About nine in ten adults aged 25 to 54 in Hayes County, Nebraska, have a job
In Hayes County, 10.9% of adults aged 25 to 54 were not working. That is lower than in 96% of U.S. counties.
Less distressed than 87% of U.S. counties.
What drives Hayes County's score
In Hayes County, late payments on loans are the highest-scoring part, at 42.5. Housing costs are the lowest part, at 9.4. About one in 100 renters (0.8%, 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 Hayes 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, Hayes County is worse off than most counties on people with a subprime credit score (48.7%, Q2 2026).
A longer bar means more trouble. See how the county score works.
- 42.5 of 100
Late payments
Biggest factorCredit 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 score48.7% · second quarter of 202676th percentile
-
- 39.3 of 100
Income and safety net
Poverty and income, 2024; disability and insurance, 2020–24 Census survey
- People below the poverty line12.9% · 202447th percentile
- Children below the poverty line14.6% · 202436th percentile
- People with a disability15.8% · 2020 to 202448th percentile
- People without health insurance5.6% · 2020 to 202426th percentile
- Median household income (lower income, longer bar)$71,367 · 202437th percentile
-
- 30.4 of 100
Collections and bankruptcy
Credit 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 peoplenot published for this county; scored at the state median · 202544th percentile
-
- 9.8 of 100
Jobs
Unemployment through Sep 2026; adults not working, 2020–24 Census survey
- Unemployment rate, average over the latest year3.0% · Oct 2025 to Sep 202614th percentile
- Adults 25 to 54 not working10.9% · 2020 to 20245th or lower percentile
-
- 9.4 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 rent0.8% · 2020 to 20245th or lower percentile
- Rent on a two-bedroom as a share of the median income17.1% · fiscal year 202713th percentile
-
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 Hayes 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 Hayes County, 25.5% of residents are 65 or older (Census Bureau, 2024), against 17.2% nationally that year.
Cents of every dollar of income, 2024
Hayes County
Nebraska
United States
- Pay from work
- Investments and rent
- Benefit checks
In Hayes County, benefit checks' share of income has more than doubled since 1969, reaching 14.8% in 2024, but pay from work still brings in about five times as much as benefit checks
In Hayes County, Nebraska, benefit checks' share of income more than doubled from 1969 to 2024, reaching 14.8%; 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 Hayes County getting SNAP food aid was at its highest on the chart in 2011 and has since fallen by about a fifth
Low on the chart: 1.8% 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, Hayes County, Nebraska.
How Hayes County has changed
Hayes County's population had its largest drop, from 1,433 in 1974 to 1,306 in 1979.
Hayes County's population fell by about half from 1969 to 2024, reaching 846, with no rise in any year shown
Smallest drop: 2019 to 2024, reaching 846. Residents, yearly estimate, every fifth year and 2024, Hayes County, Nebraska.
The number of jobs located in Hayes County fell most sharply on the way to its 2005 low, from 204 in 2000 to 176 in 2005.
The number of jobs located in Hayes County was about the same in 2025 as in 1990
High on the chart: 206 in 2020. Yearly average of jobs covered by unemployment insurance, every fifth year and 2025, Hayes County, Nebraska.
| Measure | Then | Now |
|---|---|---|
| Unemployment rateBLS LAUS | 1990 1.0% | 2025 3.1% |
| People below the poverty lineCensus SAIPE | 1989 14.7% | 2024 12.9% |
| Median household incomeCensus SAIPE | 1989 $23,416 | 2024 $71,367 |
The table uses 3.1% for 2025; the score uses 3.0% 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 Hayes County's history
1877
February 19, 1877 (created) 1884 (organized). Wikipedia
1930
The county's largest recorded population was the 1930 Census count of 3,603. The 2020 Census counted 856, 24% of the peak. Census Bureau
1999
A flash flood in August 1999 did $2 million in property damage. NOAA Storm Events Database
2008
Hail in June 2008 did $1 million in property damage. NOAA Storm Events Database
2025
A tornado in May 2025 did $1.5 million in property damage. NOAA Storm Events Database
-
Since 1967
19 federal disaster and emergency declarations have covered Hayes County, 12 of them for flooding. FEMA
Hayes County beside its neighbors
Of the six counties that border Hayes County, three score higher. Of the group, Hayes County gets the smallest share of its income from benefit checks; Hitchcock County gets the largest, at 33.1%.
| County | Score | Poverty | Benefit checks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hitchcock County, NE | 30 | 13.4% | 33.1% |
| Lincoln County, NE | 24 | 11.0% | 23.0% |
| Frontier County, NE | 15 | 11.3% | 27.6% |
| Hayes County, NE | 12 | 12.9% | 14.8% |
| Dundy County, NE | 8 | 12.9% | 21.4% |
| Chase County, NE | 8 | 10.1% | 20.5% |
| Perkins County, NE | 2 | 9.3% | 18.4% |
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 Hayes County the poorest county in Nebraska?
No, Hayes County's poverty rate was 12.9% in 2024, 18th 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, Hayes County ranks 49th of 93 in the state.
If you're behind on your mortgage in Hayes 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.
-
Legal Aid of Nebraska
Legal aid
-
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 Hayes County comes from, 2024.
- History The agencies named in each row and the linked records above.