Marion County, South Carolina

County Distress Index: Serious · 67.4 | 28,508 people · 15th most distressed in South Carolina

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Marion County, SC shows significant household financial distress with a score of 67.4 — 346th 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 15th of 46 counties. Among its 5 neighboring counties, 3 show less distress.

The Numbers Behind the Score

The CDI measures five domains of financial distress. Marion County's primary driver is Income & Poverty at 96.6 — worse than roughly 97% of U.S. counties.

Income & Poverty Primary driver 96.6
Poverty Rate 96
Income vs. State Median 98
Child Poverty Rate 96
Debt & Delinquency 78.1
Debt in Collections 99
Medical Debt 65
Student Loan Delinquency 96
Auto Loan Delinquency 97
Credit Card Delinquency 96
Bankruptcy Filing Rate 16
Community Vulnerability 73.0
Uninsured Rate 84
Disability Rate 61
Employment & Wages 47.1
Unemployment Rate 96
Wage-to-Rent Ratio 33
Business Formation Rate 12
Housing Cost Burden 42.4
Rent-Burdened (30%+) 11
Severely Rent-Burdened (50%+) 17
Mortgage-Burdened (30%+) 6
Homeownership Rate 90
Rent-to-Income Ratio 88

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

Neighbors and Peers

How Marion County compares to its 5 neighboring counties and population peers.

Neighboring Counties

County Score Zone vs. Marion County
Marion County, SC 67.4 Serious
Williamsburg County, SC 74.5 Serious +7.1
Dillon County, SC 72.8 Serious +5.4
Florence County, SC 63.4 Elevated -4.0
Horry County, SC 61.4 Elevated -6.0
Georgetown County, SC 52.6 Elevated -14.8

Population Peers

County Score Zone vs. Marion County
Sunflower County, MS 67.4 Serious -0.0
Camp County, TX 67.5 Serious +0.0
Karnes County, TX 67.4 Serious -0.0
Toombs County, GA 67.5 Serious +0.0
Richland Parish, LA 67.4 Serious -0.0

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