In Kemper County, Mississippi, benefit checks brought in more money than paychecks in 2024
In 2024, 45 cents of every dollar of income here came from benefit checks, including Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and veterans' benefits. That was a larger share than across the country.
More distressed than 94% of U.S. counties.
What drives Kemper County's score
In Kemper County, late payments on loans weigh most: the score for late payments on loans is 93.3. About two in three people (63.7%, Q2 2026) have a subprime credit score, a higher share than in 95% of U.S. counties. Income and the safety net comes next, at 91.1.
The County Distress Index looks at five parts of household money trouble in Kemper 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.
Kemper County does better than most counties on one measure: renters paying half their income or more in rent (10.3%, 2020 to 2024).
A longer bar means more trouble. See how the county score works.
- 93.3 of 100
Late payments
Biggest factorCredit records, August 2025; credit scores, second quarter of 2026
- People with a credit card behind9.1% · August 202591st percentile
- People with a car or retail loan behind10.5% · August 202593rd percentile
- People with a subprime credit score63.7% · second quarter of 2026top 5%
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- 91.1 of 100
Income and safety net
Poverty and income, 2024; disability and insurance, 2020–24 Census survey
- People below the poverty line25.4% · 2024top 5%
- Children below the poverty line35.0% · 2024top 5%
- People with a disability20.1% · 2020 to 202480th percentile
- People without health insurance15.4% · 2020 to 202490th percentile
- Median household income (lower income, longer bar)$43,991 · 2024top 5%
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- 82.8 of 100
Collections and bankruptcy
Credit records, August 2025; bankruptcy filings, 2025
- People with unpaid debt sent to a collector29.9% · August 202573rd percentile
- Bankruptcy filings per 100,000 people314.5 · 202592nd percentile
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- 82.0 of 100
Jobs
Unemployment through Sep 2026; adults not working, 2020–24 Census survey
- Unemployment rate, average over the latest year4.9% · Oct 2025 to Sep 202677th percentile
- Adults 25 to 54 not working28.6% · 2020 to 202486th percentile
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- 47.4 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 rent10.3% · 2020 to 202412th percentile
- Rent on a two-bedroom as a share of the median income24.7% · fiscal year 202781st 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 Kemper 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 Kemper County, 22.1% of residents are 65 or older (Census Bureau, 2024), against 17.2% nationally that year.
Cents of every dollar of income, 2024
Kemper County
Mississippi
United States
- Pay from work
- Investments and rent
- Benefit checks
In Kemper County, benefit checks overtook pay in 2024, a bigger share of income than across Mississippi
In Kemper County, Mississippi, benefit checks' share of income tripled from 1969 to 2024, reaching 44.7%; pay from work is plotted alongside. Every fifth year and 2024 are shown.
- Benefit checks
- Pay from work
SNAP food aid is one of the benefit checks counted in the income totals above.
The share of households in Kemper County getting SNAP food aid was at its highest on the chart in 2018 and has since fallen to 13.2%
Biggest drop: 2021 to 2022, reaching 16.1%. Households getting SNAP, every year; each bar is a five-year survey estimate ending that year, so neighboring bars share most of their data, Kemper County, Mississippi.
How Kemper County has changed
Kemper County's population had its largest drop, from 9,967 in 2014 to 9,225 in 2019.
Kemper County's population fell by about a fifth to 8,562, the lowest on the chart
High on the chart: 10,648 in 2004. Residents, yearly estimate, every fifth year and 2024, Kemper County, Mississippi.
The number of jobs located in Kemper County had its largest rise, from 1,654 in 2010 to 2,653 in 2015.
The number of jobs located in Kemper County was at its highest on the chart in 2015 and has since fallen by about a third
High on the chart: 2,653 in 2015. Yearly average of jobs covered by unemployment insurance, every fifth year and 2025, Kemper County, Mississippi.
| Measure | Then | Now |
|---|---|---|
| Unemployment rateBLS LAUS | 1990 10.0% | 2025 5.0% |
| People below the poverty lineCensus SAIPE | 1989 33.0% | 2024 25.4% |
| Median household incomeCensus SAIPE | 1989 $13,675 | 2024 $43,991 |
The table uses 5.0% for 2025; the score uses 4.9% 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 Kemper County's history
1930
The county's largest recorded population was the 1930 Census count of 21,881. The 2020 Census counted 8,988, 41% of the peak. Census Bureau
1982
A tornado in April 1982 did $25 million in property damage. NOAA Storm Events Database
2011
A tornado in April 2011 did $11 million in property damage. NOAA Storm Events Database
2011
A tornado in April 2011 killed three people. NOAA Storm Events Database
2013
A tornado in April 2013 killed one person. NOAA Storm Events Database
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Since 1974
20 federal disaster and emergency declarations have covered Kemper County, 6 of them for flooding. FEMA
Kemper County beside its neighbors
Of the five counties that border Kemper County, in Mississippi and Alabama, two score higher. Of the group, Kemper County gets the largest share of its income from benefit checks (44.7%).
| County | Score | Poverty | Benefit checks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Noxubee County, MS | 99 | 27.4% | 38.8% |
| Sumter County, AL | 97 | 32.6% | 39.7% |
| Kemper County, MS | 94 | 25.4% | 44.7% |
| Winston County, MS | 93 | 22.0% | 34.7% |
| Lauderdale County, MS | 91 | 20.0% | 29.7% |
| Neshoba County, MS | 85 | 18.6% | 29.2% |
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 Kemper County the poorest county in Mississippi?
No, Kemper County's poverty rate was 25.4% in 2024, 17th 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, Kemper County ranks 25th of 82 in the state.
If you're behind on your mortgage in Kemper 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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Mississippi Center for 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 Kemper 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 Kemper County comes from, 2024.
- History The agencies named in each row and the linked records above.