About two in five people with a credit file in Fairfield County, South Carolina, have unpaid debt sent to a collector
In Fairfield County, 38.5% of people with a credit file had unpaid debt sent to a collector. That is higher than in 92% of U.S. counties.
More distressed than 91% of U.S. counties.
What drives Fairfield County's score
In Fairfield County, late payments on loans weigh most: the score for late payments on loans is 89.3. Collections and bankruptcy comes next, at 79.8.
The County Distress Index looks at five parts of household money trouble in Fairfield County: jobs, late payments on loans, income and the safety net, collections and bankruptcy, and housing costs. Each part is scored from 0 to 100, and a higher score means worse off than other counties.
Fairfield County does better than most counties on one measure: people without health insurance (7.0%, 2020 to 2024).
A longer bar means more trouble. See how the county score works.
- 89.3 of 100
Late payments
Biggest factorCredit records, August 2025; credit scores, second quarter of 2026
- People with a credit card behind9.4% · August 202592nd percentile
- People with a car or retail loan behind9.5% · August 202590th percentile
- People with a subprime credit score52.2% · second quarter of 202684th percentile
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- 79.8 of 100
Collections and bankruptcy
Credit records, August 2025; bankruptcy filings, 2025
- People with unpaid debt sent to a collector38.5% · August 202592nd percentile
- Bankruptcy filings per 100,000 people171.4 · 202567th percentile
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- 72.3 of 100
Income and safety net
Poverty and income, 2024; disability and insurance, 2020–24 Census survey
- People below the poverty line16.9% · 202475th percentile
- Children below the poverty line26.3% · 202485th percentile
- People with a disability19.1% · 2020 to 202475th percentile
- People without health insurance7.0% · 2020 to 202442nd percentile
- Median household income (lower income, longer bar)$54,536 · 202483rd percentile
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- 72.3 of 100
Housing costs
Renters, 2020–24 Census survey; HUD's fair market rents, fiscal year 2027
- Renters paying half their income or more in rent18.8% · 2020 to 202453rd percentile
- Rent on a two-bedroom as a share of the median income27.0% · fiscal year 202790th percentile
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- 69.7 of 100
Jobs
Unemployment through Sep 2026; adults not working, 2020–24 Census survey
- Unemployment rate, average over the latest year5.3% · Oct 2025 to Sep 202686th percentile
- Adults 25 to 54 not working21.2% · 2020 to 202452nd percentile
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Sources: Urban Institute, Debt in America; Equifax via the St. Louis Fed; Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, Table F-5A; U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey; U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Fair Market Rents and Census income; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics; Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates. County Distress Index by American Default Research, from data through Sep 2026.
Where the money in Fairfield County comes from
Benefit checks are Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid paid on people's behalf, veterans' benefits, and food and income support, so a high share usually means an older population, low pay, or both. In Fairfield County, 24.0% of residents are 65 or older (Census Bureau, 2024), against 17.2% nationally that year.
Cents of every dollar of income, 2024
Fairfield County
South Carolina
United States
- Pay from work
- Investments and rent
- Benefit checks
In Fairfield County, benefit checks' share of income has tripled since 1969, reaching 34.0% in 2024, but pay from work still brings in about one and a half times as much as benefit checks
In Fairfield County, South Carolina, benefit checks' share of income tripled from 1969 to 2024, reaching 34.0%; pay from work is plotted alongside. Every fifth year and 2024 are shown.
- Benefit checks
- Pay from work
The share of households in Fairfield County getting SNAP food aid had its largest drop, from 21.0% in 2016 to 17.4% in 2017.
The share of households in Fairfield County getting SNAP food aid was at its highest on the chart in 2015 and has since fallen to 21.0%
Low on the chart: 11.8% in 2010. Households getting SNAP, every year; each bar is a five-year survey estimate ending that year, so neighboring bars share most of their data, Fairfield County, South Carolina.
How Fairfield County has changed
Fairfield County's population had its largest drop, from 24,084 in 2009 to 22,546 in 2014.
Fairfield County's population was at its highest on the chart in 2004 and is down 16% since
High on the chart: 24,273 in 2004. Residents, yearly estimate, every fifth year and 2024, Fairfield County, South Carolina.
