In Sharkey 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 96% of U.S. counties.
What drives Sharkey County's score
In Sharkey County, late payments on loans weigh most: the score for late payments on loans is 94.5. People with a credit card behind: 10.2%, August 2025, higher than in 95% of U.S. counties. Jobs come next, at 89.3.
The County Distress Index looks at five parts of household money trouble in Sharkey 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.
Sharkey County does better than most counties on one measure: renters paying half their income or more in rent (11.1%, 2020 to 2024).
A longer bar means more trouble. See how the county score works.
- 94.5 of 100
Late payments
Biggest factorCredit records, August 2025; credit scores, second quarter of 2026
- People with a credit card behind10.2% · August 2025top 5%
- People with a car or retail loan behindnot published for this county; scored at the state median · August 202593rd percentile
- People with a subprime credit score66.5% · second quarter of 2026top 5%
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- 89.3 of 100
Jobs
Unemployment through Sep 2026; adults not working, 2020–24 Census survey
- Unemployment rate, average over the latest year5.2% · Oct 2025 to Sep 202685th percentile
- Adults 25 to 54 not working32.2% · 2020 to 202493rd percentile
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- 87.4 of 100
Income and safety net
Poverty and income, 2024; disability and insurance, 2020–24 Census survey
- People below the poverty line32.6% · 2024top 5%
- Children below the poverty line51.6% · 2024top 5%
- People with a disability17.0% · 2020 to 202459th percentile
- People without health insurance16.9% · 2020 to 202492nd percentile
- Median household income (lower income, longer bar)$40,518 · 2024top 5%
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- 86.1 of 100
Collections and bankruptcy
Credit records, August 2025; bankruptcy filings, 2025
- People with unpaid debt sent to a collector47.5% · August 2025top 5%
- Bankruptcy filings per 100,000 people209.8 · 202577th percentile
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- 52.8 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 rent11.1% · 2020 to 202415th percentile
- Rent on a two-bedroom as a share of the median income26.8% · fiscal year 202790th 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 Sharkey 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 Sharkey County, 18.3% of residents are 65 or older (Census Bureau, 2024), against 17.2% nationally that year.
Cents of every dollar of income, 2024
Sharkey County
Mississippi
United States
- Pay from work
- Investments and rent
- Benefit checks
In Sharkey County, benefit checks brought in more than pay from work in 2024, a bigger share of income than across Mississippi
In Sharkey 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
The share of households in Sharkey County getting SNAP food aid had its largest drop in the last span, from 31.9% in 2023 to 24.3% in 2024.
The share of households in Sharkey County getting SNAP food aid was at its highest on the chart in 2019 and has since fallen to 24.3%
Low on the chart: 24.0% in 2010. Households getting SNAP, every year; each bar is a five-year survey estimate ending that year, so neighboring bars share most of their data, Sharkey County, Mississippi.
How Sharkey County has changed
Sharkey County's population fell by more than half to 3,234, the lowest on the chart
Biggest drop: 1969 to 1974, reaching 8,144. Residents, yearly estimate, every fifth year and 2024, Sharkey County, Mississippi.
The number of jobs located in Sharkey County had its largest drop, from 1,949 in 1995 to 1,495 in 2000.
The number of jobs located in Sharkey County fell by more than half from 1990 to 2025, reaching 933, with no rise in any year shown
Smallest drop: 2000 to 2005, reaching 1,408. Yearly average of jobs covered by unemployment insurance, every fifth year and 2025, Sharkey County, Mississippi.
| Measure | Then | Now |
|---|---|---|
| Unemployment rateBLS LAUS | 1990 12.8% | 2025 5.8% |
| People below the poverty lineCensus SAIPE | 1989 50.4% | 2024 32.6% |
| Median household incomeCensus SAIPE | 1989 $12,195 | 2024 $40,518 |
The table uses 5.8% for 2025; the score uses 5.2% 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 Sharkey County's history
1876
1876 during Reconstruction era. Wikipedia
1910
The county's largest recorded population was the 1910 Census count of 15,694. The 2020 Census counted 3,800, 24% of the peak. Census Bureau
1971
A tornado in February 1971 killed 14 people. NOAA Storm Events Database
1971
A tornado in February 1971 did $25 million in property damage and killed nine people. NOAA Storm Events Database
2022
A tornado in December 2022 did $1 million in property damage. NOAA Storm Events Database
2023
A tornado in March 2023 did $83 million in property damage and killed 14 people. NOAA Storm Events Database
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Since 1971
26 federal disaster and emergency declarations have covered Sharkey County, 12 of them for flooding. FEMA
Sharkey County beside its neighbors
Of the four counties that border Sharkey County, three score higher. For the share of income from benefit checks, Sharkey County ranks 2nd of the five; Humphreys County is highest, at 47.1%.
| County | Score | Poverty | Benefit checks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Washington County, MS | 99 | 29.4% | 36.1% |
| Yazoo County, MS | 98 | 25.5% | 34.5% |
| Humphreys County, MS | 98 | 33.3% | 47.1% |
| Sharkey County, MS | 96 | 32.6% | 44.7% |
| Issaquena County, MS | 84 | 55.7% | 31.9% |
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 Sharkey County the poorest county in Mississippi?
No, Sharkey County's poverty rate was 32.6% in 2024, 6th 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, Sharkey County ranks 22nd of 82 in the state.
If you're behind on your mortgage in Sharkey 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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North Mississippi Rural 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 Sharkey 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 Sharkey County comes from, 2024.
- History The agencies named in each row and the linked records above.