Kay County, Oklahoma

County Distress Index: Serious · 65.1 | 43,641 people · 32nd most distressed in Oklahoma

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Kay County, OK shows significant household financial distress with a score of 65.1 — 490th nationally out of 3144 counties. The primary driver is Debt & Delinquency, where residents carry heavy debt burdens with elevated delinquency and collections rates. Within Oklahoma, it ranks 32nd of 77 counties. It scores higher than all 6 of its neighboring counties.

The Numbers Behind the Score

The CDI measures five domains of financial distress. Kay County's primary driver is Debt & Delinquency at 78.9 — worse than roughly 79% of U.S. counties.

Debt & Delinquency Primary driver 78.9
Debt in Collections 85
Medical Debt 95
Student Loan Delinquency 83
Auto Loan Delinquency 86
Credit Card Delinquency 60
Bankruptcy Filing Rate 65
Community Vulnerability 77.1
Uninsured Rate 80
Disability Rate 74
Income & Poverty 73.1
Poverty Rate 81
Income vs. State Median 54
Child Poverty Rate 85
Employment & Wages 51.9
Unemployment Rate 58
Wage-to-Rent Ratio 27
Business Formation Rate 70
Housing Cost Burden 44.5
Rent-Burdened (30%+) 47
Severely Rent-Burdened (50%+) 29
Mortgage-Burdened (30%+) 26
Homeownership Rate 78
Rent-to-Income Ratio 42

Scores are percentile-based: 50 = national median, higher = more distressed. The median line is shown on each bar.

Neighbors and Peers

How Kay County compares to its 6 neighboring counties and population peers.

Neighboring Counties

County Score Zone vs. Kay County
Kay County, OK 65.1 Serious
Osage County, OK 60.5 Elevated -4.6
Garfield County, OK 59.7 Elevated -5.4
Cowley County, KS 55.7 Elevated -9.4
Sumner County, KS 49.2 Normal -15.9
Grant County, OK 46.3 Normal -18.9
Noble County, OK 45.9 Normal -19.2

Population Peers

County Score Zone vs. Kay County
Jackson County, TN 65.1 Serious +0.0
Crawford County, KS 65.2 Serious +0.0
Franklin Parish, LA 65.2 Serious +0.0
Izard County, AR 65.2 Serious +0.0
Otero County, CO 65.1 Serious -0.1

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