Ohio County Distress Index
Financial distress scores for all 88 counties in Ohio, scored 0–100 across five domains. A county's score is the share of U.S. counties it is more distressed than; the average Ohio county scores 47.0. 18 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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Ohio County Map
Scioto County is the most distressed of Ohio's 88 counties
County Distress Index score for Ohio's 88 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
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 Ohio's 88 county scores are distributed across the 0–100 scale.
All Ohio Counties
88 counties ranked by distress score. Click column headers to sort.
| State Rank | Nat'l Rank | County | Score | Score Label | Primary Driver |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | — | Scioto County | 92 | extreme county distress | Labor |
| 2 | — | Pike County | 90 | extreme county distress | Labor |
| 3 | — | Adams County | 88 | very high county distress | Labor |
| 4 | — | Jackson County | 88 | very high county distress | Delinquency |
| 5 | — | Mahoning County | 81 | very high county distress | Default & Legal |
| 6 | — | Ross County | 81 | very high county distress | Default & Legal |
| 7 | — | Gallia County | 80 | very high county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 8 | — | Lucas County | 79 | high county distress | Default & Legal |
| 9 | — | Meigs County | 79 | high county distress | Labor |
| 10 | — | Clark County | 78 | high county distress | Default & Legal |
| 11 | — | Lawrence County | 78 | high county distress | Delinquency |
| 12 | — | Ashtabula County | 75 | high county distress | Default & Legal |
| 13 | — | Trumbull County | 75 | high county distress | Labor |
| 14 | — | Marion County | 73 | high county distress | Default & Legal |
| 15 | — | Cuyahoga County | 72 | high county distress | Default & Legal |
| 16 | — | Jefferson County | 72 | high county distress | Default & Legal |
| 17 | — | Athens County | 72 | high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 18 | — | Montgomery County | 71 | high county distress | Default & Legal |
| 19 | — | Columbiana County | 69 | moderate-high county distress | Default & Legal |
| 20 | — | Belmont County | 69 | moderate-high county distress | Delinquency |
| 21 | — | Vinton County | 69 | moderate-high county distress | Labor |
| 22 | — | Brown County | 68 | moderate-high county distress | Default & Legal |
| 23 | — | Harrison County | 66 | moderate-high county distress | Labor |
| 24 | — | Fayette County | 65 | moderate-high county distress | Default & Legal |
| 25 | — | Guernsey County | 65 | moderate-high county distress | Labor |
| 26 | — | Coshocton County | 63 | moderate-high county distress | Labor |
| 27 | — | Perry County | 61 | moderate-high county distress | Labor |
| 28 | — | Hamilton County | 61 | moderate-high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 29 | — | Franklin County | 60 | moderate-high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 30 | — | Hocking County | 60 | moderate-high county distress | Default & Legal |
| 31 | — | Muskingum County | 60 | moderate-high county distress | Default & Legal |
| 32 | — | Richland County | 59 | moderate county distress | Default & Legal |
| 33 | — | Allen County | 59 | moderate county distress | Default & Legal |
| 34 | — | Morgan County | 58 | moderate county distress | Labor |
| 35 | — | Summit County | 58 | moderate county distress | Default & Legal |
| 36 | — | Crawford County | 55 | moderate county distress | Default & Legal |
| 37 | — | Highland County | 55 | moderate county distress | Default & Legal |
| 38 | — | Huron County | 54 | moderate county distress | Default & Legal |
| 39 | — | Clinton County | 50 | moderate county distress | Default & Legal |
| 40 | — | Hardin County | 50 | moderate county distress | Delinquency |
| 41 | — | Erie County | 49 | moderate-low county distress | Default & Legal |
| 42 | — | Butler County | 49 | moderate-low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 43 | — | Sandusky County | 48 | moderate-low county distress | Default & Legal |
| 44 | — | Pickaway County | 48 | moderate-low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 45 | — | Seneca County | 47 | moderate-low county distress | Default & Legal |
| 46 | — | Washington County | 47 | moderate-low county distress | Delinquency |
| 47 | — | Monroe County | 46 | moderate-low county distress | Labor |
| 48 | — | Stark County | 46 | moderate-low county distress | Default & Legal |
| 49 | — | Lorain County | 45 | moderate-low county distress | Default & Legal |
| 50 | — | Morrow County | 44 | moderate-low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 51 | — | Tuscarawas County | 43 | moderate-low county distress | Default & Legal |
| 52 | — | Williams County | 43 | moderate-low county distress | Default & Legal |
| 53 | — | Carroll County | 42 | moderate-low county distress | Labor |
| 54 | — | Portage County | 40 | moderate-low county distress | Default & Legal |
| 55 | — | Noble County | 39 | low-moderate county distress | Labor |
| 56 | — | Licking County | 39 | low-moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 57 | — | Clermont County | 33 | low-moderate county distress | Default & Legal |
| 58 | — | Preble County | 33 | low-moderate county distress | Default & Legal |
| 59 | — | Ashland County | 33 | low-moderate county distress | Default & Legal |
| 60 | — | Logan County | 32 | low-moderate county distress | Default & Legal |
| 61 | — | Madison County | 32 | low-moderate county distress | Default & Legal |
| 62 | — | Fairfield County | 31 | low-moderate county distress | Default & Legal |
| 63 | — | Miami County | 29 | low county distress | Default & Legal |
| 64 | — | Knox County | 28 | low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 65 | — | Champaign County | 27 | low county distress | Default & Legal |
| 66 | — | Paulding County | 27 | low county distress | Default & Legal |
| 67 | — | Darke County | 27 | low county distress | Default & Legal |
| 68 | — | Hancock County | 25 | low county distress | Default & Legal |
| 69 | — | Defiance County | 24 | low county distress | Default & Legal |
| 70 | — | Wood County | 23 | low county distress | Default & Legal |
| 71 | — | Wayne County | 23 | low county distress | Default & Legal |
| 72 | — | Ottawa County | 23 | low county distress | Labor |
| 73 | — | Lake County | 22 | low county distress | Default & Legal |
| 74 | — | Van Wert County | 21 | low county distress | Delinquency |
| 75 | — | Greene County | 21 | low county distress | Default & Legal |
| 76 | — | Fulton County | 20 | low county distress | Default & Legal |
| 77 | — | Henry County | 19 | very low county distress | Default & Legal |
| 78 | — | Shelby County | 17 | very low county distress | Default & Legal |
| 79 | — | Wyandot County | 16 | very low county distress | Delinquency |
| 80 | — | Warren County | 7 | exceptionally low county distress | Default & Legal |
| 81 | — | Holmes County | 7 | exceptionally low county distress | Labor |
| 82 | — | Medina County | 6 | exceptionally low county distress | Default & Legal |
| 83 | — | Auglaize County | 5 | exceptionally low county distress | Default & Legal |
| 84 | 3,058 | Union County | 2 | exceptionally low county distress | Default & Legal |
| 85 | 3,078 | Geauga County | 2 | exceptionally low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 86 | 3,103 | Delaware County | 1 | exceptionally low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 87 | 3,104 | Putnam County | 1 | exceptionally low county distress | Delinquency |
| 88 | 3,105 | Mercer County | 1 | exceptionally low county distress | Default & Legal |
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.