About three in ten people in Wilkinson County, Mississippi, live below the poverty line
In Wilkinson County, 31.6% of people lived below the poverty line. That is higher than in 98% of U.S. counties.
More distressed than 99% of U.S. counties.
What drives Wilkinson County's score
In Wilkinson County, late payments on loans weigh most: the score for late payments on loans is 95.0. People with a credit card behind: 15.8%, August 2025, higher 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 Wilkinson 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.
Wilkinson County is worse off than the typical U.S. county on every measure in the score.
A longer bar means more trouble. See how the county score works.
- 95.0 of 100
Late payments
Biggest factorCredit records, August 2025; credit scores, second quarter of 2026
- People with a credit card behind15.8% · August 2025top 5%
- People with a car or retail loan behind19.4% · August 2025top 5%
- People with a subprime credit score62.7% · 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 line31.6% · 2024top 5%
- Children below the poverty line37.7% · 2024top 5%
- People with a disability19.8% · 2020 to 202479th percentile
- People without health insurance15.9% · 2020 to 202491st percentile
- Median household income (lower income, longer bar)$38,349 · 2024top 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 year5.1% · Oct 2025 to Sep 202683rd percentile
- Adults 25 to 54 not working40.7% · 2020 to 2024top 5%
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- 84.6 of 100
Collections and bankruptcy
Credit records, August 2025; bankruptcy filings, 2025
- People with unpaid debt sent to a collector40.4% · August 202594th percentile
- Bankruptcy filings per 100,000 people198.6 · 202574th percentile
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- 77.5 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 rent19.9% · 2020 to 202460th percentile
- Rent on a two-bedroom as a share of the median income28.3% · fiscal year 202794th 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 Wilkinson 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 Wilkinson County, 19.7% of residents are 65 or older (Census Bureau, 2024), against 17.2% nationally that year.
Cents of every dollar of income, 2024
Wilkinson County
Mississippi
United States
- Pay from work
- Investments and rent
- Benefit checks
In Wilkinson County, benefit checks and pay from work brought in equal shares in 2024
In Wilkinson County, Mississippi, benefit checks' share of income more than tripled from 1969 to 2024, reaching 43.4%; 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 Wilkinson County getting SNAP food aid fell by about a third to 18.5%, the lowest on the chart
Biggest drop: 2015 to 2016, reaching 23.5%. Households getting SNAP, every year; each bar is a five-year survey estimate ending that year, so neighboring bars share most of their data, Wilkinson County, Mississippi.
How Wilkinson County has changed
Wilkinson County's population fell by about a third to 7,820, the lowest on the chart
Biggest drop: 1969 to 1974, reaching 10,245. Residents, yearly estimate, every fifth year and 2024, Wilkinson County, Mississippi.
The number of jobs located in Wilkinson County had its largest drop, from 2,271 in 2010 to 1,737 in 2015.
The number of jobs located in Wilkinson County was at its highest on the chart in 2010 and has since fallen by about a third
High on the chart: 2,271 in 2010. Yearly average of jobs covered by unemployment insurance, every fifth year and 2025, Wilkinson County, Mississippi.
| Measure | Then | Now |
|---|---|---|
| Unemployment rateBLS LAUS | 1990 8.9% | 2025 6.0% |
| People below the poverty lineCensus SAIPE | 1989 38.8% | 2024 31.6% |
| Median household incomeCensus SAIPE | 1989 $12,842 | 2024 $38,349 |
The table uses 6.0% for 2025; the score uses 5.1% 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 Wilkinson County's history
1900
The county's largest recorded population was the 1900 Census count of 21,453. The 2020 Census counted 8,587, 40% of the peak. Census Bureau
1920
Boll weevil infestation destroyed cotton crops in early 20th century. Wikipedia
2008
Lightning in July 2008 killed one person. NOAA Storm Events Database
2016
A flash flood in August 2016 did $5.64 million in property damage. NOAA Storm Events Database
2021
A thunderstorm in March 2021 killed one person. NOAA Storm Events Database
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Since 1965
32 federal disaster and emergency declarations have covered Wilkinson County, 11 of them for flooding. FEMA
Wilkinson County beside its neighbors
Wilkinson County scores higher than all six counties that border it, in Mississippi and Louisiana. Of the group, Wilkinson County gets the largest share of its income from benefit checks (43.4%).
| County | Score | Poverty | Benefit checks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Concordia Parish, LA | 99 | 27.7% | 40.9% |
| Wilkinson County, MS | 99 | 31.6% | 43.4% |
| Adams County, MS | 98 | 24.0% | 35.6% |
| Amite County, MS | 91 | 22.0% | 34.6% |
| Franklin County, MS | 90 | 18.8% | 38.1% |
| East Feliciana Parish, LA | 64 | 18.4% | 31.7% |
| West Feliciana Parish, LA | 52 | 23.3% | 20.9% |
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 Wilkinson County the poorest county in Mississippi?
No, Wilkinson County's poverty rate was 31.6% in 2024, 9th 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, Wilkinson County ranks 8th of 82 in the state.
If you're behind on your mortgage in Wilkinson 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 Wilkinson 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 Wilkinson County comes from, 2024.
- History The agencies named in each row and the linked records above.