About one in three people with a credit file in Nash County, North Carolina, has unpaid debt sent to a collector
In Nash County, 35.8% of people with a credit file had unpaid debt sent to a collector. That is higher than in 87% of U.S. counties.
More distressed than 72% of U.S. counties.
What drives Nash County's score
In Nash County, late payments on loans weigh most: the score for late payments on loans is 90.8. People with a credit card behind: 11.0%, August 2025, higher than in 96% of U.S. counties. Collections and bankruptcy comes next, at 71.2.
The County Distress Index looks at five parts of household money trouble in Nash 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.
Nash County does better than most counties on two measures: renters paying half their income or more in rent (15.4%, 2020 to 2024) and people with a disability (14.4%, 2020 to 2024).
A longer bar means more trouble. See how the county score works.
- 90.8 of 100
Late payments
Biggest factorCredit records, August 2025; credit scores, second quarter of 2026
- People with a credit card behind11.0% · August 202596th percentile
- People with a car or retail loan behind10.7% · August 202594th percentile
- People with a subprime credit score50.6% · second quarter of 202681st percentile
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- 71.2 of 100
Collections and bankruptcy
Credit records, August 2025; bankruptcy filings, 2025
- People with unpaid debt sent to a collector35.8% · August 202587th percentile
- Bankruptcy filings per 100,000 people136.7 · 202554th percentile
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- 59.6 of 100
Jobs
Unemployment through Sep 2026; adults not working, 2020–24 Census survey
- Unemployment rate, average over the latest year4.6% · Oct 2025 to Sep 202672nd percentile
- Adults 25 to 54 not working20.2% · 2020 to 202446th percentile
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- 52.5 of 100
Income and safety net
Poverty and income, 2024; disability and insurance, 2020–24 Census survey
- People below the poverty line12.5% · 202444th percentile
- Children below the poverty line18.4% · 202457th percentile
- People with a disability14.4% · 2020 to 202434th percentile
- People without health insurance11.4% · 2020 to 202475th percentile
- Median household income (lower income, longer bar)$66,531 · 202450th percentile
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- 44.1 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 rent15.4% · 2020 to 202433rd percentile
- Rent on a two-bedroom as a share of the median income21.1% · fiscal year 202754th percentile
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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 Nash 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 Nash County, 19.4% of residents are 65 or older (Census Bureau, 2024), against 17.2% nationally that year.
Cents of every dollar of income, 2024
Nash County
North Carolina
United States
- Pay from work
- Investments and rent
- Benefit checks
In Nash County, benefit checks' share of income has grown to about four times its 1969 level, reaching 28.4% in 2024, but pay from work still brings in twice as much as benefit checks
In Nash County, North Carolina, benefit checks' share of income grew to about four times its 1969 level by 2024, reaching 28.4%; pay from work is plotted alongside. Every fifth year and 2024 are shown.
- Benefit checks
- Pay from work
The share of households in Nash County getting SNAP food aid rose most in two steps: 15.7% in 2011 to 18.0% in 2012; 16.7% in 2022 to 19.0% in 2023.
The share of households in Nash County getting SNAP food aid was at its highest on the chart in 2016 and has since fallen to 18.3%
Low on the chart: 13.4% 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, Nash County, North Carolina.
How Nash County has changed
Nash County's population nearly doubled to 97,990, the highest on the chart
Biggest rise: 1989 to 1994, reaching 82,378. Residents, yearly estimate, every fifth year and 2024, Nash County, North Carolina.
The number of jobs located in Nash County had its largest drop, from 40,666 in 2015 to 38,347 in 2020.
The number of jobs located in Nash County fell 7% from 1990 to 2020, then turned up in 2025
High on the chart: 42,833 in 1995. Yearly average of jobs covered by unemployment insurance, every fifth year and 2025, Nash County, North Carolina.
| Measure | Then | Now |
|---|---|---|
| Unemployment rateBLS LAUS | 1990 4.2% | 2025 4.8% |
| People below the poverty lineCensus SAIPE | 1989 17.4% | 2024 12.5% |
| Median household incomeCensus SAIPE | 1989 $23,968 | 2024 $66,531 |
The table uses 4.8% for 2025; the score uses 4.6% 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 Nash County's history
1988
A tornado in November 1988 did $2.5 million in property damage and killed two people. NOAA Storm Events Database
1999
A flash flood in September 1999 killed four people. NOAA Storm Events Database
2010
The county's largest recorded population was the 2010 Census count of 95,840. The 2020 Census counted 94,970, 99% of the peak. Census Bureau
2016
A flood in October 2016 did $213.4 million in property damage. NOAA Storm Events Database
2023
A tornado in July 2023 did $300 million in property damage. NOAA Storm Events Database
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Since 1968
27 federal disaster and emergency declarations have covered Nash County, 1 of them for flooding. FEMA
Nash County beside its neighbors
Of the five counties that border Nash County, three score higher. For the share of income from benefit checks, Nash County ranks 4th of the six; Halifax County is highest, at 41.6%.
| County | Score | Poverty | Benefit checks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Edgecombe County, NC | 99 | 21.1% | 39.1% |
| Halifax County, NC | 98 | 18.8% | 41.6% |
| Wilson County, NC | 88 | 17.6% | 31.2% |
| Nash County, NC | 72 | 12.5% | 28.4% |
| Franklin County, NC | 67 | 12.6% | 23.3% |
| Johnston County, NC | 45 | 9.6% | 19.9% |
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 Nash County the poorest county in North Carolina?
No, Nash County's poverty rate was 12.5% in 2024, 69th 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, Nash County ranks 34th of 100 in the state.
If you're behind on your mortgage in Nash 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.
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Legal Aid of North Carolina
Legal aid
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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 Nash County comes from, 2024.
- History The agencies named in each row and the linked records above.