Monroe County, Pennsylvania

County Distress Index: Elevated · 53.3 | 166,053 people · 15th most distressed in Pennsylvania

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Monroe County, PA registers elevated household financial distress with a score of 53.3 — 1354th nationally out of 3144 counties. The primary driver is Housing Cost Burden, where a large share of households spend more than 30% of income on housing. Within Pennsylvania, it ranks 15th of 67 counties. Among its 8 neighboring counties, 5 show less distress.

The Numbers Behind the Score

The CDI measures five domains of financial distress. Monroe County's primary driver is Housing Cost Burden at 75.0 — worse than roughly 75% of U.S. counties.

Housing Cost Burden Primary driver 75.0
Rent-Burdened (30%+) 92
Severely Rent-Burdened (50%+) 90
Mortgage-Burdened (30%+) 92
Homeownership Rate 21
Rent-to-Income Ratio 80
Debt & Delinquency 74.1
Debt in Collections 65
Medical Debt 71
Student Loan Delinquency 69
Auto Loan Delinquency 73
Credit Card Delinquency 81
Bankruptcy Filing Rate 85
Employment & Wages 58.6
Unemployment Rate 64
Wage-to-Rent Ratio 90
Business Formation Rate 22
Community Vulnerability 36.4
Uninsured Rate 35
Disability Rate 38
Income & Poverty 22.3
Poverty Rate 17
Income vs. State Median 20
Child Poverty Rate 29

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

Neighbors and Peers

How Monroe County compares to its 8 neighboring counties and population peers.

Neighboring Counties

County Score Zone vs. Monroe County
Monroe County, PA 53.3 Elevated
Luzerne County, PA 60.9 Elevated +7.6
Lackawanna County, PA 58.3 Elevated +5.0
Carbon County, PA 54.6 Elevated +1.3
Pike County, PA 52.2 Elevated -1.1
Wayne County, PA 45.6 Normal -7.6
Northampton County, PA 44.5 Normal -8.8
Warren County, NJ 40.8 Normal -12.4
Sussex County, NJ 36.1 Normal -17.2

Population Peers

County Score Zone vs. Monroe County
Muskegon County, MI 53.3 Elevated +0.0
Clinton County, NY 53.2 Elevated -0.0
Washington County, OK 53.2 Elevated -0.0
Tuscarawas County, OH 53.3 Elevated +0.1
Kanawha County, WV 53.2 Elevated -0.1

Download Data

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