The most distressed county in every state
Every state has a county carrying the most household financial distress within its borders. This is that county for all 51 jurisdictions, scored on the County Distress Index — a 0 to 100 composite of delinquency, default and legal, debt burden, labor, and safety-net measures. Higher scores mean more distress.
| National rank | State | Most distressed county | Score | Distress label | Population |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mississippi | Washington County | 93.1 | extreme county distress | 41,946 |
| 3 | Virginia | Petersburg city | 92.5 | extreme county distress | 33,309 |
| 5 | Alabama | Dallas County | 91.9 | extreme county distress | 36,165 |
| 7 | Georgia | Dougherty County | 91.8 | extreme county distress | 82,645 |
| 10 | Louisiana | East Carroll Parish | 90.9 | extreme county distress | 6,829 |
| 11 | Arkansas | Phillips County | 90.5 | extreme county distress | 14,961 |
| 12 | South Carolina | Williamsburg County | 90.5 | extreme county distress | 29,891 |
| 13 | Florida | Gadsden County | 90.3 | extreme county distress | 43,833 |
| 14 | Missouri | Pemiscot County | 90.2 | extreme county distress | 14,613 |
| 23 | Kentucky | Bell County | 88.0 | very high county distress | 23,317 |
| 27 | Maryland | Baltimore city | 87.3 | very high county distress | 565,239 |
| 29 | North Carolina | Edgecombe County | 86.6 | very high county distress | 48,832 |
| 35 | Michigan | Wayne County | 86.2 | very high county distress | 1,751,169 |
| 39 | New York | Bronx County | 85.7 | very high county distress | 1,356,476 |
| 60 | Texas | Starr County | 84.4 | very high county distress | 65,934 |
| 76 | Oklahoma | Seminole County | 83.6 | very high county distress | 23,565 |
| 87 | New Jersey | Cumberland County | 83.0 | very high county distress | 152,326 |
| 88 | Tennessee | Hardeman County | 83.0 | very high county distress | 25,567 |
| 133 | Colorado | Costilla County | 80.6 | very high county distress | 3,628 |
| 135 | West Virginia | Mingo County | 80.5 | very high county distress | 22,023 |
| 137 | New Mexico | McKinley County | 80.5 | very high county distress | 68,797 |
| 160 | Pennsylvania | Philadelphia County | 79.4 | high county distress | 1,550,542 |
| 221 | Nevada | Clark County | 77.3 | high county distress | 2,336,573 |
| 242 | Wisconsin | Menominee County | 76.6 | high county distress | 4,226 |
| 261 | Kansas | Wyandotte County | 76.0 | high county distress | 165,281 |
| 263 | Arizona | Santa Cruz County | 75.9 | high county distress | 49,158 |
| 279 | Oregon | Klamath County | 75.5 | high county distress | 70,003 |
| 298 | California | Kern County | 75.1 | high county distress | 913,820 |
| 306 | Illinois | Alexander County | 74.9 | high county distress | 4,695 |
| 454 | Montana | Glacier County | 70.9 | high county distress | 13,609 |
| 504 | Delaware | Kent County | 69.8 | moderate-high county distress | 189,789 |
| 527 | Indiana | Howard County | 69.3 | moderate-high county distress | 83,831 |
| 606 | Ohio | Trumbull County | 68.1 | moderate-high county distress | 200,373 |
| 619 | Massachusetts | Hampden County | 67.8 | moderate-high county distress | 460,291 |
| 669 | South Dakota | Oglala Lakota County | 67.1 | moderate-high county distress | 13,434 |
| 684 | Washington | Yakima County | 66.7 | moderate-high county distress | 256,643 |
| 792 | Idaho | Shoshone County | 64.4 | moderate-high county distress | 14,026 |
| 926 | Alaska | Northwest Arctic Borough | 62.1 | moderate-high county distress | 7,361 |
| 990 | Minnesota | Mahnomen County | 61.0 | moderate-high county distress | 5,280 |
| 997 | Connecticut | Naugatuck Valley Planning Region | 60.9 | moderate-high county distress | 456,128 |
| 1001 | District of Columbia | District of Columbia | 60.7 | moderate-high county distress | 678,972 |
| 1175 | Iowa | Wapello County | 57.6 | moderate county distress | 35,166 |
| 1186 | Maine | Washington County | 57.5 | moderate county distress | 31,555 |
| 1246 | Rhode Island | Providence County | 56.1 | moderate county distress | 660,615 |
| 1322 | Utah | San Juan County | 55.0 | moderate county distress | 14,358 |
| 1324 | North Dakota | Rolette County | 54.9 | moderate county distress | 11,728 |
| 1422 | Nebraska | Thurston County | 53.0 | moderate county distress | 6,557 |
| 1737 | Wyoming | Niobrara County | 47.5 | moderate-low county distress | 2,354 |
| 1923 | New Hampshire | Coos County | 44.2 | moderate-low county distress | 31,372 |
| 2025 | Hawaii | Hawaii County | 42.2 | moderate-low county distress | 207,615 |
| 2186 | Vermont | Orleans County | 39.2 | low-moderate county distress | 27,516 |
How to read this
Rank is the county's position among all 3,144 U.S. counties, most distressed first. A county can top its own state while sitting well down the national list — several states have no county in the national top 100. Washington County, Mississippi carries the highest score of any state's worst county, at 93.1 and rank 1 nationally.
The score is a composite, not a percentile rank of counties. Each input is converted to a distress-oriented percentile across the county cross-section, averaged within its domain, then averaged across the five equal-weighted domains. Sort any column to reorder the table.
More distress rankings
Two more views of household distress, each from its own source. See bankruptcy filing rates by county from U.S. Courts data, and where the job market is strong and the bills go unpaid. The full national top 100 ranks every county.