About one in 13 people with a credit file in Boone County, Nebraska, has unpaid debt sent to a collector
In Boone County, 7.8% of people with a credit file had unpaid debt sent to a collector. That is lower than in 98% of U.S. counties.
Less distressed than 99% of U.S. counties.
What drives Boone County's score
In Boone County, collections and bankruptcy is the highest-scoring part, at 23.9. Late payments on loans are the lowest part, at 7.0. People with a credit card behind: 0.0%, August 2025, lower than in 95% of U.S. counties.
The County Distress Index looks at five parts of household money trouble in Boone 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.
Boone County isn't among the worst-off quarter of U.S. counties on any measure.
A longer bar means more trouble. See how the county score works.
- 23.9 of 100
Collections and bankruptcy
Biggest factorCredit records, August 2025; bankruptcy filings, 2025
- People with unpaid debt sent to a collector7.8% · August 20255th or lower percentile
- Bankruptcy filings per 100,000 people113 · 202542nd percentile
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- 16.0 of 100
Income and safety net
Poverty and income, 2024; disability and insurance, 2020–24 Census survey
- People below the poverty line9.3% · 202417th percentile
- Children below the poverty line10.3% · 202414th percentile
- People with a disability12.8% · 2020 to 202420th percentile
- People without health insurance3.4% · 2020 to 20245th or lower percentile
- Median household income (lower income, longer bar)$78,571 · 202422nd percentile
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- 9.0 of 100
Jobs
Unemployment through Sep 2026; adults not working, 2020–24 Census survey
- Unemployment rate, average over the latest year2.1% · Oct 2025 to Sep 20265th or lower percentile
- Adults 25 to 54 not working14.2% · 2020 to 202412th percentile
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- 8.1 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 rent9.6% · 2020 to 202411th percentile
- Rent on a two-bedroom as a share of the median income15.5% · fiscal year 20275th or lower percentile
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- 7.0 of 100
Late payments
Credit records, August 2025; credit scores, second quarter of 2026
- People with a credit card behind0.0% · August 20255th or lower percentile
- People with a car or retail loan behind1.7% · August 20255th or lower percentile
- People with a subprime credit score29.1% · second quarter of 202610th 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 Boone 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 Boone County, 23.8% of residents are 65 or older (Census Bureau, 2024), against 17.2% nationally that year.
Cents of every dollar of income, 2024
Boone County
Nebraska
United States
- Pay from work
- Investments and rent
- Benefit checks
In Boone County, benefit checks' share of income has doubled since 1969, reaching 21.7% in 2024, but pay from work still brings in more than twice as much as benefit checks
In Boone County, Nebraska, benefit checks' share of income doubled from 1969 to 2024, reaching 21.7%; pay from work is plotted alongside. Every fifth year and 2024 are shown.
- Benefit checks
- Pay from work
The share of households in Boone County getting SNAP food aid rose most sharply from its first year (3.0% in 2009) to 4.2% in 2010.
The share of households in Boone County getting SNAP food aid was at its highest on the chart in 2014 and has since fallen to 3.9%
Low on the chart: 3.0% 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, Boone County, Nebraska.
How Boone County has changed
Boone County's population had its largest drop, from 6,376 in 1999 to 5,813 in 2004.
Boone County's population fell by about a third from 1969 to 2024, reaching 5,354, with no rise in any year shown
Smallest drop: 2019 to 2024, reaching 5,354. Residents, yearly estimate, every fifth year and 2024, Boone County, Nebraska.
The number of jobs located in Boone County had its largest rise, from 1,968 in 2005 to 2,222 in 2010.
The number of jobs located in Boone County rose 37% from 1990 to 2025, reaching its highest on the chart
High on the chart: 2,439 in 2025. Yearly average of jobs covered by unemployment insurance, every fifth year and 2025, Boone County, Nebraska.
| Measure | Then | Now |
|---|---|---|
| Unemployment rateBLS LAUS | 1990 1.1% | 2025 2.2% |
| People below the poverty lineCensus SAIPE | 1989 13.9% | 2024 9.3% |
| Median household incomeCensus SAIPE | 1989 $21,840 | 2024 $78,571 |
The table uses 2.2% for 2025; the score uses 2.1% 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 Boone County's history
1871
Created March 1, 1871. Wikipedia
1930
The county's largest recorded population was the 1930 Census count of 14,738. The 2020 Census counted 5,379, 36% of the peak. Census Bureau
1965
A tornado in May 1965 did $25 million in property damage and killed four people. NOAA Storm Events Database
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Since 1966
20 federal disaster and emergency declarations have covered Boone County, 10 of them for flooding. FEMA
Boone County beside its neighbors
All six counties that border Boone County score higher than it does. For the share of income from benefit checks, Boone County ranks 2nd of the seven; Nance County is highest, at 27.2%.
| County | Score | Poverty | Benefit checks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Madison County, NE | 16 | 12.3% | 19.5% |
| Platte County, NE | 15 | 8.5% | 18.1% |
| Greeley County, NE | 9 | 10.7% | 21.3% |
| Antelope County, NE | 8 | 11.4% | 21.2% |
| Wheeler County, NE | 6 | 11.4% | 19.2% |
| Nance County, NE | 4 | 10.9% | 27.2% |
| Boone County, NE | 0 | 9.3% | 21.7% |
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 Boone County the poorest county in Nebraska?
No, Boone County's poverty rate was 9.3% in 2024, 68th 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, Boone County ranks 91st of 93 in the state.
If you're behind on your mortgage in Boone 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.
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 Boone County comes from, 2024.
- History The agencies named in each row and the linked records above.