Saluda County, South Carolina

County Distress Index: Elevated · 62.6 | 19,123 people · 21st most distressed in South Carolina

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Saluda County, SC registers elevated household financial distress with a score of 62.6 — 649th nationally out of 3144 counties. The primary driver is Community Vulnerability, where uninsured and disability rates are well above the national average. Within South Carolina, it ranks 21st of 46 counties. It scores higher than all 5 of its neighboring counties.

The Numbers Behind the Score

The CDI measures five domains of financial distress. Saluda County's primary driver is Community Vulnerability at 73.8 — above the national median.

Community Vulnerability Primary driver 73.8
Uninsured Rate 91
Disability Rate 57
Debt & Delinquency 65.7
Debt in Collections 73
Medical Debt 70
Student Loan Delinquency 95
Auto Loan Delinquency 85
Credit Card Delinquency 27
Bankruptcy Filing Rate 44
Employment & Wages 65.2
Unemployment Rate 69
Wage-to-Rent Ratio 87
Business Formation Rate 39
Income & Poverty 61.8
Poverty Rate 68
Income vs. State Median 39
Child Poverty Rate 78
Housing Cost Burden 46.3
Rent-Burdened (30%+) 52
Severely Rent-Burdened (50%+) 63
Mortgage-Burdened (30%+) 6
Homeownership Rate 29
Rent-to-Income Ratio 82

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

Neighbors and Peers

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

Neighboring Counties

County Score Zone vs. Saluda County
Saluda County, SC 62.6 Elevated
Newberry County, SC 60.6 Elevated -2.0
Edgefield County, SC 59.1 Elevated -3.5
Greenwood County, SC 55.1 Elevated -7.5
Aiken County, SC 52.2 Elevated -10.4
Lexington County, SC 46.0 Normal -16.5

Population Peers

County Score Zone vs. Saluda County
Colfax County, NM 62.6 Elevated +0.0
Montague County, TX 62.6 Elevated +0.0
Union County, FL 62.6 Elevated +0.0
Summers County, WV 62.5 Elevated -0.1
Warren County, MS 62.6 Elevated +0.1

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