Mississippi County Distress Index
Financial distress scores for all 82 counties in Mississippi, scored 0–100 across five domains. A county's score is the share of U.S. counties it is more distressed than; the average Mississippi county scores 85.5. 70 counties score high, very high, or extreme.
Data: U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Urban Institute, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts | Scores as of Aug 2026
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Holmes County is the most distressed of Mississippi's 82 counties
County Distress Index score for Mississippi's 82 counties, from green (least distressed, 0–29) to red (most distressed, 80–100). Data from 2024 to Aug 2026.
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County Distress Index score · data from 2024 to Aug 2026
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Most & Least Distressed
Most Distressed
Least Distressed
Score Distribution
How Mississippi's 82 county scores are distributed across the 0–100 scale.
All Mississippi Counties
82 counties ranked by distress score. Click column headers to sort.
| State Rank | Nat'l Rank | County | Score | Score Label | Primary Driver |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Holmes County | 100 | extreme county distress | Default & Legal |
| 2 | 2 | Washington County | 99 | extreme county distress | Delinquency |
| 3 | 9 | Leflore County | 99 | extreme county distress | Delinquency |
| 4 | 10 | Coahoma County | 99 | extreme county distress | Delinquency |
| 5 | 11 | Noxubee County | 99 | extreme county distress | Default & Legal |
| 6 | 15 | Tunica County | 99 | extreme county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 7 | 21 | Bolivar County | 99 | extreme county distress | Delinquency |
| 8 | 29 | Wilkinson County | 99 | extreme county distress | Delinquency |
| 9 | 35 | Yazoo County | 98 | extreme county distress | Delinquency |
| 10 | 41 | Humphreys County | 98 | extreme county distress | Delinquency |
| 11 | 46 | Pike County | 98 | extreme county distress | Delinquency |
| 12 | 47 | Adams County | 98 | extreme county distress | Delinquency |
| 13 | 54 | Claiborne County | 98 | extreme county distress | Delinquency |
| 14 | 57 | Hinds County | 98 | extreme county distress | Delinquency |
| 15 | 67 | Quitman County | 97 | extreme county distress | Default & Legal |
| 16 | 68 | Jefferson County | 97 | extreme county distress | Labor |
| 17 | 82 | Marshall County | 97 | extreme county distress | Delinquency |
| 18 | 86 | Montgomery County | 97 | extreme county distress | Delinquency |
| 19 | 98 | Copiah County | 96 | extreme county distress | Default & Legal |
| 20 | — | Panola County | 96 | extreme county distress | Delinquency |
| 21 | — | Sunflower County | 96 | extreme county distress | Delinquency |
| 22 | — | Sharkey County | 96 | extreme county distress | Delinquency |
| 23 | — | Clay County | 95 | extreme county distress | Delinquency |
| 24 | — | Jasper County | 94 | extreme county distress | Delinquency |
| 25 | — | Kemper County | 94 | extreme county distress | Delinquency |
| 26 | — | Greene County | 94 | extreme county distress | Labor |
| 27 | — | Monroe County | 93 | extreme county distress | Delinquency |
| 28 | — | Winston County | 93 | extreme county distress | Delinquency |
| 29 | — | Chickasaw County | 93 | extreme county distress | Delinquency |
| 30 | — | Clarke County | 92 | extreme county distress | Delinquency |
| 31 | — | Forrest County | 92 | extreme county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 32 | — | Grenada County | 92 | extreme county distress | Delinquency |
| 33 | — | Newton County | 92 | extreme county distress | Delinquency |
| 34 | — | Walthall County | 91 | extreme county distress | Delinquency |
| 35 | — | Lauderdale County | 91 | extreme county distress | Delinquency |
| 36 | — | Jefferson Davis County | 91 | extreme county distress | Default & Legal |
| 37 | — | Wayne County | 91 | extreme county distress | Delinquency |
| 38 | — | Amite County | 91 | extreme county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 39 | — | Franklin County | 90 | extreme county distress | Delinquency |
| 40 | — | Yalobusha County | 88 | very high county distress | Delinquency |
| 41 | — | Lawrence County | 88 | very high county distress | Delinquency |
| 42 | — | Warren County | 88 | very high county distress | Delinquency |
| 43 | — | Simpson County | 88 | very high county distress | Delinquency |
| 44 | — | Lincoln County | 87 | very high county distress | Delinquency |
| 45 | — | Attala County | 87 | very high county distress | Default & Legal |
| 46 | — | Leake County | 87 | very high county distress | Delinquency |
| 47 | — | Benton County | 86 | very high county distress | Delinquency |
| 48 | — | Marion County | 86 | very high county distress | Delinquency |
| 49 | — | Scott County | 86 | very high county distress | Default & Legal |
| 50 | — | Perry County | 86 | very high county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 51 | — | Choctaw County | 85 | very high county distress | Delinquency |
| 52 | — | Neshoba County | 85 | very high county distress | Delinquency |
| 53 | — | Harrison County | 84 | very high county distress | Default & Legal |
| 54 | — | Issaquena County | 84 | very high county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 55 | — | Covington County | 83 | very high county distress | Delinquency |
| 56 | — | Tallahatchie County | 83 | very high county distress | Delinquency |
| 57 | — | Calhoun County | 83 | very high county distress | Default & Legal |
| 58 | — | Oktibbeha County | 82 | very high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 59 | — | Lowndes County | 81 | very high county distress | Default & Legal |
| 60 | — | Tate County | 80 | very high county distress | Delinquency |
| 61 | — | Jones County | 79 | high county distress | Delinquency |
| 62 | — | Prentiss County | 79 | high county distress | Delinquency |
| 63 | — | Stone County | 78 | high county distress | Delinquency |
| 64 | — | Lee County | 77 | high county distress | Delinquency |
| 65 | — | Pearl River County | 76 | high county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 66 | — | Jackson County | 74 | high county distress | Delinquency |
| 67 | — | Alcorn County | 73 | high county distress | Delinquency |
| 68 | — | Tippah County | 72 | high county distress | Delinquency |
| 69 | — | George County | 71 | high county distress | Labor |
| 70 | — | Smith County | 70 | high county distress | Delinquency |
| 71 | — | Carroll County | 69 | moderate-high county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 72 | — | Hancock County | 69 | moderate-high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 73 | — | Pontotoc County | 68 | moderate-high county distress | Delinquency |
| 74 | — | Union County | 68 | moderate-high county distress | Delinquency |
| 75 | — | Tishomingo County | 68 | moderate-high county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 76 | — | Webster County | 65 | moderate-high county distress | Delinquency |
| 77 | — | Itawamba County | 60 | moderate-high county distress | Default & Legal |
| 78 | — | DeSoto County | 59 | moderate county distress | Default & Legal |
| 79 | — | Lafayette County | 53 | moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 80 | — | Rankin County | 48 | moderate-low county distress | Default & Legal |
| 81 | — | Lamar County | 45 | moderate-low county distress | Delinquency |
| 82 | — | Madison County | 37 | low-moderate county distress | Default & Legal |
How County Scores Work
Each county is scored 0–100 using five equal-weighted domains. Each domain averages its member indicators' county ranks, the domains are averaged, and that average is ranked against every U.S. county. So a county's score is the share of U.S. counties it is more distressed than. National ranks are shown only for the 100 most and 100 least distressed counties, because ranks in between move between updates. Counties with identical composite scores share a rank, marked T- for tied.
Urban Institute data: 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. The County Distress Index is American Default Research's own calculation; the Urban Institute does not produce or endorse it.