About half people with a credit file in Coahoma County, Mississippi, have unpaid debt sent to a collector
In Coahoma County, 48.9% of people with a credit file had unpaid debt sent to a collector (Urban Institute, Debt in America, August 2025). That is higher than in 99% of U.S. counties.
More distressed than 99% of U.S. counties.
What drives Coahoma County's score
In Coahoma County, late payments on loans weigh most: the score for late payments on loans is 99.5. People with a car or retail loan behind: 25.8%, August 2025, higher than in 99% of U.S. counties. Collections and bankruptcy comes next, at 99.0.
The County Distress Index combines five things we measure for every county: jobs, late payments on loans, income and the safety net, collections and bankruptcy, and housing costs. Each gets a score from 0 to 100; the higher the score, the worse off the county is compared with others.
Coahoma County is worse off than the typical U.S. county on every measure in the score.
The five parts count equally; together they hold 14 measures. Under each part, a bar shows where Coahoma County ranks among all 3,144 U.S. counties on that measure, as a percentile: the share of counties it is higher than. A longer bar means more trouble.
- 99.5 of 100
Late payments
Biggest factorCredit records, August 2025; credit scores, Q4 2025
- People with a car or retail loan behind25.8% · August 202599th percentile
- People with a credit card behind13.8% · August 202599th percentile
- People with a subprime credit score45.9% · Q4 202599th percentile
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- 99.0 of 100
Collections and bankruptcy
Credit records, August 2025; bankruptcy filings, 2025
- People with unpaid debt sent to a collector48.9% · August 202599th percentile
- Bankruptcy filings per 100,000 people508 · 202598th percentile
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- 92.1 of 100
Jobs
Adults not working, 2020–24 Census survey; unemployment through Aug 2026
- Adults 25 to 54 not working29.2% · 2020 to 202487th percentile
- Unemployment rate, 12-month average6.7% · Sep 2025 to Aug 202696th percentile
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- 85.7 of 100
Income and safety net
Poverty and income, 2024; disability and insurance, 2020–24 Census survey
- Children below the poverty line46.9% · 202499th percentile
- People with a disability16.1% · 2020 to 202451st percentile
- Median household income (lower income, longer bar)$37,206 · 202499th percentile
- People below the poverty line34.9% · 202499th percentile
- People without health insurance12.0% · 2020 to 202478th percentile
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- 76.0 of 100
Housing costs
HUD's fair market rents, fiscal year 2027; renters, 2020–24 Census survey
- Rent on a two-bedroom as a share of the median income29.2% · fiscal year 202795th percentile
- Renters paying half their income or more in rent19.2% · 2020 to 202456th percentile
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Sources: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Fair Market Rents and U.S. Census Bureau income; Census Bureau, American Community Survey; Urban Institute, Debt in America; Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, Table F-5A; Equifax via the St. Louis Fed; 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 Aug 2026.
Where the money in Coahoma County comes from
The Bureau of Economic Analysis adds up all the income that reaches the people of a county and splits it three ways: pay from work, income from investments and rent, and benefit checks.
Cents of every dollar of income, 2024
Coahoma County
Mississippi
United States
- Pay from work
- Investments and rent
- Benefit checks
In Coahoma County in 2024, pay from work was 41 cents of every dollar of income. Income from investments and rentals was 18 cents. Benefit checks were 41 cents. Across the country, pay is 61 cents of the dollar and benefit checks are 18.
Benefit checks brought in more than pay in two of the years since 1969, but pay is ahead now.
In Coahoma County, benefit checks rose from 14 to 41 cents of every dollar
Benefit checks and pay from work as shares of all personal income, Coahoma County, Mississippi: 41.1% and 41.1% in 2024. Yearly, 1969–2024.
Use this chart Free to use with credit
The quote: In 2024, benefit checks made up 41.1% of all personal income in Coahoma County, Mississippi (U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, CAINC4).
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 Coahoma County, 16.5% of residents are 65 or older (Census Bureau, 2024), against 17.2% nationally.
How Coahoma County has changed
The number of people living in Coahoma County fell by about half between 1969 and 2024, from 41,170 to 20,105. The number of jobs located there fell by about four in 10 from 1990 to 2024.
Unemployment fell from 11.4% in 1990 to 6.8% in 2025.
| Measure | Then | Now |
|---|---|---|
| People living in the countyBEA | 1969 41,170 | 2024 20,105 |
| Jobs located in the countyBLS QCEW | 1990 9,777 | 2024 6,216 |
| Unemployment rateBLS LAUS | 1990 11.4% | 2025 6.8% |
| People below the poverty lineCensus SAIPE | 1989 47.6% | 2024 34.9% |
| Median household income (not adjusted for prices)Census SAIPE | 1989 $13,595 | 2024 $37,206 |
| Share of income from benefit checksBEA | 1969 13.5% | 2024 41.1% |
Figures are as each agency published them, not adjusted for prices. We don't chart the distress score over time because it compares counties at one moment.
