---
title: "American Distress Index"
slug: adi
summary: "Composite household financial distress score for the United States. Latest reading: 46.99 (Typical) for 2026-Q2. The composite itself sits higher than 44% of all published quarters since 2005."
type: composite_index
frequency: quarterly
release: "American Distress Index, October 2026 release"
released_on: "2026-10-26"
version: "family-v1.method-2026-09-23.data-basis-1"
latest_score: 46.99
latest_band: "Typical"
latest_reading: "The composite itself sits higher than 44% of all published quarters since 2005"
latest_quarter: "2026-Q2"
last_updated: "2026-10-15T00:00:00Z"
canonical_html: https://americandefault.org/methodology/
---

# American Distress Index

> The American Distress Index is a composite 0–100 score tracking household financial distress across five dimensions. As of 2026-Q2, the index reads **46.99 (Typical)**. The composite itself sits higher than 44% of all published quarters since 2005.

The composite value is a mean of input percentiles, not a percentile of published quarters; the reading above is its rank among published quarters.

## Domains and Weights

| Domain | Weight | Member series |
|--------|--------|---------------|
| Delinquency | 20% | Mortgage, credit card, consumer loan, and auto loan delinquency |
| Default & Legal | 20% | Credit card charge-off and foreclosure/charge-off proxy |
| Debt Burden | 20% | Household debt service ratio |
| Labor | 20% | Unemployment rate and initial claims |
| Safety Net & Buffer | 20% | Personal savings rate |

Each input is converted to a distress-oriented Hazen percentile within its own quarterly history. Each domain is the mean of its available inputs, and the index is the equal-weight mean of the five domains.

## Band Label Rule

A national band label is published only when paired with the composite's rank among its own published quarters. The latest reading above carries that rank; historical rows below omit band labels to avoid unpaired labels.

## Methodology Summary

The index uses one yardstick across each input's comparable quarterly history: distress-oriented Hazen percentiles by input series, equal domain weights, and equal domain averaging. It does not use the retired fitted-weight or rescaling engine.

Full methodology: https://americandefault.org/methodology/

## Recent History

| Quarter | Composite |
|---------|-----------|
| 2026-Q2 | 46.99 |
| 2026-Q1 | 46.05 |
| 2025-Q4 | 48.63 |
| 2025-Q3 | 48.21 |
| 2025-Q2 | 45.82 |
| 2025-Q1 | 45.03 |
| 2024-Q4 | 46.58 |
| 2024-Q3 | 43.8 |

## Endpoints

- HTML: https://americandefault.org/methodology/
- JSON: https://americandefault.org/api/adi.json
- CSV: https://americandefault.org/api/downloads/adi.csv

## Citation

**APA 7th**

    Kilburn, R. (2026). American Distress Index [Data set]. American Default Research. https://americandefault.org/methodology/