About one in six people with a credit file in Sawyer County, Wisconsin, has unpaid debt sent to a collector
In Sawyer County, 16.6% of people with a credit file had unpaid debt sent to a collector. That is lower than in 75% of U.S. counties.
Less distressed than 69% of U.S. counties.
What drives Sawyer County's score
In Sawyer County, jobs are the highest-scoring part, at 64.6. Collections and bankruptcy is the lowest part, at 20.9. Bankruptcy filings ran at 64.7 per 100,000 people (2025), lower than in 83% of U.S. counties.
The County Distress Index looks at five parts of household money trouble in Sawyer 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.
Sawyer 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.
- 64.6 of 100
Jobs
Biggest factorUnemployment through Sep 2026; adults not working, 2020–24 Census survey
- Unemployment rate, average over the latest year4.4% · Oct 2025 to Sep 202662nd percentile
- Adults 25 to 54 not working23.7% · 2020 to 202467th percentile
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- 47.9 of 100
Income and safety net
Poverty and income, 2024; disability and insurance, 2020–24 Census survey
- People below the poverty line13.3% · 202450th percentile
- Children below the poverty line17.0% · 202449th percentile
- People with a disability15.9% · 2020 to 202449th percentile
- People without health insurance6.5% · 2020 to 202436th percentile
- Median household income (lower income, longer bar)$65,658 · 202453rd percentile
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- 30.9 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 rent12.5% · 2020 to 202420th percentile
- Rent on a two-bedroom as a share of the median income19.9% · fiscal year 202741st percentile
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- 28.6 of 100
Late payments
Credit records, August 2025; credit scores, second quarter of 2026
- People with a credit card behind3.3% · August 202514th percentile
- People with a car or retail loan behind5.5% · August 202554th percentile
- People with a subprime credit score31.0% · second quarter of 202616th percentile
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- 20.9 of 100
Collections and bankruptcy
Credit records, August 2025; bankruptcy filings, 2025
- People with unpaid debt sent to a collector16.6% · August 202524th percentile
- Bankruptcy filings per 100,000 people64.7 · 202516th 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 Sawyer 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 Sawyer County, 28.5% of residents are 65 or older (Census Bureau, 2024), against 17.2% nationally that year.
Cents of every dollar of income, 2024
Sawyer County
Wisconsin
United States
- Pay from work
- Investments and rent
- Benefit checks
In Sawyer County, benefit checks' share of income has risen by more than half since 1969, but pay from work still brings in 36% more than benefit checks in 2024
In Sawyer County, Wisconsin, benefit checks' share of income rose by more than half from 1969 to 2024, reaching 32.2%; pay from work is plotted alongside. Every fifth year and 2024 are shown.
- Benefit checks
- Pay from work
The share of households in Sawyer County getting SNAP food aid had its largest drop, from 15.2% in 2020 to 13.0% in 2021.
The share of households in Sawyer County getting SNAP food aid was at its highest on the chart in 2017 and has since fallen by about a quarter
Low on the chart: 11.6% in 2009. Households getting SNAP, every year; each bar is a five-year survey estimate ending that year, so neighboring bars share most of their data, Sawyer County, Wisconsin.
How Sawyer County has changed
Sawyer County's population had its largest rise, from 11,116 in 1974 to 12,594 in 1979.
Sawyer County's population doubled from 1969 to 2024, reaching 18,835, with no dip in any year shown
Smallest rise: 2004 to 2009, reaching 16,559. Residents, yearly estimate, every fifth year and 2024, Sawyer County, Wisconsin.
The jobs count covers work located in the county; the population count covers residents.
The number of jobs located in Sawyer County doubled to 7,329, the highest on the chart, with most of the change between 1990 and 1995
Biggest rise: 1990 to 1995, reaching 5,563. Yearly average of jobs covered by unemployment insurance, every fifth year and 2025, Sawyer County, Wisconsin.
| Measure | Then | Now |
|---|---|---|
| Unemployment rateBLS LAUS | 1990 8.1% | 2025 4.0% |
| People below the poverty lineCensus SAIPE | 1989 19.9% | 2024 13.3% |
| Median household incomeCensus SAIPE | 1989 $17,581 | 2024 $65,658 |
The table uses 4.0% for 2025; the score uses 4.4% 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 Sawyer County's history
1883
Split from Chippewa and Ashland counties in 1883, organized in 1885. Wikipedia
1883
Hayward dam flooded 5,600 acres of Ojibwe reservation land including rice beds, cemeteries, and villages. Wikipedia
2005
A thunderstorm in June 2005 killed one person. NOAA Storm Events Database
2018
A thunderstorm in June 2018 killed one person. NOAA Storm Events Database
2020
The county's largest recorded population was the 2020 Census count of 18,074, which is also its most recent census. Census Bureau
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Since 1976
9 federal disaster and emergency declarations have covered Sawyer County, 4 of them for flooding. FEMA
Sawyer County beside its neighbors
Of the five counties that border Sawyer County, one scores higher. For the share of income from benefit checks, Sawyer County ranks 4th of the six; Price County is highest, at 34.7%.
| County | Score | Poverty | Benefit checks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rusk County, WI | 48 | 13.9% | 30.4% |
| Sawyer County, WI | 30 | 13.3% | 32.2% |
| Ashland County, WI | 26 | 13.2% | 33.4% |
| Washburn County, WI | 21 | 11.2% | 33.3% |
| Price County, WI | 21 | 12.2% | 34.7% |
| Bayfield County, WI | 14 | 12.2% | 28.3% |
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 Sawyer County the poorest county in Wisconsin?
No, Sawyer County's poverty rate was 13.3% in 2024, 10th highest of 72 in Wisconsin (U.S. Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates). By that measure the poorest county in the state is Menominee County, at 24.4%. On our distress index, which counts more than poverty, Sawyer County ranks 12th of 72 in the state.
If you're behind on your mortgage in Sawyer 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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Legal Action of Wisconsin
Legal aid
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Disability Rights Wisconsin
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.
Download the CSV for Sawyer County · Every U.S. county (CSV)
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 Sawyer County comes from, 2024.
- History The agencies named in each row and the linked records above.