Dated events in Coahoma County's history
Largest decennial census count
The county's largest recorded population was the 1950 Census count of 49,361. The 2020 Census counted 21,390, 43% of the peak. Census Bureau
1875
Bill Peace alleged uprising 1875: false rumors triggered militia suppression, multiple people killed. Wikipedia
1963
Tornado: five deaths. NOAA Storm Events Database
1978
Tornado: $25 million in property damage. NOAA Storm Events Database
2013
Tornado: $1 million in property damage, one death. NOAA Storm Events Database
2015
Tornado: two deaths. NOAA Storm Events Database
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Since 1973
23 federal disaster and emergency declarations have covered Coahoma County, 12 of them for flooding. FEMA
Storms are listed if they did $1 million or more in damage or killed someone.
Coahoma County beside its neighbors
Coahoma County scores higher than all six counties that border it, in Mississippi and Arkansas. For the share of income from benefit checks, Coahoma County ranks 3rd of the seven; Quitman County is highest, at 50.3%.
| County | Score | Poverty | Benefit checks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coahoma County, MS | 99 | 34.9% | 41.1% |
| Phillips County, AR | 99 | 35.8% | 43.4% |
| Bolivar County, MS | 99 | 30.0% | 37.0% |
| Tunica County, MS | 99 | 25.0% | 33.1% |
| Quitman County, MS | 97 | 31.9% | 50.3% |
| Sunflower County, MS | 96 | 29.8% | 39.6% |
| Tallahatchie County, MS | 83 | 32.3% | 38.0% |
Distress score: American Default Research, County Distress Index, data through Aug 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 Coahoma County the poorest county in Mississippi?
No, Coahoma County's poverty rate was 34.9% in 2024, 2nd highest of 82 in Mississippi (U.S. Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates). By that measure the poorest county in the state is Issaquena County, at 55.7%. On our distress index, which counts more than poverty, Coahoma County ranks 4th of 82 in the state.
Coahoma County in photographs
Places in Coahoma County from Wikimedia Commons, each captioned in its photographer's own words.
Coahoma County, Mississippi.
Photo: Thomas R Machnitzki (thomas@machnitzki.com) via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0
Andrew Jackson plantation in Coahoma County Mississippi marked as a landmark along the river in 1863.
Photo: Magnus, Charles; Boell, F. W. via Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
Coahoma County, Mississippi: common questions
What is the poverty rate in Coahoma County, Mississippi?
34.9% in 2024, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates: about one in three people. Among children it was 46.9%.
Is Coahoma County the poorest county in Mississippi?
No, Coahoma County's poverty rate was 34.9% in 2024, 2nd highest of 82 in Mississippi (U.S. Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates). By that measure the poorest county in the state is Issaquena County, at 55.7%. On our distress index, which counts more than poverty, Coahoma County ranks 4th of 82 in the state.
What is the population of Coahoma County, Mississippi?
About 20,105 people in 2024, by the Bureau of Economic Analysis's count. The 2020 Census counted 21,390, 43% of the county's peak of 49,361 in 1950.
How is the County Distress Index calculated?
We rank every U.S. county on 14 federal measures of money trouble, grouped into five equally weighted parts, and average them. The published score is the share of the other 3,143 counties with a lower average. The methodology lists every measure and its source.
If you're behind on your mortgage in Coahoma County
A U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development-approved housing counselor works at a nonprofit agency approved by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The counseling to avoid foreclosure is free, and a counselor can help you talk to your mortgage company and understand what it offers, according to the Consumer Financial Protection BureauSourceCFPB.
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Southern Bancorp Community Partners
HUD-approved housing counselor
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Mississippi Center for Legal Services
Legal aid
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North Mississippi Rural Legal Services
Legal aid
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HUD-approved housing counselors
Counseling to avoid foreclosure is free. Our help directory lists 1,313 approved agencies 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 Coahoma County · Every U.S. county (CSV)
Sources and method
- American Default Research · County Distress Index Data through Aug 2026, built from HUD Fair Market Rents and Census income; Census Bureau, American Community Survey; Urban Institute, Debt in America; U.S. Courts, Table F-5A; Equifax via the St. Louis Fed; Bureau of Labor Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics; Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates. Our methodology
- U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Economic Accounts (CAINC4) · income shares Where the money in Coahoma County comes from, 2024.
- History The agencies named in each row and the linked records above.