Financial distress, county by county.

3,144 U.S. counties scored through the County Distress Index.

How stressed is your county?

943 counties score high, very high, or extreme for county distress. See all rankings →

County Stories

All 3,144 counties →
County Distress Index cluster map showing Washington County, Mississippi and its Delta neighbors shaded by County Distress Index fifth.
Washington County, MS 99
"The Note"
Extreme county distress · 2nd of 82 counties in Mississippi
 A 19th-century photograph of the Bibb County Courthouse in Macon, Georgia — the stone building that still processes the county's bankruptcies, foreclosures, and civil filings.
Bibb County, GA 99
"The Merger"
Extreme county distress · 4th of 159 counties in Georgia
 Old Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Albany, Georgia — the brick sanctuary where the Albany Movement's mass meetings were held and where Pastor Daniel Simmons ministers today.
Dougherty County, GA 99
"The Passage"
Extreme county distress · 1st of 159 counties in Georgia
 White cheesecloth shade structures over tobacco fields, with cut stalks on the ground.
Gadsden County, FL 99
"The Shade"
Extreme county distress · 1st of 67 counties in Florida
 Ditch No. 70, a straight drainage canal cutting through flat farmland near Bragg City in Pemiscot County, Missouri.
Pemiscot County, MO 99
"The Drainage"
Extreme county distress · 1st of 115 counties in Missouri
 Historic brick buildings along a quiet downtown street in Petersburg, Virginia. The 19th-century storefronts are largely intact, with few signs of recent investment.
Petersburg city, VA 99
"The Line"
Extreme county distress · 1st of 133 counties in Virginia
 Vintage color postcard of Augusta National Golf Club, circa 1930-1945, showing the clubhouse and surrounding fairways.
Richmond County, GA 99
"The Green"
Extreme county distress · 5th of 159 counties in Georgia
 An abandoned single-story home in rural Tunica County, Mississippi, with a sagging roofline and weathered wood siding against an overcast sky. Contemporary photograph of housing stock in the county that ranks 16th of 3,144 nationally for household financial distress in July 2026.
Tunica County, MS 99
"The Room"
Extreme county distress · 6th of 82 counties in Mississippi
 County Distress Index cluster map showing Russell County, Alabama and its geographic neighbors shaded by County Distress Index fifth.
Russell County, AL 98
"The Filing"
Extreme county distress · 5th of 67 counties in Alabama
 A peanut field near Pelham, Mitchell County, Georgia.
Mitchell County, GA 98
"The Yield"
Extreme county distress · 10th of 159 counties in Georgia
 Miners playing cards on the hood of a car during the Brookside Mine strike in Harlan County, Kentucky, 1974. The mine is visible in the background.
Harlan County, KY 97
"The Record"
Extreme county distress · 6th of 120 counties in Kentucky
 Courthouse square in Kennett, Missouri, 1942. The Cotton Exchange Bank is visible across the street.
Dunklin County, MO 96
"The Gin"
Extreme county distress · 3rd of 115 counties in Missouri
 Wayne County Courthouse in Greenville, Missouri — the county seat that was rebuilt after the original town was relocated for Wappapello Dam in 1941.
Wayne County, MO 96
"The Rebuilding County"
Extreme county distress · 4th of 115 counties in Missouri
 The Duval County Courthouse in San Diego, Texas, a Classical Revival building where the Parr political machine once operated.
Duval County, TX 92
"The Patron"
Extreme county distress · 10th of 254 counties in Texas
 Aerial view of agricultural fields near Moore Haven, Glades County, Florida.
Glades County, FL 87
"The Extraction County"
Very high county distress · 20th of 67 counties in Florida
 The airstrip at Global TransPark near Kinston, North Carolina. A $400 million facility on the coastal plain.
Lenoir County, NC 87
"The Runway"
Very high county distress · 15th of 100 counties in North Carolina
 Hop field near Moxee in the Yakima Valley, Washington. Rows of hop trellises stretch toward the horizon under a clear sky.
Yakima County, WA 69
"The Irrigation"
Moderate-high county distress · 2nd of 39 counties in Washington
 The Blue Swallow Motel on Route 66 in Tucumcari, New Mexico. A 1958 Buick sits in front of the iconic neon sign.
Quay County, NM 61
"The Bypass"
Moderate-high county distress · 22nd of 33 counties in New Mexico
 Boys overlooking the Frederick Douglass housing project in Anacostia, Washington, D.C., June 1942.
District of Columbia, DC 58
"The Seat"
Moderate county distress · the only county-equivalent in District of Columbia
 The Burlington, Iowa waterfront flooded after temporary barriers failed, June 2019.
Des Moines County, IA 56
"The Arithmetic"
Moderate county distress · 2nd of 99 counties in Iowa
 Aerial view of Libby, Montana nestled in the Kootenai River valley, surrounded by the Cabinet Mountains.
Lincoln County, MT 56
"The Residual"
Moderate county distress · 7th of 56 counties in Montana
 Hurwal Divide seen from Mount Howard in the Wallowa Mountains, Wallowa County, Oregon. Snow-capped alpine peaks above forested slopes.
Wallowa County, OR 33
"The Foundry"
Low-moderate county distress · 32nd of 36 counties in Oregon
 A 'No Camping' sign and large boulders placed in a grassy parking strip in Ballard, Seattle. Hostile architecture designed to prevent sleeping in public space.
King County, WA 23
"The Filter"
Low county distress · 37th of 39 counties in Washington
 The main security gate to Project Y at Los Alamos, New Mexico, 1943. The checkpoint where the outside world ended and The Hill began.
Los Alamos County, NM 0
"The Hill"
Exceptionally low county distress · 33rd of 33 counties in New Mexico

