County Story Kits

Every U.S. county scored for household financial distress. Each story kit includes a distress score, peer comparisons, pre-written pitch angles, key data points, and citation-ready downloads. Search for any county or browse by state.

How stressed is your county?

What's in a story kit?

Distress Score

A composite 0-100 score covering debt, poverty, housing burden, unemployment, and bankruptcy for each county.

Pitch Angles

Pre-written story angles tied to the data — ready to adapt for your publication or beat.

Key Data Grid

Nineteen indicators across five domains — debt, housing, income, labor market, and community vulnerability.

Downloads

CSV data export, citation copy, and a link to the full county profile — all free, no registration required.

Browse by State

Select a state to see all county story kits within it.

AL Alabama AK Alaska AZ Arizona AR Arkansas CA California CO Colorado CT Connecticut DE Delaware DC District of Columbia FL Florida GA Georgia HI Hawaii ID Idaho IL Illinois IN Indiana IA Iowa KS Kansas KY Kentucky LA Louisiana ME Maine MD Maryland MA Massachusetts MI Michigan MN Minnesota MS Mississippi MO Missouri MT Montana NE Nebraska NV Nevada NH New Hampshire NJ New Jersey NM New Mexico NY New York NC North Carolina ND North Dakota OH Ohio OK Oklahoma OR Oregon PA Pennsylvania RI Rhode Island SC South Carolina SD South Dakota TN Tennessee TX Texas UT Utah VT Vermont VA Virginia WA Washington WV West Virginia WI Wisconsin WY Wyoming

Attribution

Story kits are built from the County Distress Index, which draws on public data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Urban Institute, HUD, and U.S. Courts. All data is free to use with attribution to American Default (americandefault.org). See the methodology for details.

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If you're struggling with debt or facing foreclosure, free help is available. Find help near you · Browse the Glossary · The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development provides HUD-approved housing counselors at no cost. You can also call 1-800-569-4287.