About one in 10 people in Banner County, Nebraska, has a disability
In Banner County, 10.5% of people reported a disability. That is lower than in 94% of U.S. counties.
Less distressed than 84% of U.S. counties.
What drives Banner County's score
In Banner County, collections and bankruptcy is the highest-scoring part, at 53.7. Housing costs are the lowest part, at 10.0. About one in 20 renters (5.1%, 2020 to 2024) pays half their income or more in rent, a lower share than in 95% of U.S. counties.
The County Distress Index looks at five parts of household money trouble in Banner 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, Banner County is worse off than most counties on bankruptcy filings per 100,000 people (296.7, 2025).
A longer bar means more trouble. See how the county score works.
- 53.7 of 100
Collections and bankruptcy
Biggest factorCredit records, August 2025; bankruptcy filings, 2025
- People with unpaid debt sent to a collectornot published for this county; scored at the state median · August 202516th percentile
- Bankruptcy filings per 100,000 people296.7 · 202590th percentile
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- 36.0 of 100
Income and safety net
Poverty and income, 2024; disability and insurance, 2020–24 Census survey
- People below the poverty line10.8% · 202429th percentile
- Children below the poverty line15.5% · 202441st percentile
- People with a disability10.5% · 2020 to 20245th percentile
- People without health insurance9.7% · 2020 to 202464th percentile
- Median household income (lower income, longer bar)$70,797 · 202439th percentile
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- 26.6 of 100
Jobs
Unemployment through Sep 2026; adults not working, 2020–24 Census survey
- Unemployment rate, average over the latest year3.8% · Oct 2025 to Sep 202641st percentile
- Adults 25 to 54 not working14.0% · 2020 to 202412th percentile
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- 19.2 of 100
Late payments
Credit records, August 2025; credit scores, second quarter of 2026
- People with a credit card behindnot published for this county; scored at the state median · August 202529th percentile
- People with a car or retail loan behindnot published for this county; scored at the state median · August 202521st percentile
- People with a subprime credit score26.9% · second quarter of 20266th percentile
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- 10.0 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 rent5.1% · 2020 to 20245th or lower percentile
- Rent on a two-bedroom as a share of the median income17.2% · fiscal year 202714th 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 Banner 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 Banner County, 27.8% of residents are 65 or older (Census Bureau, 2024), against 17.2% nationally that year.
Cents of every dollar of income, 2024
Banner County
Nebraska
United States
- Pay from work
- Investments and rent
- Benefit checks
In Banner County, benefit checks' share of income has grown to about five times its 1969 level, reaching 17.8% in 2024, but pay from work still brings in about four times as much as benefit checks
In Banner County, Nebraska, benefit checks' share of income grew to about five times its 1969 level by 2024, reaching 17.8%; 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 Banner County getting SNAP food aid was at its highest on the chart in 2016 and has since fallen to 1.3%
Low on the chart: 0.8% in 2009. Households getting SNAP, every year; each bar is a five-year survey estimate ending that year, so neighboring bars share most of their data, Banner County, Nebraska.
How Banner County has changed
Banner County's population had its largest drop, from 954 in 1984 to 810 in 1989.
Banner County's population fell by about a third from 1969 to 2024, reaching 665
High on the chart: 1,035 in 1969. Residents, yearly estimate, every fifth year and 2024, Banner County, Nebraska.
The number of jobs located in Banner County fell most sharply on the way to its 2020 low, from 154 in 2015 to 116 in 2020.
The number of jobs located in Banner County was at its highest on the chart in 2005 and is down 17% since
High on the chart: 156 in 2005. Yearly average of jobs covered by unemployment insurance, every fifth year and 2025, Banner County, Nebraska.
| Measure | Then | Now |
|---|---|---|
| Unemployment rateBLS LAUS | 1990 1.2% | 2025 3.3% |
| People below the poverty lineCensus SAIPE | 1989 12.0% | 2024 10.8% |
| Median household incomeCensus SAIPE | 1989 $25,317 | 2024 $70,797 |
The table uses 3.3% for 2025; the score uses 3.8% 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 Banner County's history
1888
Created November 6, 1888, as the western third of Panhandle when counties were partitioned. Wikipedia
1894
Severe drought in 1893 and 1894 drove many settlers away. Wikipedia
1919
Oil discovered in Banner County in 1919, too deep to be commercially viable at the time. Wikipedia
1930
The county's largest recorded population was the 1930 Census count of 1,676. The 2020 Census counted 674, 40% of the peak. Census Bureau
1985
A tornado in May 1985 did $2.5 million in property damage. NOAA Storm Events Database
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Since 1997
8 federal disaster and emergency declarations have covered Banner County, 2 of them for flooding. FEMA
Banner County beside its neighbors
All six counties that border Banner County, in Nebraska and Wyoming, score higher than it does. Of the group, Banner County gets the smallest share of its income from benefit checks; Kimball County gets the largest, at 29.2%.
| County | Score | Poverty | Benefit checks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scotts Bluff County, NE | 41 | 11.0% | 25.2% |
| Kimball County, NE | 38 | 12.9% | 29.2% |
| Goshen County, WY | 25 | 15.4% | 26.6% |
| Laramie County, WY | 21 | 8.4% | 19.9% |
| Cheyenne County, NE | 21 | 11.8% | 28.3% |
| Morrill County, NE | 19 | 13.4% | 19.9% |
| Banner County, NE | 15 | 10.8% | 17.8% |
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 Banner County the poorest county in Nebraska?
No, Banner County's poverty rate was 10.8% in 2024, 49th highest of 93 in Nebraska (U.S. Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates). By that measure the poorest county in the state is Garden County, at 16.9%. On our distress index, which counts more than poverty, Banner County ranks 40th of 93 in the state.
If you're behind on your mortgage in Banner 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 Aid of Nebraska
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 Banner 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 Banner County comes from, 2024.
- History The agencies named in each row and the linked records above.