New York County Distress Index
Financial distress scores for all 62 counties in New York, scored 0–100 across five domains. A county's score is the share of U.S. counties it is more distressed than; the average New York county scores 44.4. 2 counties score high, very high, or extreme.
Data: U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Urban Institute, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts | Scores as of Aug 2026
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Bronx County is the most distressed of New York's 62 counties
County Distress Index score for New York's 62 counties, from green (least distressed, 0–29) to red (most distressed, 80–100). Data from 2024 to Aug 2026.
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County Distress Index score · data from 2024 to Aug 2026
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Most & Least Distressed
Most Distressed
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Score Distribution
How New York's 62 county scores are distributed across the 0–100 scale.
All New York Counties
62 counties ranked by distress score. Click column headers to sort.
| State Rank | Nat'l Rank | County | Score | Score Label | Primary Driver |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 56 | Bronx County | 98 | extreme county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 2 | — | Montgomery County | 75 | high county distress | Delinquency |
| 3 | — | Kings County | 69 | moderate-high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 4 | — | Oswego County | 65 | moderate-high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 5 | — | Sullivan County | 63 | moderate-high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 6 | — | Chautauqua County | 62 | moderate-high county distress | Labor |
| 7 | — | Chemung County | 62 | moderate-high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 8 | — | Broome County | 60 | moderate-high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 9 | — | Cattaraugus County | 59 | moderate county distress | Labor |
| 10 | — | Queens County | 58 | moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 11 | — | Herkimer County | 57 | moderate county distress | Labor |
| 12 | — | St. Lawrence County | 56 | moderate county distress | Labor |
| 13 | — | Jefferson County | 56 | moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 14 | — | Orleans County | 55 | moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 15 | — | Orange County | 54 | moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 16 | — | Niagara County | 54 | moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 17 | — | Allegany County | 53 | moderate county distress | Labor |
| 18 | — | Fulton County | 52 | moderate county distress | Default & Legal |
| 19 | — | Oneida County | 51 | moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 20 | — | Washington County | 51 | moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 21 | — | Schenectady County | 50 | moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 22 | — | Richmond County | 50 | moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 23 | — | Seneca County | 50 | moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 24 | — | Schoharie County | 49 | moderate-low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 25 | — | Clinton County | 48 | moderate-low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 26 | — | Ulster County | 47 | moderate-low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 27 | — | Franklin County | 47 | moderate-low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 28 | — | New York County | 47 | moderate-low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 29 | — | Cortland County | 45 | moderate-low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 30 | — | Warren County | 45 | moderate-low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 31 | — | Schuyler County | 45 | moderate-low county distress | Labor |
| 32 | — | Erie County | 44 | moderate-low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 33 | — | Onondaga County | 44 | moderate-low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 34 | — | Monroe County | 43 | moderate-low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 35 | — | Chenango County | 42 | moderate-low county distress | Labor |
| 36 | — | Delaware County | 42 | moderate-low county distress | Labor |
| 37 | — | Steuben County | 42 | moderate-low county distress | Labor |
| 38 | — | Tioga County | 41 | moderate-low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 39 | — | Madison County | 39 | low-moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 40 | — | Rockland County | 39 | low-moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 41 | — | Hamilton County | 37 | low-moderate county distress | Labor |
| 42 | — | Albany County | 37 | low-moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 43 | — | Cayuga County | 36 | low-moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 44 | — | Wayne County | 36 | low-moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 45 | — | Otsego County | 35 | low-moderate county distress | Labor |
| 46 | — | Yates County | 35 | low-moderate county distress | Delinquency |
| 47 | — | Suffolk County | 35 | low-moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 48 | — | Rensselaer County | 34 | low-moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 49 | — | Essex County | 33 | low-moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 50 | — | Dutchess County | 32 | low-moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 51 | — | Greene County | 32 | low-moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 52 | — | Tompkins County | 31 | low-moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 53 | — | Columbia County | 28 | low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 54 | — | Livingston County | 28 | low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 55 | — | Westchester County | 27 | low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 56 | — | Lewis County | 27 | low county distress | Labor |
| 57 | — | Putnam County | 20 | low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 58 | — | Nassau County | 20 | low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 59 | — | Genesee County | 19 | very low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 60 | — | Ontario County | 15 | very low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 61 | — | Wyoming County | 11 | very low county distress | Labor |
| 62 | — | Saratoga County | 8 | exceptionally low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
How County Scores Work
Each county is scored 0–100 using five equal-weighted domains. Each domain averages its member indicators' county ranks, the domains are averaged, and that average is ranked against every U.S. county. So a county's score is the share of U.S. counties it is more distressed than. National ranks are shown only for the 100 most and 100 least distressed counties, because ranks in between move between updates. Counties with identical composite scores share a rank, marked T- for tied.
Urban Institute data: 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. The County Distress Index is American Default Research's own calculation; the Urban Institute does not produce or endorse it.