About one in seven people with a credit file in Knox County, Missouri, has unpaid debt sent to a collector
In Knox County, 15.0% of people with a credit file had unpaid debt sent to a collector. That is lower than in 81% of U.S. counties.
Less distressed than 64% of U.S. counties.
What drives Knox County's score
In Knox County, income and the safety net is the highest-scoring part, at 66.1. Collections and bankruptcy is the lowest part, at 12.0. Bankruptcy filings ran at 26.9 per 100,000 people (2025), lower than in 95% of U.S. counties.
The County Distress Index looks at five parts of household money trouble in Knox 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.
Even so, Knox County is worse off than most counties on people without health insurance (25.5%, 2020 to 2024) and median household income ($56,319, 2024).
A longer bar means more trouble. See how the county score works.
- 66.1 of 100
Income and safety net
Biggest factorPoverty and income, 2024; disability and insurance, 2020–24 Census survey
- People below the poverty line14.7% · 202462nd percentile
- Children below the poverty line22.4% · 202473rd percentile
- People with a disability12.6% · 2020 to 202419th percentile
- People without health insurance25.5% · 2020 to 2024top 5%
- Median household income (lower income, longer bar)$56,319 · 202479th percentile
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- 63.8 of 100
Jobs
Unemployment through Sep 2026; adults not working, 2020–24 Census survey
- Unemployment rate, average over the latest year4.4% · Oct 2025 to Sep 202662nd percentile
- Adults 25 to 54 not working23.2% · 2020 to 202464th percentile
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- 33.3 of 100
Late payments
Credit records, August 2025; credit scores, second quarter of 2026
- People with a credit card behind1.3% · August 20255th or lower percentile
- People with a car or retail loan behindnot published for this county; scored at the state median · August 202559th percentile
- People with a subprime credit score36.5% · second quarter of 202635th percentile
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- 31.4 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 rent10.9% · 2020 to 202414th percentile
- Rent on a two-bedroom as a share of the median income20.5% · fiscal year 202748th percentile
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- 12.0 of 100
Collections and bankruptcy
Credit records, August 2025; bankruptcy filings, 2025
- People with unpaid debt sent to a collector15.0% · August 202519th percentile
- Bankruptcy filings per 100,000 people26.9 · 20255th or lower 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 Knox 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 Knox County, 21.5% of residents are 65 or older (Census Bureau, 2024), against 17.2% nationally that year.
Cents of every dollar of income, 2024
Knox County
Missouri
United States
- Pay from work
- Investments and rent
- Benefit checks
In Knox County, benefit checks' share of income has more than doubled since 1969, reaching 32.9% in 2024, but pay from work still brings in nearly twice as much as benefit checks
In Knox County, Missouri, benefit checks' share of income more than doubled from 1969 to 2024, reaching 32.9%; pay from work is plotted alongside. Every fifth year and 2024 are shown.
- Benefit checks
- Pay from work
The share of households in Knox County getting SNAP food aid fell most from 13.7% in 2018 to 7.9% in 2020, 2.9 points each year.
The share of households in Knox County getting SNAP food aid was at its highest on the chart in 2012 and has since fallen to 8.2%
Low on the chart: 6.4% in 2021. Households getting SNAP, every year; each bar is a five-year survey estimate ending that year, so neighboring bars share most of their data, Knox County, Missouri.
How Knox County has changed
Knox County's population fell 36% from 1969 to 2024, reaching its lowest on the chart
Biggest drop: 1984 to 1989, reaching 4,548. Residents, yearly estimate, every fifth year and 2024, Knox County, Missouri.
The number of jobs located in Knox County fell most sharply on the way to its 2020 low, from 1,082 in 2015 to 862 in 2020.
The number of jobs located in Knox County was at its highest on the chart in 2005 and has since fallen by about a third
High on the chart: 1,254 in 2005. Yearly average of jobs covered by unemployment insurance, every fifth year and 2025, Knox County, Missouri.
| Measure | Then | Now |
|---|---|---|
| Unemployment rateBLS LAUS | 1990 4.4% | 2025 4.7% |
| People below the poverty lineCensus SAIPE | 1989 20.9% | 2024 14.7% |
| Median household incomeCensus SAIPE | 1989 $16,261 | 2024 $56,319 |
The table uses 4.7% for 2025; the score uses 4.4% 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 Knox County's history
1845
Organized February 14, 1845. Wikipedia
1900
The county's largest recorded population was the 1900 Census count of 13,479. The 2020 Census counted 3,744, 28% of the peak. Census Bureau
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Since 1973
26 federal disaster and emergency declarations have covered Knox County, 17 of them for flooding. FEMA
Knox County beside its neighbors
Of the six counties that border Knox County, two score higher. Of the group, Knox County gets the largest share of its income from benefit checks (32.9%).
| County | Score | Poverty | Benefit checks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adair County, MO | 57 | 21.9% | 28.6% |
| Clark County, MO | 56 | 13.7% | 29.8% |
| Knox County, MO | 35 | 14.7% | 32.9% |
| Macon County, MO | 31 | 12.0% | 30.0% |
| Lewis County, MO | 30 | 13.4% | 30.7% |
| Shelby County, MO | 27 | 15.6% | 30.4% |
| Scotland County, MO | 21 | 13.6% | 23.4% |
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 Knox County the poorest county in Missouri?
No, Knox County's poverty rate was 14.7% in 2024, 46th highest of 115 in Missouri (U.S. Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates). By that measure the poorest county in the state is Dunklin County, at 25.4%. On our distress index, which counts more than poverty, Knox County ranks 78th of 115 in the state.
If you're behind on your mortgage in Knox 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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Legal Services of Eastern Missouri
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 Knox County comes from, 2024.
- History The agencies named in each row and the linked records above.