About one in three people with a credit file in Dyer County, Tennessee, has unpaid debt sent to a collector
In Dyer County, 33.8% of people with a credit file had unpaid debt sent to a collector. That is higher than in 83% of U.S. counties.
More distressed than 74% of U.S. counties.
What drives Dyer County's score
In Dyer County, collections and bankruptcy weighs most: the score for collections and bankruptcy is 89.4. Bankruptcy filings ran at 375.4 per 100,000 people (2025), higher than in 95% of U.S. counties. Late payments on loans come next, at 83.6.
The County Distress Index looks at five parts of household money trouble in Dyer 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.
Dyer County does better than most counties on two measures: unemployment rate, average over the latest year (3.4%, Oct 2025 to Sep 2026) and rent on a two-bedroom as a share of the median income (19.0%, fiscal year 2027).
A longer bar means more trouble. See how the county score works.
- 89.4 of 100
Collections and bankruptcy
Biggest factorCredit records, August 2025; bankruptcy filings, 2025
- People with unpaid debt sent to a collector33.8% · August 202583rd percentile
- Bankruptcy filings per 100,000 people375.4 · 202595th percentile
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- 83.6 of 100
Late payments
Credit records, August 2025; credit scores, second quarter of 2026
- People with a credit card behind8.5% · August 202587th percentile
- People with a car or retail loan behind7.5% · August 202578th percentile
- People with a subprime credit score52.2% · second quarter of 202684th percentile
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- 64.4 of 100
Income and safety net
Poverty and income, 2024; disability and insurance, 2020–24 Census survey
- People below the poverty line14.3% · 202459th percentile
- Children below the poverty line20.1% · 202465th percentile
- People with a disability18.9% · 2020 to 202474th percentile
- People without health insurance9.4% · 2020 to 202462nd percentile
- Median household income (lower income, longer bar)$63,008 · 202461st percentile
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- 45.4 of 100
Jobs
Unemployment through Sep 2026; adults not working, 2020–24 Census survey
- Unemployment rate, average over the latest year3.4% · Oct 2025 to Sep 202628th percentile
- Adults 25 to 54 not working22.7% · 2020 to 202461st percentile
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- 41.5 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 rent18.4% · 2020 to 202451st percentile
- Rent on a two-bedroom as a share of the median income19.0% · fiscal year 202731st 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 Dyer 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 Dyer County, 17.7% of residents are 65 or older (Census Bureau, 2024), against 17.2% nationally that year.
Cents of every dollar of income, 2024
Dyer County
Tennessee
United States
- Pay from work
- Investments and rent
- Benefit checks
Benefit checks' share of income in Dyer County made its largest gain on the way to its 2009 high, from 22.4% in 2004 to 28.7% in 2009.
In Dyer County, benefit checks' share of income has more than doubled since 1969, reaching 26.9% in 2024, but pay from work still brings in more than twice as much as benefit checks
In Dyer County, Tennessee, benefit checks' share of income more than doubled from 1969 to 2024, reaching 26.9%; pay from work is plotted alongside. Every fifth year and 2024 are shown.
- Benefit checks
- Pay from work
SNAP food aid is one of the benefit checks counted in the income totals above.
The share of households in Dyer County getting SNAP food aid was at its highest on the chart in 2013 and has since fallen by about a quarter
Biggest drop: 2020 to 2021, reaching 16.4%. Households getting SNAP, every year; each bar is a five-year survey estimate ending that year, so neighboring bars share most of their data, Dyer County, Tennessee.
How Dyer County has changed
Dyer County's population had its largest rise, from 30,420 in 1969 to 32,359 in 1974.
Dyer County's population rose by about a fifth from 1969 to 2024, reaching 36,403
High on the chart: 38,254 in 2009. Residents, yearly estimate, every fifth year and 2024, Dyer County, Tennessee.
The jobs count covers work located in the county; the population count covers residents.
The number of jobs located in Dyer County rose 12% from 1990 to 2025, with most of the change between 1990 and 1995
High on the chart: 17,513 in 2000. Yearly average of jobs covered by unemployment insurance, every fifth year and 2025, Dyer County, Tennessee.
| Measure | Then | Now |
|---|---|---|
| Unemployment rateBLS LAUS | 1990 5.3% | 2025 3.5% |
| People below the poverty lineCensus SAIPE | 1989 15.6% | 2024 14.3% |
| Median household incomeCensus SAIPE | 1989 $23,172 | 2024 $63,008 |
The table uses 3.5% for 2025; the score uses 3.4% for the latest year (Oct 2025 to Sep 2026), both from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Figures are as each agency published them, not adjusted for prices.
Dated events in Dyer County's history
1818
Treaty of Tuscaloosa ceded Chickasaw lands. Wikipedia
1819
American settlers moved to West Tennessee. Wikipedia
1823
Established 1823 by Tennessee General Assembly west of Tennessee River. Wikipedia
1952
A tornado in March 1952 killed 10 people. NOAA Storm Events Database
1952
A tornado in March 1952 killed four people. NOAA Storm Events Database
2003
A tornado in May 2003 did $50 million in property damage. NOAA Storm Events Database
2006
A tornado in April 2006 did $20 million in property damage and killed 16 people. NOAA Storm Events Database
2010
The county's largest recorded population was the 2010 Census count of 38,335. The 2020 Census counted 36,801, 96% of the peak. Census Bureau
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Since 1973
24 federal disaster and emergency declarations have covered Dyer County, 16 of them for flooding. FEMA
Dyer County beside its neighbors
Of the seven counties that border Dyer County, in Tennessee, Missouri and Arkansas, four score higher. Of the group, Dyer County gets the smallest share of its income from benefit checks; Lake County gets the largest, at 51.4%.
| County | Score | Poverty | Benefit checks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pemiscot County, MO | 99 | 23.7% | 37.6% |
| Lauderdale County, TN | 98 | 20.7% | 34.7% |
| Lake County, TN | 97 | 31.2% | 51.4% |
| Mississippi County, AR | 97 | 20.0% | 28.6% |
| Dyer County, TN | 74 | 14.3% | 26.9% |
| Crockett County, TN | 68 | 14.0% | 27.4% |
| Gibson County, TN | 68 | 14.4% | 29.9% |
| Obion County, TN | 64 | 15.6% | 29.8% |
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 Dyer County the poorest county in Tennessee?
No, Dyer County's poverty rate was 14.3% in 2024, 50th highest of 95 in Tennessee (U.S. Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates). By that measure the poorest county in the state is Lake County, at 31.2%. On our distress index, which counts more than poverty, Dyer County ranks 31st of 95 in the state.
If you're behind on your mortgage in Dyer 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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West Tennessee Legal Services
Legal aid
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Tennessee Justice Center
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.
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 Dyer County comes from, 2024.
- History The agencies named in each row and the linked records above.