Carter County, Tennessee

County Distress Index: Serious · 71.4 | 57,022 people · 7th most distressed in Tennessee

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Carter County, TN shows significant household financial distress with a score of 71.4 — 150th nationally out of 3144 counties. The primary driver is Community Vulnerability, where uninsured and disability rates are well above the national average. Within Tennessee, it ranks 7th of 95 counties. It scores higher than all 6 of its neighboring counties.

The Numbers Behind the Score

The CDI measures five domains of financial distress. Carter County's primary driver is Community Vulnerability at 86.2 — worse than roughly 86% of U.S. counties.

Community Vulnerability Primary driver 86.2
Uninsured Rate 81
Disability Rate 91
Debt & Delinquency 78.2
Debt in Collections 79
Medical Debt 87
Student Loan Delinquency 88
Auto Loan Delinquency 68
Credit Card Delinquency 63
Bankruptcy Filing Rate 85
Income & Poverty 76.8
Poverty Rate 72
Income vs. State Median 84
Child Poverty Rate 73
Employment & Wages 70.9
Unemployment Rate 45
Wage-to-Rent Ratio 74
Business Formation Rate 93
Housing Cost Burden 44.8
Rent-Burdened (30%+) 24
Severely Rent-Burdened (50%+) 34
Mortgage-Burdened (30%+) 22
Homeownership Rate 52
Rent-to-Income Ratio 91

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

Neighbors and Peers

How Carter County compares to its 6 neighboring counties and population peers.

Neighboring Counties

County Score Zone vs. Carter County
Carter County, TN 71.4 Serious
Unicoi County, TN 64.4 Elevated -7.0
Johnson County, TN 63.2 Elevated -8.1
Sullivan County, TN 55.4 Elevated -15.9
Washington County, TN 55.3 Elevated -16.0
Avery County, NC 54.0 Elevated -17.4
Mitchell County, NC 48.9 Normal -22.5

Population Peers

County Score Zone vs. Carter County
Navajo County, AZ 71.4 Serious +0.0
Nacogdoches County, TX 71.5 Serious +0.1
Muscogee County, GA 71.1 Serious -0.3
Imperial County, CA 70.9 Serious -0.5
Polk County, TX 70.8 Serious -0.5

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