About one in three people with a credit file in Cleveland County, North Carolina, has unpaid debt sent to a collector
In Cleveland County, 35.4% of people with a credit file had unpaid debt sent to a collector. That is higher than in 86% of U.S. counties.
More distressed than 80% of U.S. counties.
What drives Cleveland County's score
In Cleveland County, late payments on loans weigh most: the score for late payments on loans is 87.8. People with a car or retail loan behind: 10.1%, August 2025, higher than in 92% of U.S. counties. Collections and bankruptcy comes next, at 68.0.
The County Distress Index looks at five parts of household money trouble in Cleveland 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.
Cleveland County does better than most counties on two measures: rent on a two-bedroom as a share of the median income (19.8%, fiscal year 2027) and bankruptcy filings per 100,000 people (124.3, 2025).
A longer bar means more trouble. See how the county score works.
- 87.8 of 100
Late payments
Biggest factorCredit records, August 2025; credit scores, second quarter of 2026
- People with a credit card behind8.6% · August 202588th percentile
- People with a car or retail loan behind10.1% · August 202592nd percentile
- People with a subprime credit score51.0% · second quarter of 202682nd percentile
-
- 68.0 of 100
Collections and bankruptcy
Credit records, August 2025; bankruptcy filings, 2025
- People with unpaid debt sent to a collector35.4% · August 202586th percentile
- Bankruptcy filings per 100,000 people124.3 · 202549th percentile
-
- 67.0 of 100
Jobs
Unemployment through Sep 2026; adults not working, 2020–24 Census survey
- Unemployment rate, average over the latest year4.3% · Oct 2025 to Sep 202662nd percentile
- Adults 25 to 54 not working24.6% · 2020 to 202471st percentile
-
- 65.6 of 100
Income and safety net
Poverty and income, 2024; disability and insurance, 2020–24 Census survey
- People below the poverty line16.3% · 202472nd percentile
- Children below the poverty line21.6% · 202470th percentile
- People with a disability16.8% · 2020 to 202457th percentile
- People without health insurance9.3% · 2020 to 202461st percentile
- Median household income (lower income, longer bar)$61,392 · 202466th percentile
-
- 51.9 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 rent20.4% · 2020 to 202463rd percentile
- Rent on a two-bedroom as a share of the median income19.8% · fiscal year 202740th 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 Cleveland 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 Cleveland County, 18.8% of residents are 65 or older (Census Bureau, 2024), against 17.2% nationally that year.
Cents of every dollar of income, 2024
Cleveland County
North Carolina
United States
- Pay from work
- Investments and rent
- Benefit checks
In Cleveland County, benefit checks' share of income has grown to about four times its 1969 level, reaching 33.4% in 2024, but pay from work still brings in about one and a half times as much as benefit checks
In Cleveland County, North Carolina, benefit checks' share of income grew to about four times its 1969 level by 2024, reaching 33.4%; 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 Cleveland County getting SNAP food aid rose by more than half to 21.3%, the highest on the chart
Biggest rise: 2021 to 2022, reaching 19.3%. Households getting SNAP, every year; each bar is a five-year survey estimate ending that year, so neighboring bars share most of their data, Cleveland County, North Carolina.
How Cleveland County has changed
Cleveland County's population rose 40% from 1969 to 2024, reaching its highest on the chart
Biggest rise: 1994 to 1999, reaching 95,293. Residents, yearly estimate, every fifth year and 2024, Cleveland County, North Carolina.
The number of jobs located in Cleveland County had its largest drop, from 37,285 in 2000 to 33,410 in 2005.
The number of jobs located in Cleveland County was about the same in 2025 as in 1990, after reaching its lowest on the chart in 2010
Low on the chart: 30,715 in 2010. Yearly average of jobs covered by unemployment insurance, every fifth year and 2025, Cleveland County, North Carolina.
| Measure | Then | Now |
|---|---|---|
| Unemployment rateBLS LAUS | 1990 4.5% | 2025 4.4% |
| People below the poverty lineCensus SAIPE | 1989 10.9% | 2024 16.3% |
| Median household incomeCensus SAIPE | 1989 $24,799 | 2024 $61,392 |
The table uses 4.4% for 2025; the score uses 4.3% 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 Cleveland County's history
1989
A tornado in May 1989 did $25 million in property damage. NOAA Storm Events Database
2020
The county's largest recorded population was the 2020 Census count of 99,519, which is also its most recent census. Census Bureau
2020
A flood in February 2020 did $1 million in property damage. NOAA Storm Events Database
2024
A flash flood in September 2024 did $2 million in property damage. NOAA Storm Events Database
-
Since 1977
20 federal disaster and emergency declarations have covered Cleveland County, 1 of them for flooding. FEMA
Cleveland County beside its neighbors
Of the six counties that border Cleveland County, in North Carolina and South Carolina, one scores higher. For the share of income from benefit checks, Cleveland County ranks 2nd of the seven; Rutherford County is highest, at 37.0%.
| County | Score | Poverty | Benefit checks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cherokee County, SC | 82 | 16.4% | 32.6% |
| Cleveland County, NC | 80 | 16.3% | 33.4% |
| Rutherford County, NC | 75 | 14.8% | 37.0% |
| Gaston County, NC | 73 | 12.4% | 25.6% |
| Burke County, NC | 63 | 14.0% | 31.2% |
| York County, SC | 42 | 8.8% | 17.1% |
| Lincoln County, NC | 29 | 9.7% | 21.5% |
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 Cleveland County the poorest county in North Carolina?
No, Cleveland County's poverty rate was 16.3% in 2024, 34th highest of 100 in North Carolina (U.S. Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates). By that measure the poorest county in the state is Robeson County, at 23.7%. On our distress index, which counts more than poverty, Cleveland County ranks 22nd of 100 in the state.
If you're behind on your mortgage in Cleveland 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.
-
Cleveland County Community Development Corporation
HUD-approved housing counselor
-
Legal Aid of North Carolina
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 Cleveland 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 Cleveland County comes from, 2024.
- History The agencies named in each row and the linked records above.