U.S. counties.
More distressed than 90% of U.S. counties.
What drives Rapides Parish's score
In Rapides Parish, collections and bankruptcy weighs most: the score for collections and bankruptcy is 89.2. Bankruptcy filings ran at 296.2 per 100,000 people (2025), higher than in 90% of U.S. counties. Late payments on loans come next, at 79.6.
The County Distress Index looks at five parts of household money trouble in Rapides Parish: 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.
Rapides Parish does better than most counties on one measure: unemployment rate, average over the latest year (4.0%, Oct 2025 to Sep 2026).
A longer bar means more trouble. See how the county score works.
- 89.2 of 100
Collections and bankruptcy
Biggest factorCredit records, August 2025; bankruptcy filings, 2025
- People with unpaid debt sent to a collector35.8% · August 202587th percentile
- Bankruptcy filings per 100,000 people296.2 · 202590th percentile
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- 79.6 of 100
Late payments
Credit records, August 2025; credit scores, second quarter of 2026
- People with a credit card behind6.7% · August 202568th percentile
- People with a car or retail loan behind8.3% · August 202585th percentile
- People with a subprime credit score52.2% · second quarter of 202684th percentile
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- 73.3 of 100
Income and safety net
Poverty and income, 2024; disability and insurance, 2020–24 Census survey
- People below the poverty line18.8% · 202483rd percentile
- Children below the poverty line24.6% · 202481st percentile
- People with a disability18.5% · 2020 to 202471st percentile
- People without health insurance8.1% · 2020 to 202452nd percentile
- Median household income (lower income, longer bar)$56,786 · 202478th percentile
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- 70.8 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 rent25.3% · 2020 to 202487th percentile
- Rent on a two-bedroom as a share of the median income21.0% · fiscal year 202753rd percentile
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- 62.3 of 100
Jobs
Unemployment through Sep 2026; adults not working, 2020–24 Census survey
- Unemployment rate, average over the latest year4.0% · Oct 2025 to Sep 202649th percentile
- Adults 25 to 54 not working25.2% · 2020 to 202475th 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 Rapides Parish 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 Rapides Parish, 17.0% of residents are 65 or older (Census Bureau, 2024), against 17.2% nationally that year.
Cents of every dollar of income, 2024
Rapides Parish
Louisiana
United States
- Pay from work
- Investments and rent
- Benefit checks
In Rapides Parish, benefit checks' share of income has tripled since 1969, reaching 30.9% in 2024, but pay from work still brings in nearly twice as much as benefit checks
In Rapides Parish, Louisiana, benefit checks' share of income tripled from 1969 to 2024, reaching 30.9%; pay from work is plotted alongside. Every fifth year and 2024 are shown.
- Benefit checks
- Pay from work
SNAP food aid is one of the benefit checks counted in the income totals above.
The share of households in Rapides Parish getting SNAP food aid rose to 19.1%, the highest on the chart
Biggest rise: 2011 to 2012, reaching 17.7%. Households getting SNAP, every year; each bar is a five-year survey estimate ending that year, so neighboring bars share most of their data, Rapides Parish, Louisiana.
How Rapides Parish has changed
Rapides Parish's population rose most sharply from its first year (117,764 in 1969) to 125,717 in 1974.
Rapides Parish's population was at its highest on the chart in 1984 and is down 8% since
High on the chart: 136,903 in 1984. Residents, yearly estimate, every fifth year and 2024, Rapides Parish, Louisiana.
The jobs count covers work located in the county; the population count covers residents.
The number of jobs located in Rapides Parish rose by about a quarter from 1990 to 2025, reaching 56,850, with most of the change between 1990 and 1995
High on the chart: 59,086 in 2005. Yearly average of jobs covered by unemployment insurance, every fifth year and 2025, Rapides Parish, Louisiana.
| Measure | Then | Now |
|---|---|---|
| Unemployment rateBLS LAUS | 1990 6.0% | 2025 3.9% |
| People below the poverty lineCensus SAIPE | 1989 22.4% | 2024 18.8% |
| Median household incomeCensus SAIPE | 1989 $21,424 | 2024 $56,786 |
The table uses 3.9% for 2025; the score uses 4.0% 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 Rapides Parish's history
1807
Created in 1807 after the United States acquired this territory in the Louisiana Purchase. Wikipedia
1957
A tornado in November 1957 did $2.5 million in property damage and killed three people. NOAA Storm Events Database
1980
The county's largest recorded population was the 1980 Census count of 135,282. The 2020 Census counted 130,023, 96% of the peak. Census Bureau
2008
A flash flood in September 2008 did $15 million in property damage. NOAA Storm Events Database
2013
A flood in January 2013 did $33.45 million in property damage. NOAA Storm Events Database
2019
A tornado in December 2019 did $22 million in property damage. NOAA Storm Events Database
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Since 1965
47 federal disaster and emergency declarations have covered Rapides Parish, 14 of them for flooding. FEMA
Rapides Parish beside its neighbors
Of the seven counties that border Rapides Parish, four score higher. For the share of income from benefit checks, Rapides Parish ranks 6th of the eight; Evangeline Parish is highest, at 37.6%.
| County | Score | Poverty | Benefit checks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Natchitoches Parish, LA | 97 | 26.9% | 29.9% |
| Avoyelles Parish, LA | 97 | 25.0% | 35.9% |
| Allen Parish, LA | 94 | 23.6% | 31.7% |
| Evangeline Parish, LA | 92 | 25.9% | 37.6% |
| Rapides Parish, LA | 90 | 18.8% | 30.9% |
| Vernon Parish, LA | 82 | 15.7% | 27.3% |
| Grant Parish, LA | 79 | 21.1% | 33.7% |
| LaSalle Parish, LA | 52 | 18.0% | 35.7% |
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 Rapides Parish the poorest county in Louisiana?
No, Rapides Parish's poverty rate was 18.8% in 2024, 40th highest of 64 in Louisiana (U.S. Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates). By that measure the poorest county in the state is East Carroll Parish, at 44.4%. On our distress index, which counts more than poverty, Rapides Parish ranks 30th of 64 in the state.
If you're behind on your mortgage in Rapides Parish
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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Cenla Community Action Committee, Incorporated
HUD-approved housing counselor
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Rapides Station Community Ministries
HUD-approved housing counselor
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Acadiana Legal Service Corporation
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 Rapides Parish · 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 Rapides Parish comes from, 2024.
- History The agencies named in each row and the linked records above.