North Carolina County Distress Index
Financial distress scores for all 100 counties in North Carolina, scored 0–100 across five domains. A county's score is the share of U.S. counties it is more distressed than; the average North Carolina county scores 59.5. 35 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
North Carolina Snapshot
100 Counties Scored
59.5 Mean Score
60.7 Median Score
99 Edgecombe County Most Distressed
3 Camden County Least Distressed
12 extreme county distress11 very high county distress12 high county distress18 moderate-high county distress9 moderate county distress17 moderate-low county distress10 low-moderate county distress4 low county distress5 very low county distress2 exceptionally low county distress
Score Label Distribution North Carolina County Map
Edgecombe County is the most distressed of North Carolina's 100 counties
County Distress Index score for North Carolina's 100 counties, from green (least distressed, 0–29) to red (most distressed, 80–100). Data from 2024 to Aug 2026.
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Least distressed 0–2930–4950–6970–7980–100 Most distressed
County Distress Index score · data from 2024 to Aug 2026
Point to or tap a county for its rank and score. Click it, or tap it twice, to open its page.
Most & Least Distressed
Most Distressed
Least Distressed
Score Distribution
How North Carolina's 100 county scores are distributed across the 0–100 scale.
All North Carolina Counties
100 counties ranked by distress score. Click column headers to sort.
| State Rank | Nat'l Rank | County | Score | Score Label | Primary Driver |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 30 | Edgecombe County | 99 | extreme county distress | Delinquency |
| 2 | 38 | Halifax County | 98 | extreme county distress | Delinquency |
| 3 | 90 | Robeson County | 97 | extreme county distress | Delinquency |
| 4 | — | Washington County | 96 | extreme county distress | Delinquency |
| 5 | — | Vance County | 96 | extreme county distress | Delinquency |
| 6 | — | Bladen County | 95 | extreme county distress | Delinquency |
| 7 | — | Northampton County | 95 | extreme county distress | Delinquency |
| 8 | — | Scotland County | 94 | extreme county distress | Delinquency |
| 9 | — | Richmond County | 93 | extreme county distress | Delinquency |
| 10 | — | Hertford County | 93 | extreme county distress | Delinquency |
| 11 | — | Anson County | 92 | extreme county distress | Delinquency |
| 12 | — | Bertie County | 91 | extreme county distress | Delinquency |
| 13 | — | Cumberland County | 89 | very high county distress | Delinquency |
| 14 | — | Hyde County | 88 | very high county distress | Labor |
| 15 | — | Wilson County | 88 | very high county distress | Delinquency |
| 16 | — | Lenoir County | 87 | very high county distress | Delinquency |
| 17 | — | Warren County | 85 | very high county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 18 | — | Pitt County | 83 | very high county distress | Delinquency |
| 19 | — | Columbus County | 82 | very high county distress | Delinquency |
| 20 | — | Sampson County | 82 | very high county distress | Delinquency |
| 21 | — | Martin County | 81 | very high county distress | Delinquency |
| 22 | — | Cleveland County | 80 | very high county distress | Delinquency |
| 23 | — | Wayne County | 80 | very high county distress | Delinquency |
| 24 | — | Chowan County | 79 | high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 25 | — | Jones County | 79 | high county distress | Delinquency |
| 26 | — | Hoke County | 78 | high county distress | Delinquency |
| 27 | — | Duplin County | 77 | high county distress | Delinquency |
| 28 | — | Graham County | 77 | high county distress | Delinquency |
| 29 | — | Rutherford County | 75 | high county distress | Delinquency |
| 30 | — | Greene County | 75 | high county distress | Delinquency |
| 31 | — | Rockingham County | 74 | high county distress | Delinquency |
| 32 | — | Gaston County | 73 | high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 33 | — | Tyrrell County | 72 | high county distress | Labor |
| 34 | — | Nash County | 72 | high county distress | Delinquency |
| 35 | — | Gates County | 70 | high county distress | Default & Legal |
| 36 | — | Person County | 69 | moderate-high county distress | Delinquency |
| 37 | — | Rowan County | 68 | moderate-high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 38 | — | Beaufort County | 68 | moderate-high county distress | Delinquency |
| 39 | — | Granville County | 67 | moderate-high county distress | Delinquency |
| 40 | — | Pasquotank County | 67 | moderate-high county distress | Delinquency |
| 41 | — | Franklin County | 67 | moderate-high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 42 | — | Randolph County | 65 | moderate-high county distress | Delinquency |
| 43 | — | Swain County | 63 | moderate-high county distress | Delinquency |
| 44 | — | Burke County | 63 | moderate-high county distress | Delinquency |
| 45 | — | Montgomery County | 62 | moderate-high county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 46 | — | Surry County | 61 | moderate-high county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 47 | — | Guilford County | 61 | moderate-high county distress | Delinquency |
