Gilmer County, West Virginia

County Distress Index: Elevated · 53.6 | 7,254 people · 23rd most distressed in West Virginia

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Gilmer County, WV registers elevated household financial distress with a score of 53.6 — 1321st 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 West Virginia, it ranks 23rd of 55 counties. Among its 5 neighboring counties, 3 show less distress.

The Numbers Behind the Score

The CDI measures five domains of financial distress. Gilmer County's primary driver is Income & Poverty at 87.1 — worse than roughly 87% of U.S. counties.

Income & Poverty Primary driver 87.1
Poverty Rate 95
Income vs. State Median 88
Child Poverty Rate 78
Debt & Delinquency 54.0
Debt in Collections 51
Medical Debt 63
Student Loan Delinquency 54
Auto Loan Delinquency 84
Credit Card Delinquency 65
Bankruptcy Filing Rate 7
Employment & Wages 53.5
Unemployment Rate 64
Wage-to-Rent Ratio 14
Business Formation Rate 83
Community Vulnerability 45.7
Uninsured Rate 50
Disability Rate 41
Housing Cost Burden 27.7
Rent-Burdened (30%+) 6
Severely Rent-Burdened (50%+) 15
Mortgage-Burdened (30%+) 5
Homeownership Rate 39
Rent-to-Income Ratio 73

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

Neighbors and Peers

How Gilmer County compares to its 5 neighboring counties and population peers.

Neighboring Counties

County Score Zone vs. Gilmer County
Gilmer County, WV 53.6 Elevated
Calhoun County, WV 60.9 Elevated +7.3
Braxton County, WV 57.2 Elevated +3.6
Lewis County, WV 53.5 Elevated -0.1
Ritchie County, WV 47.9 Normal -5.7
Doddridge County, WV 45.1 Normal -8.5

Population Peers

County Score Zone vs. Gilmer County
Ontonagon County, MI 53.6 Elevated +0.0
Kimball County, NE 53.6 Elevated -0.0
Grundy County, MO 53.6 Elevated -0.0
Woods County, OK 53.6 Elevated -0.0
Wheatland County, MT 53.7 Elevated +0.1

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