In King County, Texas, benefit checks make up only 4 cents of every dollar of income

In King County, 4.1% of all the income people there received came from benefit checks. That is lower than in 99% of U.S. counties.

Photo of Ross Kilburn
Data from
County Distress Index Data through Sep 2026
235th
of 254 counties in Texas
29score /100

Less distressed than 70% of U.S. counties.

What drives King County's score

In King County, late payments on loans are the highest-scoring part, at 74.9. Housing costs are the lowest part, at 5.0. Almost no renters (0.0%, 2020 to 2024) pay half their income or more in rent, a lower share than in 95% of U.S. counties.

The County Distress Index looks at five parts of household money trouble in King 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.

King County isn't among the worst-off quarter of U.S. counties on any measure.

A longer bar means more trouble. See how the county score works.

  • Late payments

    Biggest factor
    74.9 of 100

    Credit records, August 2025

    • People with a credit card behind
      not published for this county; scored at the state median · August 2025
      73rd percentile
    • People with a car or retail loan behind
      not published for this county; scored at the state median · August 2025
      73rd percentile
    • People with a subprime credit score
      not published for this county; scored at the state median
      77th percentile

  • Collections and bankruptcy

    55.4 of 100

    Credit records, August 2025; bankruptcy filings, 2025

    • People with unpaid debt sent to a collector
      not published for this county; scored at the state median · August 2025
      86th percentile
    • Bankruptcy filings per 100,000 people
      not published for this county; scored at the state median · 2025
      24th percentile

  • Income and safety net

    42.8 of 100

    Poverty and income, 2024; disability and insurance, 2020–24 Census survey

    • People below the poverty line
      13.5% · 2024
      52nd percentile
    • Children below the poverty line
      14.0% · 2024
      33rd percentile
    • People with a disability
      18.0% · 2020 to 2024
      67th percentile
    • People without health insurance
      7.6% · 2020 to 2024
      47th percentile
    • Median household income (lower income, longer bar)
      $88,031 · 2024
      12th percentile

  • Jobs

    14.5 of 100

    Unemployment through Sep 2026; adults not working, 2020–24 Census survey

    • Unemployment rate, average over the latest year
      2.8% · Oct 2025 to Sep 2026
      6th percentile
    • Adults 25 to 54 not working
      16.1% · 2020 to 2024
      22nd percentile

  • Housing costs

    5.0 of 100

    Renters, 2020–24 Census survey; HUD's fair market rents, fiscal year 2027

    • Renters paying half their income or more in rent
      0.0% · 2020 to 2024
      5th or lower percentile
    • Rent on a two-bedroom as a share of the median income
      14.7% · fiscal year 2027
      5th or lower 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 King 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 King County, 30.8% of residents are 65 or older (Census Bureau, 2024), against 17.2% nationally that year.

Cents of every dollar of income, 2024

King County

88 8 4

Texas

65 20 15

United States

61 21 18
  • Pay from work
  • Investments and rent
  • Benefit checks
Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Economic Accounts (CAINC4), shares of all personal income received by residents, 2024. Pay from work is total income minus the other two, so the three add to 100.

Benefit checks' share of income in King County rose most sharply after its 1979 low, from 2.7% in 1979 to 7.2% in 1984.

In King County, pay from work still brings in more than twenty times as much as benefit checks, with little change in benefit checks' share since 1969

In King County, Texas, benefit checks' share of income rose from 1969 to 2024, reaching 4.1%; pay from work is plotted alongside. Every fifth year and 2024 are shown.

  • Benefit checks
  • Pay from work
0%45%90% 196919741979198419891994199920042009201420192024 0%45%90% 196919841994200420142024
Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Economic Accounts (CAINC4), shares of all personal income received by residents, King County, Texas · American Default
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Data (CSV)
American Default Research
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SNAP food aid is one of the benefit checks counted in the income totals above.

The share of households in King County getting SNAP food aid fell to zero in 2024, with its low point on the chart in 2012

Low on the chart: 0.0% in 2012. Households getting SNAP, every year; each bar is a five-year survey estimate ending that year, so neighboring bars share most of their data, King County, Texas.

0%5%9% 8.5%0.0% 2009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021202220232024 0%5%9% 8.5%0.0% 20092012201420162018202020222024
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates · American Default
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Data (CSV)
American Default Research
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How King County has changed

King County's population fell by more than half to 215, the lowest on the chart

Biggest drop: 1969 to 1974, reaching 424. Residents, yearly estimate, every fifth year and 2024, King County, Texas.

0300600 522215 196919741979198419891994199920042009201420192024 0300600 522215 196919841994200420142024
Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Economic Accounts · American Default
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Data (CSV)
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The number of jobs located in King County had its largest drop, from 309 in 1990 to 169 in 1995.

The number of jobs located in King County fell 14% from 1990 to 2025, with its low point on the chart in 2015

Low on the chart: 114 in 2015. Yearly average of jobs covered by unemployment insurance, every fifth year and 2025, King County, Texas.

0200400 309267 19901995200020052010201520202025 0200400 309267 1990200020052010201520202025
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages · American Default
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Data (CSV)
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MeasureThenNowSource
Unemployment rateBLS LAUS 1990 1.9% 2025 2.7% BLS LAUS
People below the poverty lineCensus SAIPE 1989 11.0% 2024 13.5% Census SAIPE
Median household incomeCensus SAIPE 1989 $24,522 2024 $88,031 Census SAIPE

The table uses 2.7% for 2025; the score uses 2.8% 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 King County's history

  1. 1876

    Created in 1876, organized in 1891. Wikipedia

  2. 1930

    The county's largest recorded population was the 1930 Census count of 1,193. The 2020 Census counted 265, 22% of the peak. Census Bureau

  3. 1943

    Oil production began in King County in 1943. Wikipedia

  4. Since 1993

    15 federal disaster and emergency declarations have covered King County, 1 of them for flooding. FEMA

King County beside its neighbors

All five counties that border King County score higher than it does. Of the group, King County gets the smallest share of its income from benefit checks; Knox County gets the largest, at 40.6%.

CountyDistress scoreScoreRank in its state Poverty rateBenefit checks, share of incomeBenefit checks
Dickens County, TX 83 50th of 254 17.8% 39.1%
Cottle County, TX 72 100th of 254 19.0% 17.1%
Foard County, TX 64 139th of 254 16.2% 36.3%
Stonewall County, TX 57 158th of 254 16.5% 24.0%
Knox County, TX 53 170th of 254 19.0% 40.6%
King County, TX 29 235th of 254 13.5% 4.1%

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 King County the poorest county in Texas?

No, King County's poverty rate was 13.5% in 2024, 163rd 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, King County ranks 235th of 254 in the state.

If you're behind on your mortgage in King 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.

Texas foreclosure guide →

The score, its 14 measures and their sources, in one file. Free to use with credit to American Default Research.

Download the CSV for King County · Every U.S. county (CSV)

Cite this King County, Texas, scores 29 on the County Distress Index (data through Sep 2026): less distressed than 70% of U.S. counties · American Default Research · americandefault.org/counties/texas/king-county-tx/

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 King County comes from, 2024.
  • History The agencies named in each row and the linked records above.