About one in three people with a credit file in Cooke County, Texas, has unpaid debt sent to a collector
In Cooke County, 32.3% of people with a credit file had unpaid debt sent to a collector. That is higher than in 80% of U.S. counties.
More distressed than 50% of U.S. counties.
What drives Cooke County's score
In Cooke County, late payments on loans weigh most: the score for late payments on loans is 63.3. People with a car or retail loan behind: 6.7%, August 2025, higher than in 69% of U.S. counties. Collections and bankruptcy comes next, at 59.5.
The County Distress Index looks at five parts of household money trouble in Cooke 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.
Cooke County does better than most counties on two measures: median household income ($77,501, 2024) and people below the poverty line (11.2%, 2024).
A longer bar means more trouble. See how the county score works.
- 63.3 of 100
Late payments
Biggest factorCredit records, August 2025; credit scores, second quarter of 2026
- People with a credit card behind5.6% · August 202551st percentile
- People with a car or retail loan behind6.7% · August 202569th percentile
- People with a subprime credit score45.6% · second quarter of 202668th percentile
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- 59.5 of 100
Collections and bankruptcy
Credit records, August 2025; bankruptcy filings, 2025
- People with unpaid debt sent to a collector32.3% · August 202580th percentile
- Bankruptcy filings per 100,000 people105.1 · 202538th percentile
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- 45.7 of 100
Income and safety net
Poverty and income, 2024; disability and insurance, 2020–24 Census survey
- People below the poverty line11.2% · 202432nd percentile
- Children below the poverty line15.3% · 202440th percentile
- People with a disability14.9% · 2020 to 202439th percentile
- People without health insurance16.1% · 2020 to 202491st percentile
- Median household income (lower income, longer bar)$77,501 · 202424th percentile
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- 45.3 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 rent17.1% · 2020 to 202444th percentile
- Rent on a two-bedroom as a share of the median income20.3% · fiscal year 202746th percentile
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- 39.2 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 202633rd percentile
- Adults 25 to 54 not working19.8% · 2020 to 202444th 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 Cooke 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 Cooke County, 18.9% of residents are 65 or older (Census Bureau, 2024), against 17.2% nationally that year.
Cents of every dollar of income, 2024
Cooke County
Texas
United States
- Pay from work
- Investments and rent
- Benefit checks
In Cooke County, benefit checks' share of income has doubled since 1969, reaching 20.6% in 2024, but pay from work still brings in about three times as much as benefit checks
In Cooke County, Texas, benefit checks' share of income doubled from 1969 to 2024, reaching 20.6%; pay from work is plotted alongside. Every fifth year and 2024 are shown.
- Benefit checks
- Pay from work
The share of households in Cooke County getting SNAP food aid had its largest rise, from 11.0% in 2012 to 12.7% in 2013.
The share of households in Cooke County getting SNAP food aid was at its highest on the chart in 2015 and has since fallen by about a third
Biggest drop: 2018 to 2019, reaching 10.5%. Households getting SNAP, every year; each bar is a five-year survey estimate ending that year, so neighboring bars share most of their data, Cooke County, Texas.
How Cooke County has changed
Cooke County's population had its largest rise, from 32,347 in 1994 to 35,883 in 1999.
Cooke County's population doubled from 1969 to 2024, reaching 44,258, with no dip in any year shown
Smallest rise: 2009 to 2014, reaching 38,920. Residents, yearly estimate, every fifth year and 2024, Cooke County, Texas.
The jobs count covers work located in the county; the population count covers residents.
The number of jobs located in Cooke County nearly doubled to 16,662, the highest on the chart
Biggest rise: 2020 to 2025, reaching 16,662. Yearly average of jobs covered by unemployment insurance, every fifth year and 2025, Cooke County, Texas.
| Measure | Then | Now |
|---|---|---|
| Unemployment rateBLS LAUS | 1990 4.9% | 2025 3.7% |
| People below the poverty lineCensus SAIPE | 1989 14.1% | 2024 11.2% |
| Median household incomeCensus SAIPE | 1989 $23,635 | 2024 $77,501 |
The table uses 3.7% for 2025; the score uses 3.6% 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 Cooke County's history
1994
A tornado in April 1994 did $50 million in property damage. NOAA Storm Events Database
2007
A flash flood in June 2007 did $28 million in property damage and killed three people. NOAA Storm Events Database
2015
A flash flood in May 2015 killed one person. NOAA Storm Events Database
2020
The county's largest recorded population was the 2020 Census count of 41,668, which is also its most recent census. Census Bureau
2024
A tornado in May 2024 did $15 million in property damage and killed seven people. NOAA Storm Events Database
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Since 1966
22 federal disaster and emergency declarations have covered Cooke County, 8 of them for flooding. FEMA
Cooke County beside its neighbors
Of the five counties that border Cooke County, in Texas and Oklahoma, three score higher. For the share of income from benefit checks, Cooke County ranks 4th of the six; Montague County is highest, at 33.9%.
| County | Score | Poverty | Benefit checks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Montague County, TX | 80 | 13.4% | 33.9% |
| Grayson County, TX | 70 | 11.0% | 24.4% |
| Love County, OK | 68 | 15.1% | 30.5% |
| Cooke County, TX | 50 | 11.2% | 20.6% |
| Wise County, TX | 38 | 8.1% | 18.6% |
| Denton County, TX | 31 | 6.2% | 9.5% |
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 Cooke County the poorest county in Texas?
No, Cooke County's poverty rate was 11.2% in 2024, 199th highest of 254 in Texas (U.S. Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates). By that measure the poorest county in the state is Starr County, at 35.4%. On our distress index, which counts more than poverty, Cooke County ranks 176th of 254 in the state.
If you're behind on your mortgage in Cooke 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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Legal Aid of NorthWest Texas
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 Cooke County comes from, 2024.
- History The agencies named in each row and the linked records above.