Sullivan County, Tennessee

County Distress Index: Elevated · 55.4 | 162,135 people · 63rd most distressed in Tennessee

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Sullivan County, TN registers elevated household financial distress with a score of 55.4 — 1181st 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 63rd of 95 counties. Among its 7 neighboring counties, 5 show more distress.

The Numbers Behind the Score

The CDI measures five domains of financial distress. Sullivan County's primary driver is Debt & Delinquency at 68.1 — above the national median.

Debt & Delinquency Primary driver 68.1
Debt in Collections 67
Medical Debt 82
Student Loan Delinquency 55
Auto Loan Delinquency 68
Credit Card Delinquency 49
Bankruptcy Filing Rate 86
Community Vulnerability 65.2
Uninsured Rate 59
Disability Rate 71
Income & Poverty 52.8
Poverty Rate 49
Income vs. State Median 53
Child Poverty Rate 56
Housing Cost Burden 48.4
Rent-Burdened (30%+) 55
Severely Rent-Burdened (50%+) 46
Mortgage-Burdened (30%+) 25
Homeownership Rate 57
Rent-to-Income Ratio 58
Employment & Wages 42.6
Unemployment Rate 41
Wage-to-Rent Ratio 9
Business Formation Rate 77

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

Neighbors and Peers

How Sullivan County compares to its 7 neighboring counties and population peers.

Neighboring Counties

County Score Zone vs. Sullivan County
Sullivan County, TN 55.4 Elevated
Bristol city, VA 75.2 Serious +19.7
Carter County, TN 71.4 Serious +15.9
Scott County, VA 63.6 Elevated +8.2
Johnson County, TN 63.2 Elevated +7.8
Hawkins County, TN 62.2 Elevated +6.8
Washington County, TN 55.3 Elevated -0.1
Washington County, VA 52.8 Elevated -2.6

Population Peers

County Score Zone vs. Sullivan County
Tuscaloosa County, AL 55.5 Elevated +0.1
Grant County, WA 55.5 Elevated +0.1
Washington County, TN 55.3 Elevated -0.1
Putnam County, TN 55.6 Elevated +0.1
Kankakee County, IL 55.2 Elevated -0.2

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