Colleton County, South Carolina

County Distress Index: Serious · 72.0 | 38,874 people · 7th most distressed in South Carolina

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Colleton County, SC shows significant household financial distress with a score of 72.0 — 131st nationally out of 3144 counties. The primary driver is Income & Poverty, where poverty rates are high and household incomes lag well behind state and national medians. Within South Carolina, it ranks 7th of 46 counties. Among its 7 neighboring counties, 6 show less distress.

The Numbers Behind the Score

The CDI measures five domains of financial distress. Colleton County's primary driver is Income & Poverty at 90.8 — worse than roughly 91% of U.S. counties.

Income & Poverty Primary driver 90.8
Poverty Rate 93
Income vs. State Median 85
Child Poverty Rate 95
Debt & Delinquency 86.0
Debt in Collections 97
Medical Debt 82
Student Loan Delinquency 98
Auto Loan Delinquency 97
Credit Card Delinquency 97
Bankruptcy Filing Rate 46
Community Vulnerability 83.3
Uninsured Rate 90
Disability Rate 77
Housing Cost Burden 56.7
Rent-Burdened (30%+) 65
Severely Rent-Burdened (50%+) 51
Mortgage-Burdened (30%+) 49
Homeownership Rate 57
Rent-to-Income Ratio 61
Employment & Wages 43.4
Unemployment Rate 91
Wage-to-Rent Ratio 26
Business Formation Rate 13

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

Neighbors and Peers

How Colleton County compares to its 7 neighboring counties and population peers.

Neighboring Counties

County Score Zone vs. Colleton County
Colleton County, SC 72.0 Serious
Bamberg County, SC 74.4 Serious +2.3
Hampton County, SC 70.9 Serious -1.1
Allendale County, SC 68.6 Serious -3.4
Orangeburg County, SC 65.4 Serious -6.6
Dorchester County, SC 54.7 Elevated -17.4
Charleston County, SC 46.5 Normal -25.5
Beaufort County, SC 45.9 Normal -26.2

Population Peers

County Score Zone vs. Colleton County
Northampton County, NC 72.0 Serious -0.0
Marshall County, MS 72.1 Serious +0.1
Glacier County, MT 72.1 Serious +0.1
Dixie County, FL 72.1 Serious +0.1
Delaware County, OK 72.1 Serious +0.1

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