About one in six people with a credit file in Floyd County, Virginia, has unpaid debt sent to a collector
In Floyd County, 16.0% of people with a credit file had unpaid debt sent to a collector. That is lower than in 78% of U.S. counties.
Less distressed than 84% of U.S. counties.
What drives Floyd County's score
In Floyd County, income and the safety net is the highest-scoring part, at 38.1. Late payments on loans are the lowest part, at 24.7. People with a credit card behind: 2.6%, August 2025, lower than in 92% of U.S. counties.
The County Distress Index looks at five parts of household money trouble in Floyd 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.
Floyd 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.
- 38.1 of 100
Income and safety net
Biggest factorPoverty and income, 2024; disability and insurance, 2020–24 Census survey
- People below the poverty line11.4% · 202434th percentile
- Children below the poverty line13.6% · 202431st percentile
- People with a disability13.3% · 2020 to 202424th percentile
- People without health insurance7.3% · 2020 to 202444th percentile
- Median household income (lower income, longer bar)$64,946 · 202455th percentile
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- 28.2 of 100
Collections and bankruptcy
Credit records, August 2025; bankruptcy filings, 2025
- People with unpaid debt sent to a collector16.0% · August 202522nd percentile
- Bankruptcy filings per 100,000 people95.7 · 202533rd percentile
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- 27.8 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 rent9.8% · 2020 to 202411th percentile
- Rent on a two-bedroom as a share of the median income20.1% · fiscal year 202743rd percentile
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- 25.2 of 100
Jobs
Unemployment through Sep 2026; adults not working, 2020–24 Census survey
- Unemployment rate, average over the latest year3.3% · Oct 2025 to Sep 202624th percentile
- Adults 25 to 54 not working16.8% · 2020 to 202425th percentile
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- 24.7 of 100
Late payments
Credit records, August 2025; credit scores, second quarter of 2026
- People with a credit card behind2.6% · August 20257th percentile
- People with a car or retail loan behind5.3% · August 202551st percentile
- People with a subprime credit score30.9% · second quarter of 202615th 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 Floyd 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 Floyd County, 24.4% of residents are 65 or older (Census Bureau, 2024), against 17.2% nationally that year.
Cents of every dollar of income, 2024
Floyd County
Virginia
United States
- Pay from work
- Investments and rent
- Benefit checks
In Floyd County, benefit checks' share of income has tripled since 1969, reaching 29.2% in 2024, but pay from work still brings in twice as much as benefit checks
In Floyd County, Virginia, benefit checks' share of income tripled from 1969 to 2024, reaching 29.2%; pay from work is plotted alongside. Every fifth year and 2024 are shown.
- Benefit checks
- Pay from work
The share of households in Floyd County getting SNAP food aid fell most sharply on the way to its 2020 low, from 8.3% in 2019 to 5.8% in 2020.
The share of households in Floyd County getting SNAP food aid was at its highest on the chart in 2012 and has since fallen to 8.1%
Low on the chart: 5.8% in 2020. Households getting SNAP, every year; each bar is a five-year survey estimate ending that year, so neighboring bars share most of their data, Floyd County, Virginia.
How Floyd County has changed
Floyd County's population had its largest rise, from 10,418 in 1974 to 11,519 in 1979.
Floyd County's population rose by more than half from 1969 to 2024, reaching 15,658, with no dip in any year shown
Smallest rise: 2014 to 2019, reaching 15,495. Residents, yearly estimate, every fifth year and 2024, Floyd County, Virginia.
The jobs count covers work located in the county; the population count covers residents.
The number of jobs located in Floyd County doubled to 3,831, the highest on the chart
Biggest rise: 2020 to 2025, reaching 3,831. Yearly average of jobs covered by unemployment insurance, every fifth year and 2025, Floyd County, Virginia.
| Measure | Then | Now |
|---|---|---|
| Unemployment rateBLS LAUS | 1990 8.2% | 2025 3.1% |
| People below the poverty lineCensus SAIPE | 1989 13.5% | 2024 11.4% |
| Median household incomeCensus SAIPE | 1989 $22,415 | 2024 $64,946 |
The table uses 3.1% for 2025; the score uses 3.3% 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 Floyd County's history
1831
Created January 15, 1831 from Montgomery County. Wikipedia
2015
A flash flood in September 2015 did $3.1 million in property damage. NOAA Storm Events Database
2020
The county's largest recorded population was the 2020 Census count of 15,476, which is also its most recent census. Census Bureau
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Since 1972
22 federal disaster and emergency declarations have covered Floyd County, 7 of them for flooding. FEMA
Floyd County beside its neighbors
All six counties that border Floyd County score higher than it does. For the share of income from benefit checks, Floyd County ranks 3rd of the four; Patrick County is highest, at 40.1%.
| County | Score | Poverty | Benefit checks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pulaski County, VA | 69 | 13.3% | 30.7% |
| Carroll County, VA | 65 | 14.4% | — |
| Patrick County, VA | 60 | 16.6% | 40.1% |
| Franklin County, VA | 37 | 12.3% | 26.9% |
| Montgomery County, VA | 34 | 20.6% | — |
| Roanoke County, VA | 16 | 7.1% | — |
| Floyd County, VA | 15 | 11.4% | 29.2% |
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 Floyd County the poorest county in Virginia?
No, Floyd County's poverty rate was 11.4% in 2024, 74th highest of 133 in Virginia (U.S. Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates). By that measure the poorest county in the state is Radford city, at 27.2%. On our distress index, which counts more than poverty, Floyd County ranks 116th of 133 in the state.
If you're behind on your mortgage in Floyd 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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New River Action Agency (floyd County)
HUD-approved housing counselor
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Southwest Virginia Legal Aid Society
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 Floyd County comes from, 2024.
- History The agencies named in each row and the linked records above.