Clay County, Mississippi

County Distress Index: Elevated · 58.0 | 18,206 people · 56th most distressed in Mississippi

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Clay County, MS registers elevated household financial distress with a score of 58.0 — 994th nationally out of 3144 counties. The primary driver is Debt & Delinquency, where residents carry heavy debt burdens with elevated delinquency and collections rates. Within Mississippi, it ranks 56th of 82 counties. Among its 5 neighboring counties, 3 show less distress.

The Numbers Behind the Score

The CDI measures five domains of financial distress. Clay County's primary driver is Debt & Delinquency at 89.9 — worse than roughly 90% of U.S. counties.

Debt & Delinquency Primary driver 89.9
Debt in Collections 85
Medical Debt 81
Student Loan Delinquency 95
Auto Loan Delinquency 89
Credit Card Delinquency 95
Bankruptcy Filing Rate 95
Income & Poverty 70.9
Poverty Rate 88
Income vs. State Median 33
Child Poverty Rate 92
Housing Cost Burden 58.0
Rent-Burdened (30%+) 49
Severely Rent-Burdened (50%+) 73
Mortgage-Burdened (30%+) 71
Homeownership Rate 68
Rent-to-Income Ratio 30
Community Vulnerability 40.0
Uninsured Rate 68
Disability Rate 12
Employment & Wages 30.9
Unemployment Rate 58
Wage-to-Rent Ratio 27
Business Formation Rate 7

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

Neighbors and Peers

How Clay County compares to its 5 neighboring counties and population peers.

Neighboring Counties

County Score Zone vs. Clay County
Clay County, MS 58.0 Elevated
Chickasaw County, MS 66.2 Serious +8.3
Oktibbeha County, MS 60.9 Elevated +2.9
Webster County, MS 55.5 Elevated -2.5
Lowndes County, MS 53.6 Elevated -4.3
Monroe County, MS 51.4 Elevated -6.6

Population Peers

County Score Zone vs. Clay County
Calaveras County, CA 58.0 Elevated +0.0
Stone County, MS 57.9 Elevated -0.0
Winchester city, VA 57.9 Elevated -0.0
Appanoose County, IA 58.0 Elevated +0.0
Highland County, OH 57.9 Elevated -0.0

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