Florida County Distress Index
Financial distress scores for all 67 counties in Florida, scored 0–100 across five domains. A county's score is the share of U.S. counties it is more distressed than; the average Florida county scores 74.9. 46 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
Florida Snapshot
67 Counties Scored
74.9 Mean Score
77.3 Median Score
99 Gadsden County Most Distressed
23 St. Johns County Least Distressed
13 extreme county distress16 very high county distress17 high county distress8 moderate-high county distress5 moderate county distress7 moderate-low county distress1 low county distress
Score Label Distribution Florida County Map
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Low county distress Moderate-low county distress Moderate county distress High county distress Extreme county distress
All 67 Florida 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 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 | Score Label | Primary Driver |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 | Gadsden County | 99 | extreme county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 2 | 46 | Hamilton County | 98 | extreme county distress | Delinquency |
| 3 | — | Putnam County | 95 | extreme county distress | Labor |
| 4 | — | Highlands County | 94 | extreme county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 5 | — | DeSoto County | 93 | extreme county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 6 | — | Madison County | 93 | extreme county distress | Labor |
| 7 | — | Hendry County | 93 | extreme county distress | Delinquency |
| 8 | — | Polk County | 92 | extreme county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 9 | — | Dixie County | 91 | extreme county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 10 | — | Hardee County | 91 | extreme county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 11 | — | Osceola County | 90 | extreme county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 12 | — | Calhoun County | 90 | extreme county distress | Labor |
| 13 | — | Lafayette County | 90 | extreme county distress | Labor |
| 14 | — | Marion County | 89 | very high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 15 | — | Escambia County | 89 | very high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 16 | — | Okeechobee County | 88 | very high county distress | Labor |
| 17 | — | Jackson County | 88 | very high county distress | Delinquency |
| 18 | — | Levy County | 87 | very high county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 19 | — | Columbia County | 87 | very high county distress | Delinquency |
| 20 | — | Glades County | 87 | very high county distress | Labor |
| 21 | — | Taylor County | 87 | very high county distress | Labor |
| 22 | — | Citrus County | 86 | very high county distress | Labor |
| 23 | — | Suwannee County | 86 | very high county distress | Labor |
| 24 | — | Hernando County | 86 | very high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 25 | — | Duval County | 86 | very high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 26 | — | St. Lucie County | 84 | very high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 27 | — | Bradford County | 83 | very high county distress | Delinquency |
| 28 | — | Holmes County | 82 | very high county distress | Delinquency |
| 29 | — | Volusia County | 81 | very high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 30 | — | Orange County | 79 | high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 31 | — | Union County | 79 | high county distress | Delinquency |
| 32 | — | Leon County | 78 | high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 33 | — | Liberty County | 77 | high county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 34 | — | Pasco County | 77 | high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 35 | — | Gilchrist County | 76 | high county distress | Delinquency |
| 36 | — | Franklin County | 76 | high county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 37 | — | Hillsborough County | 76 | high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 38 | — | Jefferson County | 75 | high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 39 | — | Broward County | 74 | high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 40 | — | Gulf County | 73 | high county distress | Labor |
| 41 | — | Lake County | 73 | high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 42 | — | Lee County | 73 | high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 43 | — | Washington County | 72 | high county distress | Labor |
| 44 | — | Miami-Dade County | 72 | high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 45 | — | Flagler County | 71 | high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 46 | — | Alachua County | 70 | high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 47 | — | Brevard County | 69 | moderate-high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 48 | — | Charlotte County | 67 | moderate-high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 49 | — | Bay County | 66 | moderate-high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 50 | — | Clay County | 65 | moderate-high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 51 | — | Palm Beach County | 64 | moderate-high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 52 | — | Baker County | 64 | moderate-high county distress | Delinquency |
| 53 | — | Pinellas County | 63 | moderate-high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 54 | — | Manatee County | 62 | moderate-high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 55 | — | Seminole County | 59 | moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 56 | — | Indian River County | 58 | moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 57 | — | Walton County | 53 | moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 58 | — | Okaloosa County | 53 | moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 59 | — | Nassau County | 50 | moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 60 | — | Sarasota County | 49 | moderate-low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 61 | — | Collier County | 48 | moderate-low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 62 | — | Monroe County | 47 | moderate-low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 63 | — | Santa Rosa County | 46 | moderate-low county distress | Labor |
| 64 | — | Wakulla County | 45 | moderate-low county distress | Default & Legal |
| 65 | — | Martin County | 44 | moderate-low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 66 | — | Sumter County | 41 | moderate-low county distress | Labor |
| 67 | — | St. Johns County | 23 | 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 — 13 Florida counties
very high county distress — 16 Florida counties
high county distress — 17 Florida counties
moderate-high county distress — 8 Florida counties
moderate county distress — 5 Florida counties
moderate-low county distress — 7 Florida counties
low-moderate county distress — 0 Florida counties
low county distress — 1 Florida county
very low county distress — 0 Florida counties
exceptionally low county distress — 0 Florida counties