About one in 10 people with a credit file in Nicollet County, Minnesota, has unpaid debt sent to a collector
In Nicollet County, 9.6% of people with a credit file had unpaid debt sent to a collector. That is lower than in 96% of U.S. counties.
Less distressed than 94% of U.S. counties.
What drives Nicollet County's score
In Nicollet County, housing costs are the highest-scoring part, at 34.2. Late payments on loans are the lowest part, at 6.5. People with a credit card behind: 2.2%, August 2025, lower than in 95% of U.S. counties.
The County Distress Index looks at five parts of household money trouble in Nicollet 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.
Nicollet County isn't among the worst-off quarter of U.S. counties on any measure.
A longer bar means more trouble. See how the county score works.
- 34.2 of 100
Housing costs
Biggest factorRenters, 2020–24 Census survey; HUD's fair market rents, fiscal year 2027
- Renters paying half their income or more in rent17.6% · 2020 to 202447th percentile
- Rent on a two-bedroom as a share of the median income18.0% · fiscal year 202721st percentile
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- 33.8 of 100
Collections and bankruptcy
Credit records, August 2025; bankruptcy filings, 2025
- People with unpaid debt sent to a collector9.6% · August 20252nd percentile
- Bankruptcy filings per 100,000 people163.5 · 202564th percentile
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- 20.6 of 100
Jobs
Unemployment through Sep 2026; adults not working, 2020–24 Census survey
- Unemployment rate, average over the latest year3.7% · Oct 2025 to Sep 202634th percentile
- Adults 25 to 54 not working12.4% · 2020 to 20247th percentile
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- 10.1 of 100
Income and safety net
Poverty and income, 2024; disability and insurance, 2020–24 Census survey
- People below the poverty line7.8% · 20247th percentile
- Children below the poverty line8.0% · 20246th percentile
- People with a disability12.1% · 2020 to 202415th percentile
- People without health insurance3.4% · 2020 to 20244th percentile
- Median household income (lower income, longer bar)$82,044 · 202417th percentile
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- 6.5 of 100
Late payments
Credit records, August 2025; credit scores, second quarter of 2026
- People with a credit card behind2.2% · August 20254th percentile
- People with a car or retail loan behind2.0% · August 20255th percentile
- People with a subprime credit score28.5% · second quarter of 20269th 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 Nicollet 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 Nicollet County, 17.6% of residents are 65 or older (Census Bureau, 2024), against 17.2% nationally that year.
Cents of every dollar of income, 2024
Nicollet County
Minnesota
United States
- Pay from work
- Investments and rent
- Benefit checks
In Nicollet County, benefit checks' share of income has more than doubled since 1969, reaching 19.2% in 2024, but pay from work still brings in about three times as much as benefit checks
In Nicollet County, Minnesota, benefit checks' share of income more than doubled from 1969 to 2024, reaching 19.2%; pay from work is plotted alongside. Every fifth year and 2024 are shown.
- Benefit checks
- Pay from work
The share of households in Nicollet County getting SNAP food aid had its largest drop in the last span, from 7.5% in 2023 to 6.0% in 2024.
The share of households in Nicollet County getting SNAP food aid was at its highest on the chart in 2015 and has since fallen by about a third
Low on the chart: 4.8% in 2010. Households getting SNAP, every year; each bar is a five-year survey estimate ending that year, so neighboring bars share most of their data, Nicollet County, Minnesota.
How Nicollet County has changed
Nicollet County's population rose most sharply after its 1974 low, from 24,694 in 1974 to 26,702 in 1979.
Nicollet County's population rose by about a third to 34,493, the highest on the chart
High on the chart: 34,493 in 2024. Residents, yearly estimate, every fifth year and 2024, Nicollet County, Minnesota.
The jobs count covers work located in the county; the population count covers residents.
The number of jobs located in Nicollet County rose 43% from 1990 to 2025, reaching its highest on the chart
Biggest rise: 1990 to 1995, reaching 12,324. Yearly average of jobs covered by unemployment insurance, every fifth year and 2025, Nicollet County, Minnesota.
| Measure | Then | Now |
|---|---|---|
| Unemployment rateBLS LAUS | 1990 3.8% | 2025 3.2% |
| People below the poverty lineCensus SAIPE | 1989 8.9% | 2024 7.8% |
| Median household incomeCensus SAIPE | 1989 $30,653 | 2024 $82,044 |
The table uses 3.2% for 2025; the score uses 3.7% 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 Nicollet County's history
1998
A tornado in March 1998 did $120 million in property damage and killed one person. NOAA Storm Events Database
1998
A thunderstorm in July 1998 did $4 million in property damage. NOAA Storm Events Database
2006
A tornado in August 2006 did $3.5 million in property damage. NOAA Storm Events Database
2011
A flood in March 2011 killed one person. NOAA Storm Events Database
2020
The county's largest recorded population was the 2020 Census count of 34,454, which is also its most recent census. Census Bureau
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Since 1965
22 federal disaster and emergency declarations have covered Nicollet County, 16 of them for flooding. FEMA
Nicollet County beside its neighbors
All five counties that border Nicollet County score higher than it does. Of the group, Nicollet County gets the smallest share of its income from benefit checks; Renville County gets the largest, at 26.1%.
| County | Score | Poverty | Benefit checks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Renville County, MN | 25 | 10.8% | 26.1% |
| Blue Earth County, MN | 24 | 14.1% | 21.2% |
| Brown County, MN | 14 | 9.6% | 25.0% |
| Sibley County, MN | 13 | 8.1% | 22.0% |
| Le Sueur County, MN | 10 | 7.4% | 19.8% |
| Nicollet County, MN | 5 | 7.8% | 19.2% |
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 Nicollet County the poorest county in Minnesota?
No, Nicollet County's poverty rate was 7.8% in 2024, 73rd highest of 87 in Minnesota (U.S. Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates). By that measure the poorest county in the state is Beltrami County, at 17.3%. On our distress index, which counts more than poverty, Nicollet County ranks 83rd of 87 in the state.
If you're behind on your mortgage in Nicollet 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.
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Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services
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 Nicollet 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 Nicollet County comes from, 2024.
- History The agencies named in each row and the linked records above.