About nine in ten adults aged 25 to 54 in Keya Paha County, Nebraska, have a job
In Keya Paha County, 12.4% of adults aged 25 to 54 were not working. That is lower than in 93% of U.S. counties.
Less distressed than 85% of U.S. counties.
What drives Keya Paha County's score
In Keya Paha County, income and the safety net is the highest-scoring part, at 48.6. Late payments on loans are the lowest part, at 18.7. About one in six people (15.8%, Q2 2026) has a subprime credit score, a lower share than in 95% of U.S. counties.
The County Distress Index looks at five parts of household money trouble in Keya Paha 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.
Keya Paha 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.
- 48.6 of 100
Income and safety net
Biggest factorPoverty and income, 2024; disability and insurance, 2020–24 Census survey
- People below the poverty line16.0% · 202470th percentile
- Children below the poverty line12.8% · 202426th percentile
- People with a disability12.2% · 2020 to 202416th percentile
- People without health insurance9.9% · 2020 to 202465th percentile
- Median household income (lower income, longer bar)$62,133 · 202463rd 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
-
- 21.7 of 100
Jobs
Unemployment through Sep 2026; adults not working, 2020–24 Census survey
- Unemployment rate, average over the latest year3.6% · Oct 2025 to Sep 202636th percentile
- Adults 25 to 54 not working12.4% · 2020 to 20247th percentile
-
- 21.2 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 rent0.0% · 2020 to 20245th or lower percentile
- Rent on a two-bedroom as a share of the median income19.6% · fiscal year 202737th percentile
-
- 18.7 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 score15.8% · second quarter of 20265th or lower 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 Keya Paha 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 Keya Paha County, 25.3% of residents are 65 or older (Census Bureau, 2024), against 17.2% nationally that year.
Cents of every dollar of income, 2024
Keya Paha County
Nebraska
United States
- Pay from work
- Investments and rent
- Benefit checks
Benefit checks' share of income in Keya Paha County had its largest drop, from 32.3% in 2009 to 10.6% in 2014.
In Keya Paha County, benefit checks' share of income has tripled since 1969, reaching 24.4% in 2024, but pay from work still brings in more than twice as much as benefit checks
In Keya Paha County, Nebraska, benefit checks' share of income tripled from 1969 to 2024, reaching 24.4%; 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 Keya Paha County getting SNAP food aid was at its highest on the chart in 2013 and has since fallen to 1.3%
Low on the chart: 0.0% in 2010. Households getting SNAP, every year; each bar is a five-year survey estimate ending that year, so neighboring bars share most of their data, Keya Paha County, Nebraska.
How Keya Paha County has changed
Keya Paha County's population had its largest drop, from 1,214 in 1984 to 1,057 in 1989.
Keya Paha County's population fell 42% from 1969 to 2019, then turned up in 2024
High on the chart: 1,363 in 1974. Residents, yearly estimate, every fifth year and 2024, Keya Paha County, Nebraska.
The number of jobs located in Keya Paha County rose most sharply after its 1995 low, from 93 in 1995 to 160 in 2000.
The number of jobs located in Keya Paha County was at its highest on the chart in 2015 and is down 14% since
High on the chart: 162 in 2015. Yearly average of jobs covered by unemployment insurance, every fifth year and 2025, Keya Paha County, Nebraska.
| Measure | Then | Now |
|---|---|---|
| Unemployment rateBLS LAUS | 1990 1.4% | 2025 3.5% |
| People below the poverty lineCensus SAIPE | 1989 15.4% | 2024 16.0% |
| Median household incomeCensus SAIPE | 1989 $19,327 | 2024 $62,133 |
The table uses 3.5% for 2025; the score uses 3.6% 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 Keya Paha County's history
1884
Created December 17, 1884 from land partitioned from Brown County. Wikipedia
1920
The county's largest recorded population was the 1920 Census count of 3,594. The 2020 Census counted 769, 21% of the peak. Census Bureau
2021
A thunderstorm in August 2021 did $3,000,000 in property damage. NOAA Storm Events Database
-
Since 1967
13 federal disaster and emergency declarations have covered Keya Paha County, 7 of them for flooding. FEMA
Keya Paha County beside its neighbors
Of the six counties that border Keya Paha County, in Nebraska and South Dakota, four score higher. For the share of income from benefit checks, Keya Paha County ranks 3rd of the seven; Boyd County is highest, at 30.8%.
| County | Score | Poverty | Benefit checks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tripp County, SD | 33 | 16.3% | 23.4% |
| Boyd County, NE | 31 | 13.1% | 30.8% |
| Gregory County, SD | 24 | 14.1% | 25.9% |
| Brown County, NE | 21 | 11.3% | 22.7% |
| Keya Paha County, NE | 14 | 16.0% | 24.4% |
| Cherry County, NE | 9 | 10.2% | 20.9% |
| Rock County, NE | 7 | 13.1% | 20.9% |
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 Keya Paha County the poorest county in Nebraska?
No, Keya Paha County's poverty rate was 16.0% in 2024, 3rd 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, Keya Paha County ranks 43rd of 93 in the state.
If you're behind on your mortgage in Keya Paha 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.
Download the CSV for Keya Paha 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 Keya Paha County comes from, 2024.
- History The agencies named in each row and the linked records above.