In Fayette County, Tennessee, benefit checks make up only 18 cents of every dollar of income
In Fayette County, 17.6% of all the income people there received came from benefit checks. That is lower than in 86% of U.S. counties.
Less distressed than 56% of U.S. counties.
What drives Fayette County's score
In Fayette County, collections and bankruptcy is the highest-scoring part, at 76.4. Housing costs are the lowest part, at 29.0. Rent on a two-bedroom takes 17.2% of the typical household's income (fiscal year 2027), lower than in 84% of U.S. counties.
The County Distress Index looks at five parts of household money trouble in Fayette 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.
Even so, Fayette County is worse off than most counties on bankruptcy filings per 100,000 people (378, 2025).
A longer bar means more trouble. See how the county score works.
- 76.4 of 100
Collections and bankruptcy
Biggest factorCredit records, August 2025; bankruptcy filings, 2025
- People with unpaid debt sent to a collector25.1% · August 202557th percentile
- Bankruptcy filings per 100,000 people378 · 202595th percentile
-
- 46.3 of 100
Late payments
Credit records, August 2025; credit scores, second quarter of 2026
- People with a credit card behind5.0% · August 202542nd percentile
- People with a car or retail loan behind5.5% · August 202554th percentile
- People with a subprime credit score38.1% · second quarter of 202642nd percentile
-
- 44.8 of 100
Jobs
Unemployment through Sep 2026; adults not working, 2020–24 Census survey
- Unemployment rate, average over the latest year3.6% · Oct 2025 to Sep 202634th percentile
- Adults 25 to 54 not working21.6% · 2020 to 202455th percentile
-
- 33.3 of 100
Income and safety net
Poverty and income, 2024; disability and insurance, 2020–24 Census survey
- People below the poverty line9.3% · 202417th percentile
- Children below the poverty line14.6% · 202436th percentile
- People with a disability16.7% · 2020 to 202456th percentile
- People without health insurance7.4% · 2020 to 202445th percentile
- Median household income (lower income, longer bar)$90,590 · 202410th percentile
-
- 29.0 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 rent16.9% · 2020 to 202442nd percentile
- Rent on a two-bedroom as a share of the median income17.2% · fiscal year 202715th percentile
-
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 Fayette 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 Fayette County, 23.0% of residents are 65 or older (Census Bureau, 2024), against 17.2% nationally that year.
Cents of every dollar of income, 2024
Fayette County
Tennessee
United States
- Pay from work
- Investments and rent
- Benefit checks
In Fayette County, benefit checks' share of income has grown since 1969, reaching 17.6% in 2024, but pay from work still brings in about four times as much as benefit checks
In Fayette County, Tennessee, benefit checks' share of income rose from 1969 to 2024, reaching 17.6%; 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 Fayette County getting SNAP food aid was at its highest on the chart in 2014 and has since fallen to 9.7%
Biggest drop: 2018 to 2019, reaching 13.1%. Households getting SNAP, every year; each bar is a five-year survey estimate ending that year, so neighboring bars share most of their data, Fayette County, Tennessee.
How Fayette County has changed
Fayette County's population doubled to 44,476, the highest on the chart
Biggest rise: 2004 to 2009, reaching 38,386. Residents, yearly estimate, every fifth year and 2024, Fayette County, Tennessee.
The jobs count covers work located in the county; the population count covers residents.
The number of jobs located in Fayette County nearly doubled to 8,381, the highest on the chart
Biggest rise: 2005 to 2010, reaching 6,957. Yearly average of jobs covered by unemployment insurance, every fifth year and 2025, Fayette County, Tennessee.
| Measure | Then | Now |
|---|---|---|
| Unemployment rateBLS LAUS | 1990 6.8% | 2025 3.6% |
| People below the poverty lineCensus SAIPE | 1989 30.1% | 2024 9.3% |
| Median household incomeCensus SAIPE | 1989 $18,864 | 2024 $90,590 |
Figures are as each agency published them, not adjusted for prices.
Dated events in Fayette County's history
1824
Established 1824 by Tennessee General Assembly from Shelby and Hardeman counties. Wikipedia
1952
A tornado in March 1952 killed seven people. NOAA Storm Events Database
1960
Tent cities for displaced tenant farmers. Wikipedia
1988
A tornado in January 1988 did $2.5 million in property damage and killed three people. NOAA Storm Events Database
2008
A tornado in February 2008 killed one person. NOAA Storm Events Database
2020
The county's largest recorded population was the 2020 Census count of 41,990, which is also its most recent census. Census Bureau
2025
A tornado in April 2025 killed two people. NOAA Storm Events Database
-
Since 1994
21 federal disaster and emergency declarations have covered Fayette County, 9 of them for flooding. FEMA
Fayette County beside its neighbors
All six counties that border Fayette County, in Tennessee and Mississippi, score higher than it does. Of the group, Fayette County gets the smallest share of its income from benefit checks; Hardeman County gets the largest, at 40.0%.
| County | Score | Poverty | Benefit checks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hardeman County, TN | 98 | 21.5% | 40.0% |
| Marshall County, MS | 97 | 20.4% | 31.2% |
| Shelby County, TN | 95 | 19.0% | 19.5% |
| Haywood County, TN | 92 | 19.8% | 36.4% |
| Benton County, MS | 86 | 19.9% | 35.7% |
| Tipton County, TN | 62 | 13.6% | 24.0% |
| Fayette County, TN | 43 | 9.3% | 17.6% |
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 Fayette County the poorest county in Tennessee?
No, Fayette County's poverty rate was 9.3% in 2024, 85th 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, Fayette County ranks 83rd of 95 in the state.
If you're behind on your mortgage in Fayette 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.
-
Memphis Area Legal Services
Legal aid
-
West Tennessee Legal Services
Legal aid
-
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.
Download the CSV for Fayette County · Every U.S. county (CSV)
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 Fayette County comes from, 2024.
- History The agencies named in each row and the linked records above.