Lee County, Virginia

County Distress Index: Serious · 73.2 | 21,745 people · 4th most distressed in Virginia

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Lee County, VA shows significant household financial distress with a score of 73.2 — 100th 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 Virginia, it ranks 4th of 133 counties. Among its 6 neighboring counties, 4 show less distress.

The Numbers Behind the Score

The CDI measures five domains of financial distress. Lee County's primary driver is Income & Poverty at 93.9 — worse than roughly 94% of U.S. counties.

Income & Poverty Primary driver 93.9
Poverty Rate 95
Income vs. State Median 98
Child Poverty Rate 88
Community Vulnerability 80.0
Uninsured Rate 61
Disability Rate 99
Employment & Wages 68.3
Unemployment Rate 72
Wage-to-Rent Ratio 44
Business Formation Rate 89
Housing Cost Burden 62.3
Rent-Burdened (30%+) 76
Severely Rent-Burdened (50%+) 93
Mortgage-Burdened (30%+) 11
Homeownership Rate 53
Rent-to-Income Ratio 79
Debt & Delinquency 61.4
Debt in Collections 77
Medical Debt 26
Student Loan Delinquency 37
Auto Loan Delinquency 93
Credit Card Delinquency 96
Bankruptcy Filing Rate 39

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

Neighbors and Peers

How Lee County compares to its 6 neighboring counties and population peers.

Neighboring Counties

County Score Zone vs. Lee County
Lee County, VA 73.2 Serious
Hancock County, TN 78.1 Serious +5.0
Bell County, KY 77.8 Serious +4.6
Harlan County, KY 69.3 Serious -3.9
Claiborne County, TN 65.6 Serious -7.5
Scott County, VA 63.6 Elevated -9.5
Wise County, VA 63.5 Elevated -9.7

Population Peers

County Score Zone vs. Lee County
Baldwin County, GA 73.3 Serious +0.1
Avoyelles Parish, LA 73.3 Serious +0.2
Hopewell city, VA 73.4 Serious +0.2
Jackson County, FL 73.0 Serious -0.2
McCreary County, KY 72.9 Serious -0.3

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