About one in 11 people with a credit file in Gosper County, Nebraska, has unpaid debt sent to a collector
In Gosper County, 9.4% of people with a credit file had unpaid debt sent to a collector. That is lower than in 97% of U.S. counties.
Less distressed than 95% of U.S. counties.
What drives Gosper County's score
In Gosper County, income and the safety net is the highest-scoring part, at 27.3. Housing costs are the lowest part, at 6.0. About one in 20 renters (5.0%, 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 Gosper 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.
Gosper 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.
- 27.3 of 100
Income and safety net
Biggest factorPoverty and income, 2024; disability and insurance, 2020–24 Census survey
- People below the poverty line8.9% · 202414th percentile
- Children below the poverty line11.9% · 202422nd percentile
- People with a disability11.5% · 2020 to 202411th percentile
- People without health insurance9.4% · 2020 to 202462nd percentile
- Median household income (lower income, longer bar)$76,403 · 202426th percentile
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- 22.6 of 100
Collections and bankruptcy
Credit records, August 2025; bankruptcy filings, 2025
- People with unpaid debt sent to a collector9.4% · August 20255th or lower percentile
- Bankruptcy filings per 100,000 people108.3 · 202540th percentile
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- 21.1 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 score29.7% · second quarter of 202612th percentile
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- 16.2 of 100
Jobs
Unemployment through Sep 2026; adults not working, 2020–24 Census survey
- Unemployment rate, average over the latest year3.3% · Oct 2025 to Sep 202623rd percentile
- Adults 25 to 54 not working13.1% · 2020 to 20248th percentile
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- 6.0 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 rent5.0% · 2020 to 20245th or lower percentile
- Rent on a two-bedroom as a share of the median income15.9% · fiscal year 20276th 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 Gosper 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 Gosper County, 23.9% of residents are 65 or older (Census Bureau, 2024), against 17.2% nationally that year.
Cents of every dollar of income, 2024
Gosper County
Nebraska
United States
- Pay from work
- Investments and rent
- Benefit checks
In Gosper County, benefit checks' share of income has grown to about four times its 1969 level, reaching 25.2% in 2024, but pay from work still brings in twice as much as benefit checks
In Gosper County, Nebraska, benefit checks' share of income grew to about four times its 1969 level by 2024, reaching 25.2%; pay from work is plotted alongside. Every fifth year and 2024 are shown.
- Benefit checks
- Pay from work
The share of households in Gosper County getting SNAP food aid moved most in two steps: 4.4% in 2016 to 2.5% in 2017; 4.6% in 2021 to 6.5% in 2022.
The share of households in Gosper County getting SNAP food aid fell to its lowest on the chart in 2017, then climbed past the 2009 level
Low on the chart: 2.5% in 2017. Households getting SNAP, every year; each bar is a five-year survey estimate ending that year, so neighboring bars share most of their data, Gosper County, Nebraska.
How Gosper County has changed
Gosper County's population fell 16% from 1969 to 2024, reaching its lowest on the chart, with most of the change between 1984 and 1989
High on the chart: 2,159 in 1979. Residents, yearly estimate, every fifth year and 2024, Gosper County, Nebraska.
The jobs count covers work located in the county; the population count covers residents.
The number of jobs located in Gosper County rose 6% from 1990 to 2025, with most of the change between 2005 and 2010
High on the chart: 430 in 2010. Yearly average of jobs covered by unemployment insurance, every fifth year and 2025, Gosper County, Nebraska.
| Measure | Then | Now |
|---|---|---|
| Unemployment rateBLS LAUS | 1990 1.5% | 2025 2.8% |
| People below the poverty lineCensus SAIPE | 1989 8.1% | 2024 8.9% |
| Median household incomeCensus SAIPE | 1989 $26,464 | 2024 $76,403 |
The table uses 2.8% for 2025; the score uses 3.3% 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 Gosper County's history
1873
1873 (authorized) 1881 (organized). Wikipedia
1900
The county's largest recorded population was the 1900 Census count of 5,301. The 2020 Census counted 1,893, 36% of the peak. Census Bureau
2005
A flash flood in May 2005 did $1 million in property damage. NOAA Storm Events Database
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Since 1967
14 federal disaster and emergency declarations have covered Gosper County, 4 of them for flooding. FEMA
Gosper County beside its neighbors
All four counties that border Gosper County score higher than it does. For the share of income from benefit checks, Gosper County ranks 3rd of the five; Furnas County is highest, at 32.3%.
| County | Score | Poverty | Benefit checks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Furnas County, NE | 33 | 13.2% | 32.3% |
| Dawson County, NE | 26 | 10.1% | 20.8% |
| Frontier County, NE | 15 | 11.3% | 27.6% |
| Phelps County, NE | 5 | 8.4% | 21.6% |
| Gosper County, NE | 4 | 8.9% | 25.2% |
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 Gosper County the poorest county in Nebraska?
No, Gosper County's poverty rate was 8.9% in 2024, 73rd 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, Gosper County ranks 78th of 93 in the state.
If you're behind on your mortgage in Gosper 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 Gosper 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 Gosper County comes from, 2024.
- History The agencies named in each row and the linked records above.