The number of jobs located in Fairfield County fell most sharply on the way to its 2020 low, from 10,329 in 2015 to 5,291 in 2020.
The number of jobs located in Fairfield County was at its highest on the chart in 2015 and is down 38% since
High on the chart: 10,329 in 2015. Yearly average of jobs covered by unemployment insurance, every fifth year and 2025, Fairfield County, South Carolina.
| Measure | Then | Now |
|---|---|---|
| Unemployment rateBLS LAUS | 1990 10.1% | 2025 5.3% |
| People below the poverty lineCensus SAIPE | 1989 19.3% | 2024 16.9% |
| Median household incomeCensus SAIPE | 1989 $19,880 | 2024 $54,536 |
Figures are as each agency published them, not adjusted for prices.
Dated events in Fairfield County's history
1900
In the first half of the 20th century through the 1940s, millions of African Americans left the rural South in the Great Migration to northern and midwestern cities. Wikipedia
1910
The county's largest recorded population was the 1910 Census count of 29,442. The 2020 Census counted 20,948, 71% of the peak. Census Bureau
1984
A tornado in March 1984 did $25 million in property damage and killed five people. NOAA Storm Events Database
1984
A tornado in March 1984 did $2.5 million in property damage. NOAA Storm Events Database
2004
A tornado in September 2004 killed one person. NOAA Storm Events Database
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Since 1984
23 federal disaster and emergency declarations have covered Fairfield County, 2 of them for flooding. FEMA
Fairfield County beside its neighbors
Fairfield County scores higher than all six counties that border it. For the share of income from benefit checks, Fairfield County ranks 2nd of the seven; Union County is highest, at 40.1%.
| County | Score | Poverty | Benefit checks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fairfield County, SC | 91 | 16.9% | 34.0% |
| Union County, SC | 91 | 18.7% | 40.1% |
| Chester County, SC | 86 | 16.4% | 33.6% |
| Richland County, SC | 85 | 15.8% | 22.0% |
| Newberry County, SC | 67 | 17.3% | 29.9% |
| Kershaw County, SC | 64 | 12.2% | 27.4% |
| Lancaster County, SC | 39 | 10.2% | 22.8% |
Distress score: American Default Research, County Distress Index, data through Sep 2026; each county scored against all 3,144. Poverty rate: Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates, 2024. Benefit checks: Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2024. Neighbors share a border, from Census county maps.
Is Fairfield County the poorest county in South Carolina?
No, Fairfield County's poverty rate was 16.9% in 2024, 19th highest of 46 in South Carolina (U.S. Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates). By that measure the poorest county in the state is Allendale County, at 31.6%. On our distress index, which counts more than poverty, Fairfield County ranks 12th of 46 in the state.
If you're behind on your mortgage in Fairfield County
Housing counselors approved by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development work at nonprofit agencies. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau describes free foreclosure-avoidance counseling, including help with mortgage-company conversations and available options Source CFPB.
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South Carolina Legal Services
Legal aid
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Pro Bono Legal Services — SC Bar
Legal aid
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HUD-approved housing counselors
Our help directory lists 1,010 agencies approved for foreclosure counseling, by state.
The score, its 14 measures and their sources, in one file. Free to use with credit to American Default Research.
Download the CSV for Fairfield County · Every U.S. county (CSV)
Sources and method
- American Default Research · County Distress Index Data through Sep 2026, built from Urban Institute, Debt in America; Equifax via the St. Louis Fed; U.S. Courts, Table F-5A; Census Bureau, American Community Survey; HUD Fair Market Rents and Census income; Bureau of Labor Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics; Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates. The County Distress Index is American Default Research's own calculation; the Urban Institute does not produce or endorse it. Our methodology
- Urban Institute · Debt in America 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.
- Rent on a two-bedroom and household income The rent share compares HUD fair market rent for fiscal year 2027 with Census Bureau median household income for 2024. The page calls this the typical household's income.
- U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Economic Accounts (CAINC4) · income shares Where the money in Fairfield County comes from, 2024.
- History The agencies named in each row and the linked records above.