California County Distress Index
Financial distress scores for all 58 counties in California, scored 0–100 across five domains. A county's score is the share of U.S. counties it is more distressed than; the average California county scores 56.1. 17 counties score high, very high, or extreme.
Data: U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Urban Institute, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts | Scores as of Aug 2026
California Snapshot
58 Counties Scored
56.1 Mean Score
58.9 Median Score
92 Lake County Most Distressed
12 Santa Clara County Least Distressed
1 extreme county distress11 very high county distress5 high county distress10 moderate-high county distress7 moderate county distress8 moderate-low county distress7 low-moderate county distress4 low county distress5 very low county distress
Score Label Distribution California County Map
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Low county distress Moderate-low county distress Moderate county distress High county distress Extreme county distress
All 58 California counties colored by county distress score range. Hover for details; click released counties for full reports.
Most & Least Distressed
Most Distressed
Least Distressed
Score Distribution
How California's 58 county scores are distributed across the 0–100 scale.
All California Counties
58 counties ranked by distress score. Click column headers to sort.
| State Rank | Nat'l Rank | County | Score | Score Label | Primary Driver |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | — | Lake County | 92 | extreme county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 2 | — | Imperial County | 89 | very high county distress | Labor |
| 3 | — | Kern County | 89 | very high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 4 | — | Merced County | 87 | very high county distress | Labor |
| 5 | — | Tulare County | 86 | very high county distress | Labor |
| 6 | — | Tehama County | 85 | very high county distress | Labor |
| 7 | — | Fresno County | 84 | very high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 8 | — | San Bernardino County | 83 | very high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 9 | — | Stanislaus County | 82 | very high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 10 | — | Madera County | 82 | very high county distress | Labor |
| 11 | — | Butte County | 80 | very high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 12 | — | Kings County | 80 | very high county distress | Labor |
| 13 | — | Del Norte County | 77 | high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 14 | — | Yuba County | 77 | high county distress | Labor |
| 15 | — | Glenn County | 74 | high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 16 | — | San Joaquin County | 72 | high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 17 | — | Riverside County | 72 | high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 18 | — | Shasta County | 69 | moderate-high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 19 | — | Sutter County | 69 | moderate-high county distress | Labor |
| 20 | — | Siskiyou County | 69 | moderate-high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 21 | — | Los Angeles County | 67 | moderate-high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 22 | — | Humboldt County | 63 | moderate-high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 23 | — | Calaveras County | 63 | moderate-high county distress | Labor |
| 24 | — | Solano County | 63 | moderate-high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 25 | — | Mendocino County | 62 | moderate-high county distress | Labor |
| 26 | — | Tuolumne County | 62 | moderate-high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 27 | — | Sacramento County | 61 | moderate-high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 28 | — | Monterey County | 59 | moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 29 | — | Colusa County | 59 | moderate county distress | Labor |
| 30 | — | Modoc County | 58 | moderate county distress | Labor |
| 31 | — | Mariposa County | 57 | moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 32 | — | Trinity County | 57 | moderate county distress | Labor |
| 33 | — | Lassen County | 54 | moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 34 | — | Plumas County | 51 | moderate county distress | Labor |
| 35 | — | Santa Barbara County | 49 | moderate-low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 36 | — | Sierra County | 47 | moderate-low county distress | Labor |
| 37 | — | San Benito County | 47 | moderate-low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 38 | — | Yolo County | 47 | moderate-low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 39 | — | San Diego County | 45 | moderate-low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 40 | — | Ventura County | 42 | moderate-low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 41 | — | Alpine County | 41 | moderate-low county distress | Labor |
| 42 | — | Amador County | 40 | moderate-low county distress | Labor |
| 43 | — | Santa Cruz County | 39 | low-moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 44 | — | Nevada County | 38 | low-moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 45 | — | Contra Costa County | 37 | low-moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 46 | — | Orange County | 37 | low-moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 47 | — | San Luis Obispo County | 35 | low-moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 48 | — | El Dorado County | 30 | low-moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 49 | — | Napa County | 30 | low-moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 50 | — | Sonoma County | 29 | low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 51 | — | Inyo County | 28 | low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 52 | — | Alameda County | 27 | low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 53 | — | Placer County | 25 | low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 54 | — | Marin County | 19 | very low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 55 | — | San Francisco County | 15 | very low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 56 | — | San Mateo County | 14 | very low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 57 | — | Mono County | 13 | very low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 58 | — | Santa Clara County | 12 | very low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
How County Scores Work
Each county is scored 0–100 using five equal-weighted domains. Each domain averages its member indicators' county ranks, the domains are averaged, and that average is ranked against every U.S. county. So a county's score is the share of U.S. counties it is more distressed than. National ranks are shown only for the 100 most and 100 least distressed counties, because ranks in between move between updates. Counties with identical composite scores share a rank, marked T- for tied.
extreme county distress — 1 California county
very high county distress — 11 California counties
high county distress — 5 California counties
moderate-high county distress — 10 California counties
moderate county distress — 7 California counties
moderate-low county distress — 8 California counties
low-moderate county distress — 7 California counties
low county distress — 4 California counties
very low county distress — 5 California counties
exceptionally low county distress — 0 California counties