Leake County, Mississippi

County Distress Index: Serious · 65.5 | 21,258 people · 29th most distressed in Mississippi
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Leake County, MS shows significant household financial distress with a score of 65.5 — 475th 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 29th of 82 counties. It scores higher than all 6 of its neighboring counties.

The Numbers Behind the Score

The CDI measures five domains of financial distress. Leake County's primary driver is Debt & Delinquency at 93.2 — worse than roughly 93% of U.S. counties.

Debt & Delinquency Primary driver 93.2
Debt in Collections 90
Medical Debt 88
Student Loan Delinquency 98
Auto Loan Delinquency 96
Credit Card Delinquency 100
Bankruptcy Filing Rate 88
Community Vulnerability 84.4
Uninsured Rate 91
Disability Rate 78
Income & Poverty 77.9
Poverty Rate 88
Income vs. State Median 56
Child Poverty Rate 90
Housing Cost Burden 36.2
Rent-Burdened (30%+) 22
Severely Rent-Burdened (50%+) 20
Mortgage-Burdened (30%+) 24
Homeownership Rate 42
Rent-to-Income Ratio 74
Employment & Wages 35.7
Unemployment Rate 10
Wage-to-Rent Ratio 76
Business Formation Rate 20

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

Neighbors and Peers

How Leake County compares to its 6 neighboring counties and population peers.

Neighboring Counties

County Score Zone vs. Leake County
Leake County, MS 65.5 Serious —
Winston County, MS 65.2 Serious -0.2
Scott County, MS 62.2 Elevated -3.3
Neshoba County, MS 61.4 Elevated -4.0
Attala County, MS 59.7 Elevated -5.8
Newton County, MS 59.2 Elevated -6.3
Madison County, MS 39.6 Normal -25.9

Population Peers

County Score Zone vs. Leake County
Somerset County, MD 65.5 Serious 0.0
Berrien County, GA 65.4 Serious -0.1
Franklin County, IL 65.6 Serious +0.1
Grenada County, MS 65.6 Serious +0.1
Oglala Lakota County, SD 65.6 Serious +0.1

Download Data

Export all distress indicators for Leake County as a CSV file.

Find Help in Leake County

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Mississippi Bar Lawyer Referral offers a lawyer referral service for bankruptcy, foreclosure defense, and consumer rights.

Mississippi Bar Lawyer Referral 601-948-4471

Free Legal Aid

Legal aid organizations serving Leake County residents at no cost.

Mississippi Center for Legal Services 1-800-498-1804
North Mississippi Rural Legal Services 1-800-898-8731

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Frequently Asked Questions

  • What is the distress score for Leake County, Mississippi?

    Leake County has a County Distress Index score of 65.5 out of 100, placing it in the Serious zone. It ranks 475th nationally out of 3,144 counties and 29th in Mississippi out of 82 counties.

  • What drives financial distress in Leake County?

    The primary driver of distress in Leake County is Debt & Delinquency, where the county scores 93.2 out of 100. This domain is measured by indicators including Debt in Collections, Medical Debt, Student Loan Delinquency.

  • How does Leake County compare to neighboring counties?

    Leake County (65.5) can be compared to its 6 neighboring counties: Winston County, MS (65.2); Scott County, MS (62.2); Neshoba County, MS (61.4).

  • How is the County Distress Index calculated?

    The County Distress Index uses percentile-rank averaging across five domains: Debt & Delinquency, Income & Poverty, Housing Cost Burden, Employment & Wages, and Community Vulnerability. Each county's indicators are ranked against all 3,144 U.S. counties. A score of 50 means the county is at the national median; higher scores indicate greater distress.

  • What is the population of Leake County?

    Leake County, Mississippi has a population of approximately 21,258 (2023 Census estimate), classified as a small county.