Russell County, Virginia

County Distress Index: Elevated · 57.6 | 25,477 people · 47th most distressed in Virginia

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Russell County, VA registers elevated household financial distress with a score of 57.6 — 1031st 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 47th of 133 counties. Among its 7 neighboring counties, 6 show more distress.

The Numbers Behind the Score

The CDI measures five domains of financial distress. Russell County's primary driver is Income & Poverty at 79.9 — worse than roughly 80% of U.S. counties.

Income & Poverty Primary driver 79.9
Poverty Rate 80
Income vs. State Median 92
Child Poverty Rate 68
Employment & Wages 64.6
Unemployment Rate 74
Wage-to-Rent Ratio 28
Business Formation Rate 92
Community Vulnerability 56.9
Uninsured Rate 14
Disability Rate 100
Debt & Delinquency 51.0
Debt in Collections 47
Medical Debt 25
Student Loan Delinquency 34
Auto Loan Delinquency 47
Credit Card Delinquency 72
Bankruptcy Filing Rate 81
Housing Cost Burden 35.4
Rent-Burdened (30%+) 23
Severely Rent-Burdened (50%+) 41
Mortgage-Burdened (30%+) 18
Homeownership Rate 43
Rent-to-Income Ratio 52

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

Neighbors and Peers

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

Neighboring Counties

County Score Zone vs. Russell County
Russell County, VA 57.6 Elevated
Tazewell County, VA 63.7 Elevated +6.1
Scott County, VA 63.6 Elevated +6.1
Wise County, VA 63.5 Elevated +5.9
Buchanan County, VA 63.1 Elevated +5.6
Smyth County, VA 58.9 Elevated +1.4
Dickenson County, VA 58.3 Elevated +0.7
Washington County, VA 52.8 Elevated -4.8

Population Peers

County Score Zone vs. Russell County
Washington County, ID 57.6 Elevated 0.0
Accomack County, VA 57.6 Elevated 0.0
Titus County, TX 57.6 Elevated +0.1
Franklin County, AR 57.5 Elevated -0.1
Grant Parish, LA 57.6 Elevated +0.1

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