In Missaukee County, Michigan, rent on a two-bedroom takes about one in six dollars of the typical household's income
In Missaukee County, 18.3% of the typical household's income would go to rent on a two-bedroom. That is lower than in 75% of U.S. counties.
Less distressed than 51% of U.S. counties.
What drives Missaukee County's score
In Missaukee County, jobs are the highest-scoring part, at 73.8. Housing costs are the lowest part, at 30.1.
The County Distress Index looks at five parts of household money trouble in Missaukee 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.
Even so, Missaukee County is worse off than most counties on unemployment rate, average over the latest year (5.1%, Oct 2025 to Sep 2026).
A longer bar means more trouble. See how the county score works.
- 73.8 of 100
Jobs
Biggest factorUnemployment through Sep 2026; adults not working, 2020–24 Census survey
- Unemployment rate, average over the latest year5.1% · Oct 2025 to Sep 202682nd percentile
- Adults 25 to 54 not working23.3% · 2020 to 202465th percentile
-
- 51.4 of 100
Income and safety net
Poverty and income, 2024; disability and insurance, 2020–24 Census survey
- People below the poverty line12.1% · 202440th percentile
- Children below the poverty line15.3% · 202440th percentile
- People with a disability18.3% · 2020 to 202469th percentile
- People without health insurance8.4% · 2020 to 202454th percentile
- Median household income (lower income, longer bar)$66,502 · 202450th percentile
-
- 49.3 of 100
Late payments
Credit records, August 2025; credit scores, second quarter of 2026
- People with a credit card behind5.7% · August 202554th percentile
- People with a car or retail loan behind5.5% · August 202554th percentile
- People with a subprime credit score37.4% · second quarter of 202639th percentile
-
- 40.8 of 100
Collections and bankruptcy
Credit records, August 2025; bankruptcy filings, 2025
- People with unpaid debt sent to a collector17.0% · August 202526th percentile
- Bankruptcy filings per 100,000 people137.2 · 202554th percentile
-
- 30.1 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 rent15.7% · 2020 to 202435th percentile
- Rent on a two-bedroom as a share of the median income18.3% · fiscal year 202724th percentile
-
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 Missaukee 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 Missaukee County, 22.0% of residents are 65 or older (Census Bureau, 2024), against 17.2% nationally that year.
Cents of every dollar of income, 2024
Missaukee County
Michigan
United States
- Pay from work
- Investments and rent
- Benefit checks
In Missaukee County, benefit checks' share of income has more than doubled since 1969, reaching 31.2% in 2024, but pay from work still brings in nearly twice as much as benefit checks
In Missaukee County, Michigan, benefit checks' share of income more than doubled from 1969 to 2024, reaching 31.2%; pay from work is plotted alongside. Every fifth year and 2024 are shown.
- Benefit checks
- Pay from work
The share of households in Missaukee County getting SNAP food aid had its largest drop, from 17.3% in 2015 to 15.1% in 2016.
The share of households in Missaukee County getting SNAP food aid was at its highest on the chart in 2013 and has since fallen to 12.9%
Low on the chart: 12.8% in 2009. Households getting SNAP, every year; each bar is a five-year survey estimate ending that year, so neighboring bars share most of their data, Missaukee County, Michigan.
How Missaukee County has changed
Missaukee County's population more than doubled to 15,239, the highest on the chart
Biggest rise: 1974 to 1979, reaching 9,881. Residents, yearly estimate, every fifth year and 2024, Missaukee County, Michigan.
The jobs count covers work located in the county; the population count covers residents.
The number of jobs located in Missaukee County more than doubled to 4,110, the highest on the chart
Biggest rise: 2020 to 2025, reaching 4,110. Yearly average of jobs covered by unemployment insurance, every fifth year and 2025, Missaukee County, Michigan.
| Measure | Then | Now |
|---|---|---|
| Unemployment rateBLS LAUS | 1990 10.5% | 2025 5.7% |
| People below the poverty lineCensus SAIPE | 1989 13.6% | 2024 12.1% |
| Median household incomeCensus SAIPE | 1989 $22,409 | 2024 $66,502 |
The table uses 5.7% for 2025; the score uses 5.1% 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 Missaukee County's history
1840
1840 (created) 1871 (organized). Wikipedia
1871
Missaukee County was partitioned from Mackinac County on April 1, 1840, attached to Grand Traverse County in 1851, then to Manistee County in 1855 and Wexford County in 1869, before being organized in its own right in 1871. Wikipedia
2020
The county's largest recorded population was the 2020 Census count of 15,052, which is also its most recent census. Census Bureau
-
Since 1977
7 federal disaster and emergency declarations have covered Missaukee County, 2 of them for flooding. FEMA
Missaukee County beside its neighbors
All five counties that border Missaukee County score higher than it does. Of the group, Missaukee County gets the smallest share of its income from benefit checks; Roscommon County gets the largest, at 45.7%.
| County | Score | Poverty | Benefit checks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clare County, MI | 90 | 19.3% | 41.8% |
| Roscommon County, MI | 80 | 16.3% | 45.7% |
| Osceola County, MI | 77 | 15.6% | 31.6% |
| Wexford County, MI | 72 | 14.6% | 33.4% |
| Kalkaska County, MI | 53 | 11.1% | 32.5% |
| Missaukee County, MI | 48 | 12.1% | 31.2% |
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 Missaukee County the poorest county in Michigan?
No, Missaukee County's poverty rate was 12.1% in 2024, 49th highest of 83 in Michigan (U.S. Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates). By that measure the poorest county in the state is Lake County, at 24.2%. On our distress index, which counts more than poverty, Missaukee County ranks 40th of 83 in the state.
If you're behind on your mortgage in Missaukee 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.
-
Legal Services of Northern Michigan
Legal aid
-
Michigan Legal Help
Legal help website
-
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 Missaukee County · 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 Missaukee County comes from, 2024.
- History The agencies named in each row and the linked records above.