Dorchester County, South Carolina

County Distress Index: Elevated · 54.7 | 169,833 people · 31st most distressed in South Carolina

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Dorchester County, SC registers elevated household financial distress with a score of 54.7 — 1235th 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 South Carolina, it ranks 31st of 46 counties. Its score is in the middle of its 4 neighboring counties.

The Numbers Behind the Score

The CDI measures five domains of financial distress. Dorchester County's primary driver is Housing Cost Burden at 77.9 — worse than roughly 78% of U.S. counties.

Housing Cost Burden Primary driver 77.9
Rent-Burdened (30%+) 94
Severely Rent-Burdened (50%+) 74
Mortgage-Burdened (30%+) 86
Homeownership Rate 45
Rent-to-Income Ratio 90
Debt & Delinquency 68.4
Debt in Collections 74
Medical Debt 73
Student Loan Delinquency 69
Auto Loan Delinquency 77
Credit Card Delinquency 73
Bankruptcy Filing Rate 43
Employment & Wages 57.7
Unemployment Rate 67
Wage-to-Rent Ratio 96
Business Formation Rate 10
Community Vulnerability 51.6
Uninsured Rate 73
Disability Rate 30
Income & Poverty 17.9
Poverty Rate 22
Income vs. State Median 8
Child Poverty Rate 23

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

Neighbors and Peers

How Dorchester County compares to its 4 neighboring counties and population peers.

Neighboring Counties

County Score Zone vs. Dorchester County
Dorchester County, SC 54.7 Elevated
Colleton County, SC 72.0 Serious +17.4
Orangeburg County, SC 65.4 Serious +10.7
Berkeley County, SC 50.5 Elevated -4.2
Charleston County, SC 46.5 Normal -8.2

Population Peers

County Score Zone vs. Dorchester County
Bossier Parish, LA 54.8 Elevated +0.1
Jackson County, MS 54.8 Elevated +0.1
Carbon County, PA 54.6 Elevated -0.1
Walla Walla County, WA 54.8 Elevated +0.1
Cowlitz County, WA 54.5 Elevated -0.1

Download Data

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