About one in four people in Yazoo County, Mississippi, lives below the poverty line
In Yazoo County, 25.5% of people lived below the poverty line. That is higher than in 96% of U.S. counties.
More distressed than 98% of U.S. counties.
What drives Yazoo County's score
In Yazoo County, late payments on loans weigh most: the score for late payments on loans is 98.6. People with a car or retail loan behind: 17.3%, August 2025, higher than in 99% of U.S. counties. Collections and bankruptcy comes next, at 92.4.
The County Distress Index looks at five parts of household money trouble in Yazoo 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.
Yazoo 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.
- 98.6 of 100
Late payments
Biggest factorCredit records, August 2025; credit scores, second quarter of 2026
- People with a credit card behind12.1% · August 202598th percentile
- People with a car or retail loan behind17.3% · August 202599th percentile
- People with a subprime credit score61.8% · second quarter of 202697th percentile
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- 92.4 of 100
Collections and bankruptcy
Credit records, August 2025; bankruptcy filings, 2025
- People with unpaid debt sent to a collector40.0% · August 202594th percentile
- Bankruptcy filings per 100,000 people294.6 · 202590th percentile
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- 90.4 of 100
Income and safety net
Poverty and income, 2024; disability and insurance, 2020–24 Census survey
- People below the poverty line25.5% · 202496th percentile
- Children below the poverty line35.4% · 202496th percentile
- People with a disability21.7% · 2020 to 202487th percentile
- People without health insurance11.4% · 2020 to 202475th percentile
- Median household income (lower income, longer bar)$45,496 · 202496th percentile
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- 82.0 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 rent22.2% · 2020 to 202473rd percentile
- Rent on a two-bedroom as a share of the median income26.8% · fiscal year 202790th percentile
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- 69.3 of 100
Jobs
Unemployment through Sep 2026; adults not working, 2020–24 Census survey
- Unemployment rate, average over the latest year4.6% · Oct 2025 to Sep 202670th percentile
- Adults 25 to 54 not working23.9% · 2020 to 202468th 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 Yazoo 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 Yazoo County, 15.2% of residents are 65 or older (Census Bureau, 2024), against 17.2% nationally that year.
Cents of every dollar of income, 2024
Yazoo County
Mississippi
United States
- Pay from work
- Investments and rent
- Benefit checks
In Yazoo County, benefit checks' share of income has tripled since 1969, but pay from work still brings in 37% more than benefit checks in 2024
In Yazoo County, Mississippi, benefit checks' share of income tripled from 1969 to 2024, reaching 34.5%; pay from work is plotted alongside. Every fifth year and 2024 are shown.
- Benefit checks
- Pay from work
The share of households in Yazoo County getting SNAP food aid had its largest drop, from 28.7% in 2020 to 25.3% in 2021.
The share of households in Yazoo County getting SNAP food aid was at its highest on the chart in 2012 and has since fallen by about a quarter
Low on the chart: 24.3% in 2023. Households getting SNAP, every year; each bar is a five-year survey estimate ending that year, so neighboring bars share most of their data, Yazoo County, Mississippi.
How Yazoo County has changed
Yazoo County's population fell 17% from 1969 to 2024, reaching its lowest on the chart, with most of the change between 2019 and 2024
High on the chart: 28,889 in 2019. Residents, yearly estimate, every fifth year and 2024, Yazoo County, Mississippi.
The number of jobs located in Yazoo County fell most sharply on the way to its 2005 low, from 6,642 in 2000 to 5,845 in 2005.
The number of jobs located in Yazoo County was about the same in 2025 as in 1990
High on the chart: 6,642 in 2000. Yearly average of jobs covered by unemployment insurance, every fifth year and 2025, Yazoo County, Mississippi.
| Measure | Then | Now |
|---|---|---|
| Unemployment rateBLS LAUS | 1990 7.0% | 2025 4.8% |
| People below the poverty lineCensus SAIPE | 1989 39.8% | 2024 25.5% |
| Median household incomeCensus SAIPE | 1989 $15,119 | 2024 $45,496 |
The table uses 4.8% for 2025; the score uses 4.6% 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 Yazoo County's history
1823
Yazoo County was established on January 21, 1823; area acquired from Choctaw Indians in 1820. Wikipedia
1910
The county's largest recorded population was the 1910 Census count of 46,672. The 2020 Census counted 26,743, 57% of the peak. Census Bureau
1927
Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 did much damage to the county. Wikipedia
1971
A tornado in February 1971 killed 11 people. NOAA Storm Events Database
2005
Lightning in April 2005 killed one person. NOAA Storm Events Database
2010
A tornado in April 2010 did $140 million in property damage and killed four people. NOAA Storm Events Database
2011
CO2 pipeline blowout in 2011 near Tinsley caused worker to sicken, killed deer, fish and birds. Wikipedia
2019
A flood in June 2019 killed two people. NOAA Storm Events Database
2020
CO2 pipeline ruptured near Satartia in 2020, evacuated over 300 people and hospitalized 46 from carbon dioxide poisoning. Wikipedia
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Since 1971
31 federal disaster and emergency declarations have covered Yazoo County, 14 of them for flooding. FEMA
Yazoo County beside its neighbors
Of the seven counties that border Yazoo County, one scores higher. For the share of income from benefit checks, Yazoo County ranks 4th of the eight; Holmes County is highest, at 54.4%.
| County | Score | Poverty | Benefit checks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Holmes County, MS | 100 | 34.3% | 54.4% |
| Yazoo County, MS | 98 | 25.5% | 34.5% |
| Humphreys County, MS | 98 | 33.3% | 47.1% |
| Hinds County, MS | 98 | 22.2% | 26.8% |
| Sharkey County, MS | 96 | 32.6% | 44.7% |
| Warren County, MS | 88 | 18.8% | 28.2% |
| Issaquena County, MS | 84 | 55.7% | 31.9% |
| Madison County, MS | 37 | 9.9% | 12.4% |
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 Yazoo County the poorest county in Mississippi?
No, Yazoo County's poverty rate was 25.5% in 2024, 16th 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, Yazoo County ranks 9th of 82 in the state.
If you're behind on your mortgage in Yazoo 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.
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 Yazoo County comes from, 2024.
- History The agencies named in each row and the linked records above.