Kershaw County, South Carolina

County Distress Index: Elevated · 52.7 | 69,905 people · 35th most distressed in South Carolina

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Kershaw County, SC registers elevated household financial distress with a score of 52.7 — 1392nd nationally out of 3144 counties. The primary driver is Debt & Delinquency, where residents carry heavy debt burdens with elevated delinquency and collections rates. Within South Carolina, it ranks 35th of 46 counties. Among its 7 neighboring counties, 6 show more distress.

The Numbers Behind the Score

The CDI measures five domains of financial distress. Kershaw County's primary driver is Debt & Delinquency at 77.6 — worse than roughly 78% of U.S. counties.

Debt & Delinquency Primary driver 77.6
Debt in Collections 78
Medical Debt 63
Student Loan Delinquency 92
Auto Loan Delinquency 75
Credit Card Delinquency 80
Bankruptcy Filing Rate 76
Community Vulnerability 55.7
Uninsured Rate 57
Disability Rate 54
Employment & Wages 48.1
Unemployment Rate 80
Wage-to-Rent Ratio 48
Business Formation Rate 16
Housing Cost Burden 46.2
Rent-Burdened (30%+) 76
Severely Rent-Burdened (50%+) 80
Mortgage-Burdened (30%+) 47
Homeownership Rate 12
Rent-to-Income Ratio 15
Income & Poverty 36.2
Poverty Rate 42
Income vs. State Median 17
Child Poverty Rate 50

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

Neighbors and Peers

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

Neighboring Counties

County Score Zone vs. Kershaw County
Kershaw County, SC 52.7 Elevated
Fairfield County, SC 69.5 Serious +16.7
Darlington County, SC 69.4 Serious +16.7
Lee County, SC 69.1 Serious +16.3
Chesterfield County, SC 68.3 Serious +15.6
Sumter County, SC 67.1 Serious +14.3
Richland County, SC 61.5 Elevated +8.8
Lancaster County, SC 39.8 Normal -12.9

Population Peers

County Score Zone vs. Kershaw County
Schuylkill County, PA 52.7 Elevated -0.0
Colbert County, AL 52.7 Elevated -0.1
Monroe County, FL 52.7 Elevated -0.1
Washington County, VA 52.8 Elevated +0.1
Houston County, GA 52.8 Elevated +0.1

Download Data

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