Most Distressed Counties

Full rankings →
1
Holmes County, MS Default & Legal
100 2
Washington County, MS Delinquency
99 3
Dougherty County, GA Default & Legal
99 4
Dallas County, AL Delinquency
99 5
Pemiscot County, MO Default & Legal
99 6
Wilcox County, AL Default & Legal
99 7
Gadsden County, FL Debt Burden (housing basis)
99 8
Hancock County, GA Debt Burden (housing basis)
99 9
Leflore County, MS Delinquency
99 10
Coahoma County, MS Delinquency
99

Browse by State

All 51 states →
Mississippi
85.9 mean score
72 of 82 counties score high, very high, or extreme
Louisiana
83.7 mean score
52 of 64 counties score high, very high, or extreme
Arkansas
78.3 mean score
54 of 75 counties score high, very high, or extreme
Alabama
77.5 mean score
45 of 67 counties score high, very high, or extreme
South Carolina
76.0 mean score
27 of 46 counties score high, very high, or extreme
Georgia
75.8 mean score
108 of 159 counties score high, very high, or extreme
Florida
74.9 mean score
46 of 67 counties score high, very high, or extreme
Kentucky
73.1 mean score
76 of 120 counties score high, very high, or extreme
Arizona
70.6 mean score
10 of 15 counties score high, very high, or extreme
New Mexico
68.7 mean score
19 of 33 counties score high, very high, or extreme
Oklahoma
66.3 mean score
41 of 77 counties score high, very high, or extreme
Tennessee
65.1 mean score
38 of 95 counties score high, very high, or extreme
West Virginia
64.6 mean score
22 of 55 counties score high, very high, or extreme
Texas
63.1 mean score
109 of 254 counties score high, very high, or extreme
North Carolina
59.8 mean score
35 of 100 counties score high, very high, or extreme

Latest Analysis

All articles →
Research
What the Current Indicator-Pair Tests Show
Pair-specific results that survived every stage of the committed validation pipeline.
Analysis
The FHA Gap Measures Concentration, Not Timing
The borrower-split thesis asks whether distress appears first where cash buffers are thinnest. The level evidence is strong and stable. The timing evidence does not exist, and the gap's own history explains why.
Analysis
The Savings Rate Does Not Lead Delinquency
Testing whether the personal saving rate leads loan delinquency, and what the failure says about what the savings rate actually measures.
Analysis
The Two-Economy Problem in Credit Data
Same product, two lender channels, opposite readings against their own histories. What the disaggregated credit data supports, what it does not, and why the gap is not an early warning.
Analysis
How the Historical Lead-Relationship Pipeline Works
The methodology behind American Default's historical lead-relationship tests: FDR correction, first-differencing, multi-crisis validation, Granger testing, and out-of-sample replication.
Analysis
What Rising Hardship Withdrawals Can—and Cannot—Tell Us
What Vanguard hardship-withdrawal rates show about workplace-plan use, with limits on household-level, causal, tax, and leading-indicator claims.
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American Distress Index

47.0 Typical

The composite itself sits higher than 44% of all published quarters since 2005.

The national composite tracking household financial distress across five dimensions.

Explore the index →

County Distress Index

0 – 100 score per county

County ranks and score labels built from five equal-weighted distress domains.

Methodology →
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