| 48 | — | Alleghany County | 61 | moderate-high county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 49 | — | McDowell County | 61 | moderate-high county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 50 | — | Caswell County | 60 | moderate-high county distress | Delinquency |
| 51 | — | Caldwell County | 60 | moderate-high county distress | Delinquency |
| 52 | — | Onslow County | 60 | moderate-high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 53 | — | Forsyth County | 60 | moderate-high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 54 | — | Wilkes County | 59 | moderate county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 55 | — | Craven County | 59 | moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 56 | — | Madison County | 56 | moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 57 | — | Alamance County | 56 | moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 58 | — | Harnett County | 54 | moderate county distress | Delinquency |
| 59 | — | Lee County | 52 | moderate county distress | Delinquency |
| 60 | — | Davidson County | 51 | moderate county distress | Delinquency |
| 61 | — | Jackson County | 50 | moderate county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 62 | — | Haywood County | 50 | moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 63 | — | Stokes County | 49 | moderate-low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 64 | — | Cherokee County | 49 | moderate-low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 65 | — | Mecklenburg County | 49 | moderate-low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 66 | — | Pamlico County | 48 | moderate-low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 67 | — | Buncombe County | 45 | moderate-low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 68 | — | Johnston County | 45 | moderate-low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 69 | — | Alexander County | 45 | moderate-low county distress | Delinquency |
| 70 | — | Yancey County | 45 | moderate-low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 71 | — | Yadkin County | 44 | moderate-low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 72 | — | Transylvania County | 44 | moderate-low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 73 | — | Stanly County | 44 | moderate-low county distress | Delinquency |
| 74 | — | Clay County | 43 | moderate-low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 75 | — | Durham County | 42 | moderate-low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 76 | — | Brunswick County | 42 | moderate-low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 77 | — | Catawba County | 41 | moderate-low county distress | Delinquency |
| 78 | — | New Hanover County | 41 | moderate-low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 79 | — | Perquimans County | 40 | moderate-low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 80 | — | Macon County | 39 | low-moderate county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 81 | — | Mitchell County | 39 | low-moderate county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 82 | — | Cabarrus County | 38 | low-moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 83 | — | Iredell County | 36 | low-moderate county distress | Delinquency |
| 84 | — | Avery County | 36 | low-moderate county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 85 | — | Watauga County | 36 | low-moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 86 | — | Davie County | 36 | low-moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 87 | — | Ashe County | 33 | low-moderate county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 88 | — | Henderson County | 31 | low-moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 89 | — | Pender County | 31 | low-moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 90 | — | Lincoln County | 29 | low county distress | Delinquency |
| 91 | — | Carteret County | 24 | low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 92 | — | Polk County | 23 | low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 93 | — | Orange County | 22 | low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 94 | — | Moore County | 19 | very low county distress | Labor |
| 95 | — | Wake County | 17 | very low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 96 | — | Dare County | 17 | very low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 97 | — | Union County | 15 | very low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 98 | — | Chatham County | 11 | very low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 99 | — | Currituck County | 9 | exceptionally low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 100 | — | Camden County | 3 | exceptionally low county distress | Delinquency |
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.
extreme county distress — 12 North Carolina counties
very high county distress — 11 North Carolina counties
high county distress — 12 North Carolina counties
moderate-high county distress — 18 North Carolina counties
moderate county distress — 9 North Carolina counties
moderate-low county distress — 17 North Carolina counties
low-moderate county distress — 10 North Carolina counties
low county distress — 4 North Carolina counties
very low county distress — 5 North Carolina counties
exceptionally low county distress — 2 North Carolina counties
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.