Jackson County, Tennessee

County Distress Index: Serious · 65.1 | 12,363 people · 21st most distressed in Tennessee

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Jackson County, TN shows significant household financial distress with a score of 65.1 — 489th nationally out of 3144 counties. The primary driver is Income & Poverty, where poverty rates are high and household incomes lag well behind state and national medians. Within Tennessee, it ranks 21st of 95 counties. Among its 5 neighboring counties, 4 show less distress.

The Numbers Behind the Score

The CDI measures five domains of financial distress. Jackson County's primary driver is Income & Poverty at 85.8 — worse than roughly 86% of U.S. counties.

Income & Poverty Primary driver 85.8
Poverty Rate 86
Income vs. State Median 86
Child Poverty Rate 86
Community Vulnerability 76.6
Uninsured Rate 58
Disability Rate 95
Debt & Delinquency 62.4
Debt in Collections 60
Medical Debt 81
Student Loan Delinquency 63
Auto Loan Delinquency 50
Credit Card Delinquency 42
Bankruptcy Filing Rate 77
Employment & Wages 56.3
Unemployment Rate 49
Wage-to-Rent Ratio 41
Business Formation Rate 79
Housing Cost Burden 44.7
Rent-Burdened (30%+) 54
Severely Rent-Burdened (50%+) 81
Mortgage-Burdened (30%+) 16
Homeownership Rate 6
Rent-to-Income Ratio 67

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

Neighbors and Peers

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

Neighboring Counties

County Score Zone vs. Jackson County
Jackson County, TN 65.1 Serious
Clay County, TN 65.8 Serious +0.7
Macon County, TN 56.3 Elevated -8.8
Putnam County, TN 55.6 Elevated -9.6
Overton County, TN 52.1 Elevated -13.0
Smith County, TN 45.2 Normal -19.9

Population Peers

County Score Zone vs. Jackson County
Crawford County, KS 65.2 Serious +0.0
Franklin Parish, LA 65.2 Serious +0.0
Kay County, OK 65.1 Serious -0.0
Izard County, AR 65.2 Serious +0.0
Otero County, CO 65.1 Serious -0.1

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