About one in 28 people with a credit file in Adams County, North Dakota, has unpaid debt sent to a collector
In Adams County, 3.6% of people with a credit file had unpaid debt sent to a collector. That is lower than in 99% of U.S. counties.
Less distressed than 82% of U.S. counties.
What drives Adams County's score
In Adams County, income and the safety net is the highest-scoring part, at 42.5. Jobs are the lowest part, at 11.6. Unemployment averaged 2.3%, Oct 2025 to Sep 2026, lower than in 95% of U.S. counties.
The County Distress Index looks at five parts of household money trouble in Adams 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.
Adams 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.
- 42.5 of 100
Income and safety net
Biggest factorPoverty and income, 2024; disability and insurance, 2020–24 Census survey
- People below the poverty line12.2% · 202441st percentile
- Children below the poverty line15.4% · 202440th percentile
- People with a disability15.2% · 2020 to 202442nd percentile
- People without health insurance5.3% · 2020 to 202423rd percentile
- Median household income (lower income, longer bar)$62,028 · 202464th percentile
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- 38.1 of 100
Collections and bankruptcy
Credit records, August 2025; bankruptcy filings, 2025
- People with unpaid debt sent to a collector3.6% · August 20255th or lower percentile
- Bankruptcy filings per 100,000 people184.9 · 202571st percentile
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- 35.3 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 rent15.2% · 2020 to 202432nd percentile
- Rent on a two-bedroom as a share of the median income19.6% · fiscal year 202737th percentile
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- 23.4 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 202517th percentile
- People with a car or retail loan behindnot published for this county; scored at the state median · August 202524th percentile
- People with a subprime credit score34.8% · second quarter of 202628th percentile
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- 11.6 of 100
Jobs
Unemployment through Sep 2026; adults not working, 2020–24 Census survey
- Unemployment rate, average over the latest year2.3% · Oct 2025 to Sep 20265th or lower percentile
- Adults 25 to 54 not working15.4% · 2020 to 202418th 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 Adams 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 Adams County, 26.8% of residents are 65 or older (Census Bureau, 2024), against 17.2% nationally that year.
Cents of every dollar of income, 2024
Adams County
North Dakota
United States
- Pay from work
- Investments and rent
- Benefit checks
In Adams County, benefit checks' share of income has grown to about four times its 1969 level, reaching 36.7% in 2024, but pay from work still brings in only a little more than benefit checks
In Adams County, North Dakota, benefit checks' share of income grew to about four times its 1969 level by 2024, reaching 36.7%; pay from work is plotted alongside. Every fifth year and 2024 are shown.
- Benefit checks
- Pay from work
The share of households in Adams County getting SNAP food aid had its largest rise, from 3.5% in 2022 to 11.6% in 2023.
The share of households in Adams County getting SNAP food aid fell to its lowest on the chart in 2013, then climbed past the 2009 level
Low on the chart: 1.5% in 2013. Households getting SNAP, every year; each bar is a five-year survey estimate ending that year, so neighboring bars share most of their data, Adams County, North Dakota.
How Adams County has changed
Adams County's population fell by about half to 2,141, the lowest on the chart
Biggest drop: 1989 to 1994, reaching 2,866. Residents, yearly estimate, every fifth year and 2024, Adams County, North Dakota.
The jobs count covers work located in the county; the population count covers residents.
The number of jobs located in Adams County fell 16% from 1990 to 2025, reaching its lowest on the chart, with most of the change between 2015 and 2020
Biggest drop: 2015 to 2020, reaching 866. Yearly average of jobs covered by unemployment insurance, every fifth year and 2025, Adams County, North Dakota.
| Measure | Then | Now |
|---|---|---|
| Unemployment rateBLS LAUS | 1990 1.4% | 2025 2.1% |
| People below the poverty lineCensus SAIPE | 1989 12.9% | 2024 12.2% |
| Median household incomeCensus SAIPE | 1989 $20,937 | 2024 $62,028 |
The table uses 2.1% for 2025; the score uses 2.3% 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 Adams County's history
1907
April 17, 1907 (created) April 24, 1907 (organized). Wikipedia
1930
The county's largest recorded population was the 1930 Census count of 6,343. The 2020 Census counted 2,200, 35% of the peak. Census Bureau
2005
Hail in July 2005 did $7 million in property damage. NOAA Storm Events Database
2025
A thunderstorm in June 2025 did $1 million in property damage. NOAA Storm Events Database
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Since 1978
15 federal disaster and emergency declarations have covered Adams County, 7 of them for flooding. FEMA
Adams County beside its neighbors
Of the eight counties that border Adams County, in North Dakota and South Dakota, four score higher. For the share of income from benefit checks, Adams County ranks 3rd of the nine; Sioux County is highest, at 44.8%.
| County | Score | Poverty | Benefit checks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Corson County, SD | 64 | 37.9% | 38.3% |
| Sioux County, ND | 56 | 29.9% | 44.8% |
| Grant County, ND | 30 | 16.9% | 33.5% |
| Hettinger County, ND | 26 | 13.0% | 33.7% |
| Adams County, ND | 17 | 12.2% | 36.7% |
| Slope County, ND | 11 | 13.6% | 32.3% |
| Perkins County, SD | 8 | 12.8% | 27.9% |
| Harding County, SD | 2 | 11.8% | 17.1% |
| Bowman County, ND | 1 | 10.0% | 24.0% |
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 Adams County the poorest county in North Dakota?
No, Adams County's poverty rate was 12.2% in 2024, 16th highest of 53 in North Dakota (U.S. Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates). By that measure the poorest county in the state is Sioux County, at 29.9%. On our distress index, which counts more than poverty, Adams County ranks 10th of 53 in the state.
If you're behind on your mortgage in Adams 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 Services of North Dakota
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 Adams County comes from, 2024.
- History The agencies named in each row and the linked records above.