Florida County Distress Index
Financial distress scores for all 67 counties in Florida, scored 0–100 across five domains. Mean score: 64.9. 36counties are in Serious or Crisis.
Data: Census, BLS, Urban Institute, HUD, US Courts | Scores as of 2026-03-26
Florida Snapshot
67 Counties Scored
64.9 Mean Score
65.2 Median Score
84.5 Gadsden County Most Distressed
40.7 St. Johns County Least Distressed
1 Crisis 35 Serious 24 Elevated 7 Normal
Zone Distribution Florida County Map
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Healthy Normal Elevated Serious Crisis
All 67 Florida counties colored by distress zone. Hover for details; click released counties for full reports.
Most & Least Distressed
Most Distressed
Least Distressed
Score Distribution
How Florida's 67 county scores are distributed across the 0–100 scale.
All Florida Counties
67 counties ranked by distress score. Click column headers to sort.
| State Rank | Nat'l Rank | County | Score | Zone | Primary Driver |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 23 | Gadsden County | 84.5 | Crisis | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 2 | 81 | Osceola County | 79.1 | Serious | Housing Cost Burden |
| 3 | 85 | Polk County | 79.0 | Serious | Housing Cost Burden |
| 4 | 93 | Hardee County | 78.6 | Serious | Housing Cost Burden |
| 5 | 105 | Bradford County | 78.0 | Serious | Housing Cost Burden |
| 6 | 112 | Hendry County | 77.7 | Serious | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 7 | 118 | Duval County | 77.4 | Serious | Housing Cost Burden |
| 8 | 147 | Jackson County | 76.3 | Serious | Structural Poverty |
| 9 | 170 | Calhoun County | 75.5 | Serious | Structural Poverty |
| 10 | 181 | Putnam County | 75.1 | Serious | Structural Poverty |
| 11 | 188 | Hamilton County | 74.9 | Serious | Structural Poverty |
| 12 | 190 | DeSoto County | 74.9 | Serious | Structural Poverty |
| 13 | 230 | Orange County | 73.9 | Serious | Housing Cost Burden |
| 14 | 239 | Escambia County | 73.6 | Serious | Housing Cost Burden |
| 15 | 314 | Highlands County | 72.1 | Serious | Structural Poverty |
| 16 | 320 | Marion County | 71.9 | Serious | Housing Cost Burden |
| 17 | 334 | Hillsborough County | 71.5 | Serious | Housing Cost Burden |
| 18 | 350 | Columbia County | 71.0 | Serious | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 19 | 356 | Miami-Dade County | 70.7 | Serious | Housing Cost Burden |
| 20 | 380 | St. Lucie County | 70.2 | Serious | Housing Cost Burden |
| 21 | 382 | Hernando County | 70.1 | Serious | Legal Distress |
| 22 | 389 | Liberty County | 70.0 | Serious | Structural Poverty |
| 23 | 398 | Volusia County | 69.8 | Serious | Housing Cost Burden |
| 24 | 407 | Glades County | 69.7 | Serious | Structural Poverty |
| 25 | 415 | Broward County | 69.5 | Serious | Housing Cost Burden |
| 26 | 446 | Taylor County | 68.8 | Serious | Structural Poverty |
| 27 | 471 | Okeechobee County | 68.3 | Serious | Structural Poverty |
| 28 | 477 | Leon County | 68.2 | Serious | Housing Cost Burden |
| 29 | 482 | Madison County | 68.2 | Serious | Structural Poverty |
| 30 | 510 | Baker County | 67.7 | Serious | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 31 | 580 | Citrus County | 66.4 | Serious | Structural Poverty |
| 32 | 611 | Dixie County | 65.6 | Serious | Structural Poverty |
| 33 | 612 | Suwannee County | 65.6 | Serious | Structural Poverty |
| 34 | 632 | Pasco County | 65.2 | Serious | Economic Vitality |
| 35 | 637 | Washington County | 65.2 | Serious | Structural Poverty |
| 36 | 641 | Lake County | 65.0 | Serious | Housing Cost Burden |
| 37 | 657 | Bay County | 64.7 | Elevated | Housing Cost Burden |
| 38 | 677 | Jefferson County | 64.4 | Elevated | Structural Poverty |
| 39 | 694 | Clay County | 64.2 | Elevated | Legal Distress |
| 40 | 699 | Lee County | 64.1 | Elevated | Housing Cost Burden |
| 41 | 711 | Levy County | 63.9 | Elevated | Structural Poverty |
| 42 | 768 | Seminole County | 63.1 | Elevated | Housing Cost Burden |
| 43 | 779 | Holmes County | 62.8 | Elevated | Structural Poverty |
| 44 | 794 | Union County | 62.6 | Elevated | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 45 | 797 | Lafayette County | 62.6 | Elevated | Structural Poverty |
| 46 | 888 | Brevard County | 61.0 | Elevated | Housing Cost Burden |
| 47 | 889 | Pinellas County | 61.0 | Elevated | Housing Cost Burden |
| 48 | 898 | Monroe County | 60.8 | Elevated | Housing Cost Burden |
| 49 | 924 | Alachua County | 60.5 | Elevated | Housing Cost Burden |
| 50 | 959 | Flagler County | 59.9 | Elevated | Economic Vitality |
| 51 | 986 | Palm Beach County | 59.5 | Elevated | Housing Cost Burden |
| 52 | 1,051 | Gulf County | 58.4 | Elevated | Economic Vitality |
| 53 | 1,096 | Franklin County | 57.8 | Elevated | Structural Poverty |
| 54 | 1,132 | Manatee County | 57.4 | Elevated | Housing Cost Burden |
| 55 | 1,210 | Wakulla County | 55.9 | Elevated | Legal Distress |
| 56 | 1,249 | Charlotte County | 55.4 | Elevated | Housing Cost Burden |
| 57 | 1,261 | Gilchrist County | 55.1 | Elevated | Economic Vitality |
| 58 | 1,296 | Okaloosa County | 54.6 | Elevated | Housing Cost Burden |
| 59 | 1,403 | Indian River County | 53.0 | Elevated | Housing Cost Burden |
| 60 | 1,427 | Walton County | 52.5 | Elevated | Housing Cost Burden |
| 61 | 1,586 | Collier County | 49.8 | Normal | Housing Cost Burden |
| 62 | 1,638 | Nassau County | 49.0 | Normal | Economic Vitality |
| 63 | 1,716 | Sarasota County | 48.0 | Normal | Housing Cost Burden |
| 64 | 1,776 | Santa Rosa County | 47.0 | Normal | Economic Vitality |
| 65 | 1,879 | Martin County | 45.3 | Normal | Housing Cost Burden |
| 66 | 2,053 | Sumter County | 42.2 | Normal | Housing Cost Burden |
| 67 | 2,148 | St. Johns County | 40.7 | Normal | Housing Cost Burden |
How County Scores Work
Each county is scored 0–100 using PCA-weighted percentile-rank scoring across five statistically derived dimensions: Consumer Credit Distress, Housing Cost Burden, Structural Poverty, Economic Vitality, and Legal Distress. A score of 50 means the county falls at the national median. Higher scores indicate greater household financial distress.
Crisis (≥80) — Among the most distressed counties in the country
Serious (65–80) — More distressed than roughly 80% of counties
Elevated (50–65) — More distressed than roughly half of counties
Normal (35–50) — Near the national median
Healthy (<35) — Less distressed than most counties