Hamilton County, Tennessee

County Distress Index: Elevated · 51.7 | 379,864 people · 74th most distressed in Tennessee

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Hamilton County, TN registers elevated household financial distress with a score of 51.7 — 1467th nationally out of 3144 counties. The primary driver is Debt & Delinquency, where residents carry heavy debt burdens with elevated delinquency and collections rates. Within Tennessee, it ranks 74th of 95 counties. It scores lower than all 10 of its neighboring counties.

The Numbers Behind the Score

The CDI measures five domains of financial distress. Hamilton County's primary driver is Debt & Delinquency at 67.9 — above the national median.

Debt & Delinquency Primary driver 67.9
Debt in Collections 58
Medical Debt 83
Student Loan Delinquency 64
Auto Loan Delinquency 62
Credit Card Delinquency 47
Bankruptcy Filing Rate 94
Housing Cost Burden 67.5
Rent-Burdened (30%+) 75
Severely Rent-Burdened (50%+) 69
Mortgage-Burdened (30%+) 43
Homeownership Rate 86
Rent-to-Income Ratio 65
Community Vulnerability 48.4
Uninsured Rate 62
Disability Rate 35
Income & Poverty 37.7
Poverty Rate 45
Income vs. State Median 12
Child Poverty Rate 56
Employment & Wages 37.1
Unemployment Rate 30
Wage-to-Rent Ratio 53
Business Formation Rate 28

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

Neighbors and Peers

How Hamilton County compares to its 10 neighboring counties and population peers.

Neighboring Counties

County Score Zone vs. Hamilton County
Hamilton County, TN 51.7 Elevated
Sequatchie County, TN 71.7 Serious +19.9
Walker County, GA 70.1 Serious +18.4
Bledsoe County, TN 66.4 Serious +14.6
Marion County, TN 64.5 Elevated +12.8
Bradley County, TN 62.0 Elevated +10.3
Meigs County, TN 61.3 Elevated +9.5
Rhea County, TN 60.0 Elevated +8.3
Whitfield County, GA 56.3 Elevated +4.5
Dade County, GA 54.7 Elevated +3.0
Catoosa County, GA 53.7 Elevated +2.0

Population Peers

County Score Zone vs. Hamilton County
St. Joseph County, IN 51.5 Elevated -0.2
Erie County, PA 52.1 Elevated +0.4
Washoe County, NV 51.2 Elevated -0.5
Buncombe County, NC 51.1 Elevated -0.6
Lehigh County, PA 52.3 Elevated +0.6

Download Data

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Find Help in Hamilton County

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CCCS OF ROCHESTER-CHATTANOOGA
Chattanooga
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CHATTANOOGA NEIGHBORHOOD ENTERPRISE, INC.
Chattanooga
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